Is the Vogue for Cheaper Works from Famous Artists the Sign of Bad Things to Come?

Ever doubtful of the health of the art market, the Wall Street Journal takes the trend toward buying cheaper works related to famous artists as a sign of an overheated market. That may be but one could easily see this as a trend toward a broader interest in owning art:

“These are the names everybody knows—they feel safe for people, especially when no one quite knows exactly how long a good run is going to last,” said Meredith Hilferty, a director at Rago Arts & Auction Center in Lambertville, N.J.

In the last five years, roughly 17,000 limited-edition pieces, works on paper and paintings by 10 top artists including Marc Chagall, Joan Miró and Degas have sold at auction for $1,000 to $10,000—a 45% increase over works sold by the same artists a decade ago in a comparable price range, according to the auction database Artnet.

As lower-priced pieces enter the mainstream, some art experts bristle at what they see as a rising acceptance of irrelevant work with little artistic merit.

“Some of these things are indeed becoming financially valuable because they are praised by a growing number of ill-informed collectors,” Véronique Wiesinger, former director of the Giacometti Foundation, wrote in an email. “It no doubt reflects a loss of connoisseurship, from collectors and auction specialists.”

How to Buy Warhol, Degas and Renoir on the Cheap (WSJ.com)