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The average buyer today is fairly young, probably in his 40s, and well-to-do. "Along with old money and society," says Atlanta Auctioneer David Ramos, "the young guy who scored in real estate is becoming an increasing part of our clientele. Also there are successful young lawyers who are investing in antiques for their homes and offices." The protests of purists notwithstanding, many people are buying tangibles as a green hedge against wilting paper of whatever kind, dollars or marks, stocks or bonds. As Sotheby's chairman, Peter Wilson, points out: "There's not a single person who believes that if you put $100 in an envelope and decide you want to give it to your son when he is 21, in 20 years' time that $100 will buy what it does today. Nobody in the world believes really in currency any more."
Many other factors have combined to pump up the proceeds. First-rate works of art are in short supply, and becoming ever more scarce, as the auction catalogues—if not the sales figures—sadly reflect. The prizes go mostly these days to citizens of nations that do not extract excessive taxes from the wealthy: Switzerland, France, West Germany, Japan and the Arab countries. Americans remain very much in the market, however, thanks in part to U.S. tax laws that permit a collector to deduct contributions from his taxable estate if he has willed his treasures to a museum. The museums of America, Western Europe and Japan have at their disposal millions of dollars for acquisitions. The biggest spenders: France's Pompidou Center, Washington's National Gallery, New York's Metropolitan, the Getty in Malibu, Calif.
Some of the canniest collectors of all are thieves, whose acquisitions from museums, galleries, churches and private homes are seldom recovered, despite intensive international police work. Interpol has an FBI-style Most Wanted list of stolen art works, some dating from 1938. Last week a priceless Tintoretto painting missing for nearly 30 years was recovered by the FBI in New York.
The price spiral is also sustained by a vastly increased public interest in art. More than 175 million Americans visited museums last year. Americans are better educated and more intrigued than ever with objects of lasting value. They share a hunger for possessions that have not been stamped out en masse for a homogenized society. They are beginning to emulate upper-crust Europeans, who have always invested disposable income in tangibles. Says Sotheby's Wilson: "We live in such difficult times that the art of the past is somehow reassuring. It can even be an alternative to religion." For many accumulators, it is.
Thus collecting valuable objects is no longer the preserve of the rich. At Sotheby's Los Angeles branch, which recorded a 1978-79 turnover of $13.7 million, 50% of all items on sale go for less than $300. Says Sotheby's Los Angeles president, Peter McCoy: "It makes sense for the average person to frequent our auctions. He'll be competing with the antique shop owner who'll sell a piece for more [probably 40% more] than he can buy it here." Caveat emptor.