News

Is art a commodity?

Speculation, flipping, bid rigging and guarantees all serve to bolster the global art market, but at what cost to transparency?

21 Oct 2014 12:00

Gina Fairley

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Writing and Publishing

Auctioning Renoir’s ‘L’Ombrelle’ at Christie’s in London (2013). Published Wall Street Journal online; Photo European Pressphoto Agency

‘Christies had a US $745 million evening sale this May in less time than it took to watch a basket ball game,’ said Kelly Crow, The Wall Street Journal’s art market journalist, adding, ‘How much higher can we go?’

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Gina Fairley

Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina