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"Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California I" (21"x14", 2007) - Sold

Even if I don’t watch TV or read newspapers, there’s no escaping from hearing depressing news about economy and worrying about it.  In many art-related blogs, too, financial crisis and its impact on art are being widely discussed.  Many artists, including myself, are shifting their approach to the market as it changes.  The difficult part is to know what is changing in the art market, particularly in buyer behavior.

Take Hollywood, for example. They say people will still go to the movies in slow economy like they did during the Great Depression, but when you hear they are “still booming” at one time and they are “vulnerable to recession” at another, what to believe?  In fine art, there’s the Mei Moses Fine Art Index as one indicator.  Its focus is big names whose works can command thousands or millions of dollars at art auction houses like Sotherby’s.  Although it’s interesting to see what’s selling at auction, it only shows how quickly the investors’ tastes change.  So it is not really helpful for me.

It would be nice if an expert market watcher could tell us what is going on and what to do about it.  However, every artist’s market is a unique one like their artwork.  I think the best market watcher/adviser in this changing economy should be ourselves.  So it is even more important to go out there and meet and learn from our buyers and prospects.  I say this because I learned a lot myself at a recent art show I did.  Some of my collectors returned to buy more while some told me they are just not buying right now (So I know I shouldn’t be discouraged too much).  I saw which price points were more attractive than the others (So I may spend more time working in sizes for the prices that are more affordable).  Most people would still like to choose an original over a giclee (So I shouldn’t rush to have more prints made), etc. etc.

Concern should drive us into action and not into a depression. No man is free who cannot control himself. – Pythagoras