For the past year, I have been predicting (wrongly) that the art market will correct. It defied the financial odds in part because the crisis hadn't reached the super-rich and because a fresh wave of oligarchs and Middle Eastern sheiks hoisted their bidding paddles to save the day.
Now, art may be imitating life in the collector's market, yet another sign that spending by the super-rich is suffering.
This past weekend's Frieze art fair in London-the autumnal spending spree by the global jet set-was by many measures, a flop. On Friday, Sotheby's contemporary art sale reaped 22 million pounds ($38 million), about half the presale estimate. On Sunday, Christie's garnered 32 million pounds ($55 million), also about half the estimate. That hasn't happened in years.