Is the art market unregulated?

Is the art market unregulated?

Often described as totally unregulated, the art trade is facing more stringent rules. Nevertheless, compared with much larger markets such as financial services, which have stringent rules around, say, insider trading or market manipulation, the art trade operates in a much less regulated environment.

What does the art market depend on?

The development of the art market per se depended crucially upon three factors: the emergence of collectors, the production of movable works of art, and the development of mechanisms for selling these works of art, either directly by the artists—through fairs, markets, and exhibitions in their shops and studios—or via …

Why are art prices so high?

With plenty of demand for artwork, it is the supply side of the equation that often leads to outrageously expensive prices for art. Scarcity plays a huge role. Supply and demand still play a role. Demand still exists and, even though the artist is still alive, he or she can only produce so much art.

Is art market secrecy an issue?

Experts agree that art market secrecy is an issue. When asked which issues are most threatening to the reputation of the art market, a sampling of lawyers, collectors, art professionals, and wealth managers highlighted conflicts of interest, a lack of transparency, secret commissions, and price manipulation among the main problems.

Is there enough regulation of the art market?

Government regulation similarly splits the pundits. But according to Rebecca Davies, chief executive of The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers, there is already enough regulation of the art market.

Is the art market too transparent?

Underlying all the highlighted issues is that the art market is simply not transparent (hardly a novel observation). It’s no surprise, then, that transparency came in third on the list of concerns, with 73\% of wealth managers and 69\% of both collectors and art professionals seeing opacity as a threat to the art market’s reputation.

Does the art market have a conflict of interest problem?

But as the report also notes, conflict of interest is ingrained in the market given that it is “still wedded to a commission-based revenue model.” Underlying all the highlighted issues is that the art market is simply not transparent (hardly a novel observation).