The main International economists are now claiming that the crisis of the financial markets, and the one of the estate markets, are definitely starting to affect the art market, too. A sector that has always been strongly influenced by economic cycles, rather than financial ones. But finance is the world that reacts quickly to economic forecasts. The estate market and therefore the artistic one have slower reaction times.
In a “black” period like the one we are living in, the art market, after the crazy leap of the last years, is trying to show a certain solidity. But what can we expect for the year 2009? The market is changing. Nobody can establish with precision which direction it will take. According to analysts, next year will be comparable to the early Nineties, when prices fell by 44% in two years.
The veteran critic of the New York Times, Jerry Salz, after pointing out the excesses of speculations in the last years, sustains that the recession that is about to arrive will be a period of renewal for art, like the ’40s, ’70s and ’90s were in the last century. Obviously, somebody will get hurt. In fact, this crisis is not expected to hit only auctions, but also galleries and studios.

In a moment of history marked by a thin line separating the boundaries between art dealers and auction houses, Phillips de Pury seems even more determined to confuse these roles, by undertaking a new mission: to represent Annie Leibovitz, as a reseller for US photography.
According to the chairman of the renowned auction house, Simon De Pury, Leibovitz approached Phillips de Pury thanks to Charlie Scheips, international director for the department of photography since 2007, who has known the famous artist since 1987, when he worked as chief assistant for David Hockney. After this approach De Pury met Leibovitz to discuss this particular “alliance agreement”, which will certainly offer better opportunities to the photographer. Indeed, Phillips de Pury will curate Leibovitz’s “master set”, that is a selection of the 200 most representative works of her poetics, and her archive, while the New York agency Art+Commerce will continue to manage her more commercial works.