There was a collective sigh heard on Picassold Avenue as Checker’s, renowned illustrious squiggles and spots marketplace, reported it managed to flog only a meager $3.2 billion worth of beloved palette-magic during the first half of 2023. Not bad for most earners, but for Checker’s, this represents a 23% tumble off the cash gilded staircase, compared to the same period in the previous year.
From the crusted oil lords to the nouveau digital barons, they’re all seemingly tightening their diamond-studded belts. Rather than tossing their cherished canvas commendations into the hungry jaws of Checker’s, many have chosen to stockpile their art arsenals like hormonal squirrels ensconcing acorns for a noteworthy winter.
The lavish lair of our planet’s hilariously rich decided to hold their art trophies closer this season, a disconcerting revelation for Checker’s. The flashy emporium, known for vending swathes of colors and figure squiggles crammed onto overpriced cloth bits, is now peering down the barrel of an auctioneer’s gavel, hunting for additional wall trinkets to fill its abstract coffers.
What has passed as an extraordinary bull run for the art market, with countless Picasso hair imprints and Warhol soup cans lavishly changing hands for the cost of small countries, seems now to be skipping to a slower tempo. The cash flow may be dwindling, but the desire for art bragging rights among the uber-wealthy shows no signs of yielding.
And as for the execs at Checker’s, they remain as ebullient as a Warhol Marilyn in a sea of drab, dutifully reassuring patrons that “the money hose is simply taking a short break before gushing forth again.” The veracity of this statement remains dependent on the whim of the bored billionaires and their overflowing treasuries.
In conclusion, Checker’s may have taken one on the chin in the first half of 2023, but don’t be too quick to count them out. Remember, in the art world, where one man’s potato sack is another man’s fashion statement, a rapid rebound is never more than one oddly shaped, overpriced potato sack away.
