Laguna Art auction

Here is a link to an upcoming auction in which I will be participating.

http://lagunaartmuseum.org/Events/auction2009.html

INTELLIGENCE SQUARED U.S.On Ethics, Is The Art Market Worse Than Stock Market? ( My 2 cents)

So do art and ethics mix? Having worked for art galleries for years the idea of ethics seems valid. I know for a fact that the art market is built upon insider trading, lacks transparency and flourishes on speculation and hype.  Now is the art world less ethical then the stock market? It could probably be said that both have their ups and downs and it can be said that the art market operates entirely of its own accord, but in light of recent events how can one possibly think that the stock market operates more ethically?

It is true that stocks and even more tangible assets such as houses have rules and regulations that hopefully guard investors from losing large sums of capital, yet as we have seen value is in fact only a perception and can fluctuate drastically. So what drives the perception of value up? Obviously, it is fueled by demand and as demand increases so does perceived value.  So why should art differ in that regard? For art galleries their model of business should be to get as much as they possibly can for a work of art, and like all other products they should use the most effective means of doing it. Whether it be advertising, holding special event and or catering to the tastes of those at the upper echelons of the business. Now as for the ethics involved in that type of business model that can only be measured by whether or not the gallery becomes blatantly fraudulent in its representation of an artist i.e. producing counterfeit works, or lying about the artists career and sales record. However, all else is fair game. 

Now as for the stock market it would seem that the same rules apply, companies sell shares with the idea that as the business grows so will its potential to make money, and as a result of investing early on those with shares profit. In most cases this seems a simple transaction and again the ethics involved become apparent only when a company becomes fraudulent. Examples again seem to be the misrepresentation of earnings and or capital; recent examples can be seen in the Bernard Madoff “Ponzi” scheme.  So it would seem that both the art market and stock market have inherent ethical dilemmas, but with the question “which is more ethical” it can only be stated that stocks which affect more individuals and which hold larger percentages of wealth obviously have more detriment to a society if ethical breaches occur. So if we consider the volume and people affected stocks would have to be the less ethical of the two markets.

In addition art has one other saving grace. As an object art works function with two very different properties one of a tangible object and the other as an intellectual one.  So no matter how much an object sells for its intellectual properties belong solely to the artist and those who view the work.  As such through the generosity of patrons and museums art works do in fact belong to everyone regardless of price. That in my opinion seems pretty ethical.

 

Just for V-Day

Jan van Huysum

[Dutch Painter, 1682-1749]