Art market lessons. Photo: Gilberto Olimpio, Pexels.
As I pen these thoughts, the Australian Gross Domestic Product per capita – or the measure of what we all have done by how many there are of us doing it – has been on the decline for the seventh consecutive quarter. With 13 interest rate hikes over the last 12 months, our economy, at best, has been growing at a crawl. In fact, in 2024, the economy was teetering on the brink of recession.
The economy was growing almost entirely through government spending – massive government spending – which, in turn, fuelled inflation. March saw the highest rate of bankruptcies on record.
Michael Reid is a successful, hard-working, highly focused, of average height, fat, near of sight, follically challenged, dyslexic, meat-eating, art dealer who is ever so lightly brushed by high-functioning low-level autism. He has five art galleries – being two in Sydney, one in Berlin, Germany and others in Murrurundi, the Upper Hunter and in Berrima, the Southern Highlands of NSW. In addition to the physical spaces, there is an online platform Michael Reid CLAY. His galleries established the National Emerging Art Prize in 2020. Michael received an Order of Australia in January 2016 for his services to the art world and is just back from scouting for space to open a gallery, in Los Angeles.
