Sotheby’s: America’s Wealthy are Still Spending
Did you hear that at a recent Sotheby’s New York sale, American art collectors bought up nearly 70 percent of the modern art offered and even paid record-breaking prices? It’s understandable, since there were some fabulous paintings up for grabs, such as Fernand Leger’s “Etude pour La Femme en Bleu,” which sold for $39.2 million and Eduard Munch’s “Girls on a Bridge,” went for $30.8 million. Then there was Henri Matisse’s “Le Geranium,” which sold for more than $10 million, triple what the art auction house had estimated.
The success of the sale, however, doesn’t mean that all wealthy Americans are on the same spending spree they’ve enjoyed for the past few years. In fact, according to Reuters, which reported on the sale, Sotheby’s feels that some investors may have slipped out of the market because of fluctuations in their stock portfolio, but they sense that others have jumped in because they find the art market to be an exciting investment arena.
The message for luxury travel advisors here is to keep a broad mind about who your possible clients may be. While someone who recently took a hit on Wall Street may temporarily be on the sidelines trying to catch their breath and hence, not traveling, there are other uber-wealthy folks out there who still want to spend big and live large.
Note: The Sotheby’s auction wasn’t just a blip. Just prior to that event, Christie’s saw a preponderance of Americans buying up the goods at a contemporary art event. The Lucian Freud painting, a nude called “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,” went for $33.64 million.
— Ruthanne Terrero