Submitted by Sir Joshua, Apr 25, 2007 10:08

Fairs are a reflection of the market. Anyone attending Christie's recent Old Master sale noticed that the vast majority of buyers were from England or Europe. The English, thanks to the current Pound//Dollar exchange, were there for a two-for-one sale, and the Europeans wern't far behind. For some reason, the dollar is in a bad way yet the Dow is ready to break 1300. I think this exchange rate thing is all psychological. They hate us because of Iraq and decide that our currency just isn['t cutting it. They are also still pieved that we WON WW II on both fronts and that they were in beat up submission for 20 years after the war (read Geo. Trow - My Pilgrims Progress). Phooie.

Another thing attendees at Christie's noted was that estimates were colossally high. No doubt reflecting the downward value of the $. Such schadenfreud. I guess their gratitude for the Marshall Plan left with the last generation. Watch the prices at the fair. Mr. Eisenberg who gleefully states 'The money is rolling.' is actually referring to either European buyers who think the $ is play money or NYC hedge fund managers eager to do something with their flash cash. This means the average Joe art collector is out in the cold in spite of the lovely weather we've been having.

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