Archive for the 'dealer organizations' Category
The First Place to Go For Industry Change
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010Sometime you have to look at the gift horse and wonder why and where did you come from? For the art and antiques trade, the recently passed American financial reform legislation has many intriguing possibilities. By creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the legislation would allow this government sanctioned agency to oversee some […]
Where Do We Go From Here?
Saturday, July 17th, 2010The (hot) summer of 2010 is upon us in New York City, but telling the temperature in the art and antiques business is a bit more problematic. After the universal effects of “The Great Recession”, are things improving, getting worse, or still evolving from its traumatic consequences? Change in this industry is more than […]
A Legal Indictment Against the Duopoly
Saturday, May 29th, 2010My faith in the legal process may yet be tested. My son, a law student, sent me an article in the New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Art, and Sports Journal-Spring 2010 edition titled: The House Always Wins: A Call to Reform Art Auction House Regulations. It was submitted and written by a 3rd […]
Prices and Pricing of Antiques, of Anything
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010I have always been a strong advocate of disclosed prices in the art and antiques industry. The fear of disclosing an asking price is nothing less than a secret reserve price. It creates a setting for being deceived and manipulated before you even make an inquiry about the item. As a method […]
Hoping For the Best, Antique Furniture
Saturday, February 13th, 2010In the commercial world of decorative and fine arts, the present economic environment has been tough on many areas of the industry, but especially hard on furniture. Is it price, design, or is it not minimalist enough? As one esteemed dealer at the Winter Antiques show lamented to me, was this “English furniture’s […]
The State of the (Winter) Antiques Show
Friday, January 29th, 2010I started writing this blog when the antiques business was pre “Great Recession” in January of 2007. It was when the venerated New York Winter Antiques Show was on its last legs as an event with past glories. At that time the selection of dealer inventory styles was expanding. The extent […]
Industry Control; Controlling Inventory.
Monday, January 18th, 2010Physical possession of a fine or decorative arts item includes an added premium of control. Auctioneers like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have been using this advantage more than anyone in the industry. Their warehouses can be unbelievable experiences to walk through and see such quantity, quality, and diversity (sounds like Newel). But control […]
Happy New Year; Looking Forward to 2010!
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009I can’t wait for 2010, because it must be better than 2009 for the art and antiques trade. If nothing else, there are changes and underground currents in the industry and wealth in general, that should have an effect on how and why these items are traded. As a matter of some economic thought, […]
Antiques and the Luxury Market Today
Sunday, November 15th, 2009In the present state of the antiques market, it seems like an eternity since there was a feeling that our products could be bought and sold with any kind of rapidity. Turnover is not happening, and any sale is a welcomed event. Will this ever change; will there ever be a broad based […]
A National Antiques Week
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009FYI, the National Antique Week runs from November 23-30th, but in England. If American antiques dealers would recognize what a positive image could have on their sales, perhaps they might want to come together for such an occasion. It’s hard for anyone to not be curious about antiques.
The camaraderie of dealers working together for […]