Giacometti with his sculptures

At a Sotheby‘s Auction in London, a life-sized bronze sculpture of a man walking by Alberto Giacometti fetched $103.4 million for the seller, Dresdner Bank AG, which exceeds Picasso’s “Garcon a la Pipe” (Below) by a deafening $300,000. And this excessive heap of cash wasn’t an isolated event, it was merely another piece of evidence supporting the increasing trend in the price of art.

Prices are thought to reveal a renewed interest in selling premium-priced art at auctions; but could this mean that art is of great value – or just that it’s definitely not value-less. The collectors and sellers are consuming the works which were intended for the public eye. Does inspiration come from art locked in bank vaults, or just a bigger price tag? What does the auction actually do to the world of art?

Well, auction prices for contemporary art has dropped by 50 percent, while classic modern works continue to increase. This demonstrates the long term effect that auctions are slowly introducing: as the rich fight for a popular artifact, present day

creativity will suffer from mass disinterest. Thus as the popularity of auctions drives the price of art up, the value of these works will continue to plummet; that is, until everyone agrees that things of cherished value are generally priceless.