Blistering Prices In A White-Hot Art Market

We dive into the white-hot art market for top tier art. Two billion dollars in a single week, and the money chasing Picassos and more.

Crazy big money running these days through the global art market. $2.5 billion in a handful of days. Almost $180 million paid for a single painting. A big, bright Picasso bought by ‘anonymous.” The highest price ever for a single painting. The age of the super-rich is blowing up the art world right now. If you ever wondered where all that concentrated wealth was going, here’s one place. They buyers are all over the world. The action is frenzied. The impact on art and what you may one day see is right there in the middle of it. This Hour, On Point: the soaring art market becomes a super-rich jamboree.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Lindsay Pollock, editor in chief of Art in America magazine. Author of "The Girl With the Gallery." (@lindsaypollock)

Noah Horowitz, executive director of the Armory Show. Author of "Art of the Deal." (@NoahHorowitz)

Charlotte Burns, US News, Market and Business Editor at The Art Newspaper (@charlieburns)

The Wall Street Journal: Global Art Free-For-All Sends Prices Soaring — "The dizzying prices at New York auctions this week—including a Pablo Picasso painting that sold for nearly $180 million Monday—signal a new era for the global art market in which no one region reigns supreme."

Art In America: Venice Highlights 2015: Pavilions and Collateral Events -- "'All the World's Futures,' the 56th Venice Biennale presentation curated by artistic director Okwui Enwezor, takes a strong political position. As Gregory Volk wrote for A.i.A. last week, 'this complex, tough-minded exhibition decisively shifts focus from the art world to, well, the world.'"

Bloomberg Business: The World's Biggest Art Collectors Have Seen Their Fortunes Surge This Year — "Just how much money is sloshing around among the world's richest art collectors? Three New York auction houses have sold a record $2.7 billion worth of art since May 5. Christie's recorded the first-ever $1 billion-plus week, which included the sale of a Picasso for almost $180 million to an anonymous buyer."