Brexit and the art market (ctd.)
January 15 2018
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Immediately after the Brexit referendum result, AHN predicted that the cheaper pound would help boost art exports from the UK, as buyers took advantage of the newly discounted art on sale in Britain. But I didn't expect that art exports would rise so dramatically that they would have an effect on the UK's trade deficit. In the last quarter, overseas art buyers bought an extra £500m worth of art in the UK. The Times reports:
Foreign art collectors came to Britain’s rescue in the three months to November by spending an extra £500 million in auction rooms, helping to pare back the ballooning trade deficit.
The Office for National Statistics said that the deficit had narrowed by £1.2 billion to £6.1 billion over the period, once oil and “erratic” items such as ships, aircraft and non-monetary gold were excluded, with just under half of the improvement down to higher art exports.
The trade deficit reflects the country’s ability to pay its way in the world, measuring how much more Britain imports that it exports. A wide deficit is linked with a risk of currency collapse.
All of this is good for those doing the deals in the UK - auction houses and dealers, at least in the short term. But it's not so good for British heritage. How much of this extra £500m will be accounted for by works of national pre-eminence? I don't know, but I should imagine there will be a proportional rise in export licence applications.
