We stayed at last December 2012 saying: “the year ended with great difficulties for the art market in Italy. The serious economic and political difficulty of the country has led to a rather significant drop in investments in art, but it is to be hoped that the next six months will be better also in view of new political solutions in a European or global context”. We are now at the close of the first half of 2013 and the forecasts we dreamed of have not come true at all.
The difficulty still persists not only of placing works on the market, but also of simply presenting them for the purpose of a possible transaction. Auction houses, galleries, dealers, despite their constant and qualified commitment, are no longer able to position themselves as in past years despite their "doing" has increased tenfold to the nth degree in seeking new ways of operating and often opting , resigned, either to give up or to move to other foreign countries to find new job opportunities.
However, this does not happen in other European countries, on the contrary, it seems that this "brake towards art" is predominantly an Italian issue. To name a few, think for example of theEngland which has become a destination for operators and above all buyers from all over the world ... bringing Asians, Russians and Middle Easterners to flock. The London auctions are teeming with international "bidders", who compete for the best works, and this allows the auction houses themselves to increasingly seek and improve the quality, rarity and exclusivity of the works, condition sine qua not to get real records.
La France he defends himself well, preferring first French works but by no means excluding all works of great quality by well-known international artists. In addition to Impressionism, Pre-Raphaelitism, Orientalism, international post-war and contemporary art and design have also been added, sectors or passions capable of bringing not only the French but buyers from all over the world to Paris.
La Germany instead it rewards contemporary artists (including Italians) who find new opportunities to access the market, through galleries and places of "cultural contamination" that allow them to exhibit and build a path for their own recognition or first accreditation on the art market .
In Italy despite the various results presented by research studies which confirm that art still creates a percentage of employment (mainly in the organizational-cultural sphere) there is an evident decline in the commercial area, specifically in the sale and purchase of Italian works of any sector or century.
And this is how enthusiasts, collectors, international investors have as their favorite destinations, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam, Maastricht, then New York o Hong Kong…and fewer and fewer look to Italy, except for a fleeting holiday.
The first answer we can give is that our country is experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis which leads people to calculate all types of expenses, especially if they are not extremely necessary. The so-called "bourgeois" class which at the time of the "lira" granted itself goods such as art, even for the mere pleasure of enjoying its beauty, often totally neglecting whether it could be an investment, now finds itself rather in the situation of committing or give as guarantee precisely that or those assets that have been kept up to now, hoping for a discreet recapitalization.
At this point it is worth asking yourself a real reflection: How to get out of this impasse? Perhaps the time has come to be able to see this historic moment not as a profound crisis with no way out but as an epochal "change", where the balance and ways of operating have changed, where we need to rethink a new economic model of culture and its art.
What to do? Art and Tourism…of course yes! Ability to network among operators…of course yes! Making provincialism an example of a culture comparable to other countries…of course yes! Culture for everyone and not for a few…of course yes! Reclaiming the interdisciplinarity offered by galleries as places for the growth of young artists…of course yes! Investing in art without obvious speculation…of course yes! Recognizing and investing in professionals operating in the art world…of course yes! Rewarding patronage…of course yes! Tax exemption – with more advantageous forms – companies that invest in art… of course yes!
If this and much more happened…will we go back to believing that culture is the most precious asset we possess?…of course yes!
