The highs and lows of the global art market
Marketplace All-in-One
Marketplace
4.5 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After a pandemic-era boom, the fine art market is going through something of a bust. Many galleries have closed due to climbing overhead costs and sales just aren’t what they used to be. Author and freelance journalist Julie Belcove joins Kimberly to demystify the inner workings of the global art market and what a slump could mean for the those who work in the arts.
Transcript
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| 0:59.3 | Hello everyone. I'm Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where none of us is as smart as all of us. |
| 1:07.8 | In the years right after the COVID-19 pandemic, the fine art market was booming. |
| 1:14.3 | But then after things went up, they kind of came crashing back down. And since 2022, that industry |
| 1:21.4 | has contracted. Overhead expenses became too much for galleries. Collectors began to pull back on spending, and while |
| 1:29.1 | there were some signs of a rebound late last year, the future of the market is still looking |
| 1:34.3 | a bit uncertain. So here to make us smart about what's happening in the fine art market and why |
| 1:40.8 | it matters to the broader economy is Julie Belcove, an author and freelance journalist |
| 1:46.0 | covering the art market. Welcome to the show, Julie. Thank you. It's great to be here. |
| 1:51.6 | Now, first of all, what are folks generally talking about when they say the fine art market? |
| 1:58.0 | Ah, well, that's the $64 million question. |
| 2:01.6 | Because the art market is actually quite leveled and complicated and there is no one single art market. |
| 2:11.6 | I think that a lot of people are talking about the auction houses and the major galleries and the major artists. |
| 2:25.0 | But, you know, in actuality, it's much more complicated than that. |
| 2:30.1 | There are, there's the primary market, which is new work that is being shown. |
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