Q: When is a work of art not a work of art? A: When it's a hedge. Some private/dealer sales here (rumours of McLeavey selling a handful of Hammonds for $100,000 plus) indicate that our top one percent are also looking for art to protect their money during troubled times. Might work, might not, but it is a world-wide trend. This year in spite of economic woes in Europe and the States top-end auctions broke records at nearly every outing. An example? Roy Lichtenstein’s “I can see the whole room… And there’s nobody in it" brought in $56 million or, in our language, 400 Hammonds.
