Artful profiteering
A global storm of interest surrounds the spring art auctions kicking off this week in New York. With several works expected to hit record new price points, Janet Babin looks at what's behind the rising cost of fine art.
A bidder raises his paddle at Christie's auction house. (Fernando Leon/Getty Images)
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JANET BABIN: In New York this week, the spring art auctions get underway and man, oh man, people will be spending a lot of money. Marketplace's Janet Babin reports from North Carolina Public Radio.
JANET BABIN: Years back, David Rockefeller bought his Mark Rothko for $10,000. Now it's expected to sell for upwards of $40 million and could break the record for a contemporary art auction.
One reason for the stratospheric prices: competition between art houses. As Sotheby's and Christie's jockey for pieces to auction, they often guarantee sellers a set amount.
Charlie Finch with ArtNet Worldwide says it also has to do with the secret world of hedge funds — those lucrative investments usually open only to millionaires.
CHARLIE FINCH: Hedge fund money means that hedge fund types can write themselves checks for any amount. Art is used in the kind of a way banks use demand deposits.Finch says art frenzy could cool down in a few years but others say the lure of owning a one-of-a-kind piece has become a global religion that will only crest when the world economy does.
I'm Janet Babin for Marketplace.
