Is Old Master dealing getting harder?
November 12 2013
Picture: Artinfo
Yes, is the short answer. That is, dealing in the sense of having a small business selling directly to clients, rather than at auction. This week, the Antiques Trade Gazette reports that Noortman, one of the pre-eminent European Old Master dealers, is to close. It's not long since Agnews, another great art dealing name, closed.
The main issue is competition from the auction houses. Sotheby's and Christie's bring an enormous, global corporate momentum to the Old Master world, and it's almost impossible for your traditional small-scale independent dealer to compete against that. Dealers can never hope to out-market or out-spend such companies. The old model of retail art dealing is therefore long dead. The only way left to beat the auctioneers is to out-think them. It's bloody difficult, but fun.
The irony in this case is that Noortman was wholly owned by Sotheby's.
