Bloomberg- Michael Steinhardt, who made hundreds of millions as a New York hedge-fund manager, said owners of contemporary art may have a rocky ride when values fall.
“We’ve seen some extraordinary rises in prices, but we haven’t seen the downside,” philanthropist-collector Steinhardt, 66, said in a telephone interview from his Westchester County, New York, house last weekend. “There could be great volatility when the market declines.”
Auction records trebled or quadrupled for Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol in New York last week, with price jumps that are rare in other markets. This is happening because new millionaires around the world are buying contemporary art as a form of “personal aggrandizement,” Steinhardt said.
“There are limited assets that have cachet,” he said. “If you buy the fanciest Cadillac today, or a Mercedes, it’s a yawn. The world is so wealthy.”
