Happy New Year.
Activities in the art and antiques market in 2022 were generally free from Covid restrictions - a welcome relief for everyone. Other challenges, however, quickly surfaced.
Rising costs have particularly affected fairs. Organisers are finding the increase in prices demanded by venues difficult or impossible to pass on to dealers who cannot not simply mark up all their goods and expect to make the same volume of sales from customers already hit by the cost of living crisis.
However there remains a level of confidence among auction houses and for many dealers, the best art and antiques still attract dedicated buyers. This gives cause for optimism in the coming year. If the record-breaking $8.4bn sales reported by Christie’s is anything to go by, there is still plenty of top-end art market money around.
All we need now is some trickledown economics…
Read ATG’s month-by-month review of 2022 here.
Do you have some extra time on your hands? Brush up on your knowledge with our Collecting Guides and Information Guides.
Information for subscribers
For print subscribers, Issue 2573 is the New Year double issue. Cover dated December 24 2022 & December 31 2022.
The next edition, Issue 2574, cover dated January 7 2023, will be mailed on Tuesday, January 3 (Monday January 2, is a Bank Holiday).
The online version will be available on the afternoon of Tuesday January 3 on antiquestradegazette.com, as well as via our epaper and in the ATG app.
