The art boom was as much the Contemporary art boom as it was anything else. Well into 2008, experts in other fields were haughtily remarking that their best artists were undervalued if Richard Prince and Jeff Koons were getting such high prices. Now the Contemporary art market is “re-calibrating.” That also means Contemporary art is being re-classified within the pantheon of the genres. Colin Gleadell makes this observation on last week’s Old Master sales:

Old Masters came within a whisker of overtaking the previously dominant contemporary art market in a series of auctions in London last week. A year ago, contemporary art looked unbeatable, with sales of £262 million against £100 million for the old schools. Since then, both have declined, but Old Masters radically less so. Last week, they mustered £69 million – only £1 million less than the contemporary art sales the week before.

Art Sales: Old Masters in London (Telegraph)