Advisers point to her age and her long presence on the secondary art market (her first work appeared at auction 18 years ago at Christie’s New York) as proof that she’s not a flash in the pan.
“Along with the fact that she’s in a number of museum collections, we’re not talking about a young artist here,” says Teeters. “This is an artist who’s been making art since the 1990s in a very professionalized manner. The market bump is certainly a new thing, but there’s an extensive body of work that supports it.”
As opposed to other, more recent examples of market juggernauts who’ve crashed and burned, “bottom line, she’s here to stay,” says Westreich, who notes that she personally can no longer afford to buy Owens’s work.
“I don’t think there’s any question that her market is going to continue to grow. She’s going to continue to make great work, and she’s going to continue to cost more money. It’s just the way it happens.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.