We’ve all heard of the unfortunate events to hit the economy in recent months with major financial investment firms going bankrupt and many assets falling to zero. Apparently these major financial firms have been some of the biggest investors in the art world. Recently, Lehman asked a bankruptcy judge to approve a 20k payment to its art handlers in order to start showing their collection to potential buyers. Lehman needs sell off part of art collection to raise at least 8 million dollars. It seems that not all assets go to zero in trying economic times.
Lehman has a heavy hitter collection of over 3,500 pieces of art. The firm’s art holdings, according to a report by Lindsay Pollock of Bloomberg, include works by Jasper Johns, Louise Nevelson, Frank Stella and Wayne Thiebaud, all acquired in the 1970s and ’80s under the supervision of art advisor Janice Oresman, and more recently purchased works by Marlene Dumas, Andreas Gursky, Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami.
“Morons” image by Banksy.
