“Right when the economy is seemingly at a low point, the art market is stronger than I’ve known it in a few years”

Ben Plumbly, quoted above, couldn’t believe the strength of the his own auction house’s $1.7 million sale last week according to the New Zealand Herald:

Experts say the sales may be a sign of a recovering economy. “There was a sense of overall relief because with all the gloom and doom and with no one really knowing what’s happening with the economy, we were pretty nervous,” says Art + Object’s Ben Plumbly. [ . . . ]

Gow Langsford Gallery owner John Gow says the private sector of the art world has been “ticking along nicely” as well. “Art is a tangible asset … and there aren’t many things out there like that. You can have it, enjoy it, take a long-term view on it and then sometime in the future realise on it – and if you’ve bought a good painting and the artist does well, then you’ll probably do financially well out of it, too.”

The Art of Investment (New Zealand Herald)