External Shocks in the Art Markets: How Did the Portuguese, the Spanish and the Brazilian Art Markets React to COVID-19 Global Pandemic? Data Analysis and Strategies to Overcome the Crisis

Abstract

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, and the restrictions imposed by the social distance and the enforced confinement, are having an impact on the art markets globally. The aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of an external shock in the primary art market, using three countries as a case study: Portugal, Spain, and Brazil. These geographies have in common being at the margins in the art market’s main art hubs. It is intended to analyze how agents are responding to the new context, according to the data gathered within the gallery sector. The methods applied in the research are a combination of surveys carried out by the authors, field-based observation, along with an academic literature review, complemented by international and national reports analysis. The study’s main findings allow us to characterize the art market as a very resilient sector that energetically responded to the crisis, able to adapt and overcome challenges imposed by the new pandemic situation. Contemporary art galleries expanded digital activities, kept participating in art fairs hybrid models, continued to focus on internationalization, and pointed to the strengthening of public policies towards the sector and partnerships as key strategies to overcome the crisis.

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“…The study also revealed how practitioners were forced to see the future of theatre and comedia in the light of digitalisation if there was any hope of salvaging the performing arts. In another study, Duarte et al (2021) pointed out how Portuguese, Spanish and Brazilian contemporary arts companies took to expanding digital activities, kept participating in art fairs hybrid models, continued to focus on internationalisation, and advocated the strengthening of public policies towards the sector and partnerships as key strategies to overcome the crisis.…”

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“…Concerning the global art market's performance in relation to sustainability, its specific way of functioning-depending on a strong calendar of events, such as art fairs or exhibitions worldwide-makes the topic particularly challenging. On the other hand, the ability of the field to search for alternative measures, and the resistance to external shocks, has been a way of overcoming the complex issues in the sector [1]. In addition to the recent health pandemic crisis and the ongoing consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the art trade has found solutions as exploring hybrid models for buying and selling art, showing a prompt adaptation to the digital trade, and the online platforms developed by galleries and art fairs became more usual.…”

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