A year on and the Covid-19 Pandemic seemingly rages stronger than ever. We are all still feeling its effects, every day brings changes and every economy and industry has had to adapt to a new life. Different from myths surrounding the spread of disease, the current Pandemic is raging because of wealthy, well-travelled people, and consequently, the virus has breached the walls of auction houses and art fairs, affecting the art market in a way that cannot be resolved with fancy hand-sanitisers and expensive champagne.
The Pandemic’s impact on the art market has never been seen before, with large industry players like Sotheby’s and Christie’s closing for lengths of time and postponing sales while the staff is forced to work remotely. For the first time, people and regulars of the established art market are “just not buying”. As concerns lie with matters relating to health and safety, higher-level discretionary aesthetic purchases are at the back of everyone’s minds, consequently directly affecting the market as a whole.
The art market directly relies on international movement and cross-border trade. However, the Pandemic has significantly reduced these forcing markets to become more local. Buyers and sellers within the market are diverse and this diversity has allowed the exponential growth of the art market over the last decade. With the additional increase in art airfreight prices, the art market, along with most of the world, has been put on pause. The art industry encompasses numerous businesses: the artist, auction houses, etc. Challenges will be incredibly varied and unprecedented and will need to be navigated as they develop.
Let’s Talk Numbers
In 2019, the UK art market remained second to the US with a 20% market share equivalent to US$12.7 billion. However, as art fairs were cancelled and auction houses and galleries were closed over the last year, studies taken in 2020 showed an approximate 79% drop in revenue in the art market. Additionally, in the first half of 2020, art gallery sales fell by an average of 36% while auction sales fell by an average of 49%. Positively, as lockdowns have encouraged the use of online platforms and transactions, the first half of 2020 saw a 37% rise in online gallery sales.
Adapting
A year on and inevitably longer to go, museums, auction houses, galleries, dealers, artists and the market as a whole has had to make changes. In particular, galleries and exhibitions are creating virtual experiences online. For the most part and in the given circumstances, this movie has garnered positive feedback, however in the UK, these digital spaces have caused some concern.
Large, established galleries such as Pace and Hauser have ample resources to host large online events and exhibitions that include video tours and curated content. At present, Tate is hosting a video tour of their Lynette Yiadom-Boakye exhibition for their members. Besides, there has been a move to launch virtual reality platforms to allow buyers to view works of art as if the piece was hanging in their homes. Technology and the integration of these ideas both require resources and finances that only a few can manage.
On the other hand, smaller galleries and institutions that only have access to smaller funding pools can feel displaced in the online sales world. There is no doubt that purchasing works online makes the process of sale more transparent as prices are revealed more commonly than during the exclusive processes of in-person buying. However larger galleries can attract more traffic quicker, a luxury that smaller galleries do not have. Due to the suddenness of the Pandemic’s effects, the move to online work was very quick, again a luxury smaller galleries and institutions did not have.
It is suggested that larger museums and better-funded commercial galleries, during this time, share resources and collaborate with their smaller counterparts. Working together to ensure the exponential growth of digital sales and online traffic across the board will benefit the industry and art market as a whole, allowing the rich diversity of the sector to flourish and continue to grow well into times of normalcy.
Support?
Arts Council England (ACE), which supports artists, curators, museums etc, set up a £160 million relief fund to help players within the cultural sector. £20m are earmarked for individuals (made up of grants of up to £2,500 each), £90m for National Portfolio Organisations to alleviate their financial pressures and is £50m for organisations that fall outside the NPO scheme (made of grants of up to £35,000 each).
So…
The art market has always been seen as aristocratic, and there is a sense of privilege engrained in its establishment. This Pandemic has gone to show that no industry is safe; it has come to be “the Great Equaliser”. The art market, in particular, has been affected as the usual way of business has been largely disrupted. The fear lies in whether the market can survive and continue growing and with government and private aid, this is possible. But the industry players also need to work together to facilitate the modern way of running markets: digitally. Industry experts are positive, stating the nature of the art world is to bounce back with vengeance. This too shall pass.
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