The Australian runs a fascinating profile of the country’s Artbank, an institution consciously constructed to support the art market in times of trouble. Geoffrey Cassidy, the organization’s head is front and center:

Established by the federal government in 1980, Artbank has grown into one of the nation’s largest collections of contemporary Australian art. It rents to private, corporate and public bodies for a fraction of the purchase price. “We’re about supporting the art market generally and artists in particular,” Cassidy says.

But as the art market contracts as part of the global financial crisis, Artbank is preparing to take an active role by helping stabilise the sector. While other buyers are expected to cut back on spending to adjust to the downturn, Artbank will maintain its purchasing rate at present record levels. Cassidy says the move will work as a kind of stimulus package for Australian art.

“We come into our own now,” he says. “This is what we’re all about.”

Cassidy says Artbank’s prospects are healthy: the agency became self-funding in 1992 and its collection is valued at more than $35million. The amount it spends on art — it buys only from living Australian artists — has increased to a record $1 million in the present financial year. He leaves open the possibility that Artbank’s purchasing budget will remain static next year. But he says it is unlikely to go any lower than its present level regardless of any looming recession.

“We see ourselves as supporting not just the artists but the art market as well. It’s about keeping the whole system strong,” Cassidy says. “When everything is booming and everyone is selling their work, we’re not as important. But if other people have pulled out, we’re still going to be out there doing it.

Artbank Ready to Lend a Hand (The Australian)

The Times of London has a brief story on The Fine Art Fund’s Phillip Hoffman’s interest in making a move on the declining market:

Hoffman said he expected prices for some art categories – modern and Impressionist works in particular – to fall by as much as 30% this year. “I am now regularly being approached by wealthy individuals or family estates that are looking to sell art without the publicity of going to auction,” he said. “Unfortunately, at the moment their expectations on price are way too high.”

Evidence is mounting that after years of spectacular growth, art prices are falling. The Mei Moses index, which tracks auctions, suggests prices fell by 4.5% last year, after five years of growth averaging 20% a year. Artprice.com, which also tracks auctions, said that the proportion of works worth more than €1m (£882,000) left unsold increased sharply in the second half of last year.

Hoffman said some art owners would have to accept big losses if they needed a fast sale.

Fine Art Fund Group will cash in on falling prices (Times of London)

Kipton Cronkite is head of investor relations for alternative investments (say that three times fast) with Bank of America. He’s also on the art and party circuit. Suddenly, he seems to be everywhere (here he is in Vanity Fair.)

At Art Basel Miami, he hosted a party with Asprey sponsoring, for his company KiptonArt. Barron’s profiled him recently:

He pulled together a blue-chip panel of art-world experts and had them screen artists who had submitted portfolios of their work online. The artists seen as most promising would get help from those experts to get to the stage where their work could be exhibited in a gallery.

Cronkite’s Website, KiptonArt, now has 650 registered artists, and has hosted more than 30 events to bring together young artists and collectors. “Some are [now] getting representation at great galleries,” Cronkite says.

So we’re curious to hear more about their success stories.