Post-9/11 Art Market: Vanity and Morality in Crisis

A New York auction house specialist predicts a severe market correction post-9/11, with contemporary art most affected. Artists embodying excess, like Jeff Koons, may suffer. The return of American morality will purge 'vulgar' works, exemplified by Van Dongen. Conversely, cheerful flower bouquets will sell well. Criticism of American society via art is now taboo; Shirin Neshat's works, once celebrated by Time Magazine as 'image of the future,' face resale pressure in New York. In Las Vegas, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art canceled an Alexander Calder show, while the Guggenheim opened at the Venetian. Steve Wynn's Desert Inn mini-museum, Le Rêve, displays 14 works by Van Gogh, Matisse, etc., with admission $10. Wynn bought Picasso's 'Le Rêve' (1932) for about $42 million, previously sold at Christie's in 1997 for $48.4 million. Despite the crisis, art remains a vehicle for personal vanity and profit.