Recession Fears Fuel Art Sales

“Whenever you have stock price declines, you do get a lot of margin calls, and people look for any form of liquidity that they can find,” added Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

Bloomberg notes “some art owners try to sell privately and avoid the risk of having the work flop at auction. Others are looking for a financial guarantee by a third party before putting art on the auction block. Many are using their collections to obtain credit lines.”

“In the last three months, we’ve seen an increase in new clients who want to use art as collateral for loans,” according to Suzanne Gyorgy, director of art advisory and finance services at Citibank’s private-banking unit. “They anticipate market volatility and want to have liquidity available for investment opportunities.”