Writer Melanie Gerlis summarizes her book Art as an Investment? in the Financial Times this week, which reports on the current interest in the art market by major banking and investment firms, and questions the assurances of its value and use in the market.  While often compared favorably to other assets, analysis shows that it is not quite as ideal of a market as some would attest.  She writes: “Equating a popular asset with a profitable asset is misleading. From an investment point of view, art seems to be a very fragile prospect.” (more…)

The Washington Post has published an extensive look at the failure of the Hirshhorn “bubble” project, which saw the departure of several museum board members, and a readdress of the museum’s core mission.  Slated to cost between $12.5 million and $15.5 million, the bubble would have also operated at a loss of $2.8 million annually, which added to the increasingly poor morale around the project.  The museum is currently in recovery mode, with sponsors, donors and staff taking a moment to gather themselves.  “We’ve hit a rough patch, but they say they want it to succeed and move on,” Smithsonian Undersecretary Richard Kurin says. (more…)

The Hirshhorn Museum’s proposed “Seasonal Inflatable Sculpture Project,” informally referred to as “the Bubble,” has been officially decided against, after years of debate and wrangling over its installation on the museum’s property on the National Mall.  The news comes shortly after Hirshhorn director Richard Koshalek announced his decision to resign after a split vote on the Bubble several weeks ago.  “If the board were more together and if we were seeing more results of that, then we might have made a different decision,” Smithsonian Undersecretary Richard Kurin said. “Because it’s divided, it makes it hard to move forward.” (more…)

Hirshhorn Museum Director Richard Koshalek will resign from his position by the end of the year, following a split vote decision on the future of the museum’s proposed architectural “bubble,” which was planned to emerge from the top of the building’s circular structure. The project has faced a series of major delays and budgetary setbacks since its 2009 announcement. “The board was divided and could not reach a decision,” said Smithsonian Undersecretary Richard Kurin. “I think Richard was looking for a very broad endorsement, and that didn’t happen. It wasn’t about the Bubble and what it could do architecturally or what it could do for the Hirshhorn. It was much more about finances going forward.”

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Since February of 2011, Sotheby’s stock valuation has been on a slow decline, signaling a potential downturn in the global art market.  Earnings per share, recorded last year at $2.46, are now down to $1.68, and sales are projected to fall 9.4%, caused in part by a weaker asian market than 2011’s record setting year.  Analysts are comparing the current state of the art market to the dot com bubble of the the early 2000’s.  “It hearkens back to what the Japanese were doing with buildings in New York in the late 1980s.” says Yale University lecturer Vikram Mansharamani. (more…)