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| Crucified Christ – Viktor Vasnetsov 1885 |
Religion News Service recently published an article on the decline of prices achieved at auction for images of the crucifixion. It cites many reasons but what I found most interesting were the comments that reflected on the Christian art market in general.
“The de-emphasis on art as part of the devotional experience within the Catholic Church surely has had some impact on this,”
While that may be true there are some indications that we are seeing a renewal in the use of imagery in our churches. But the article continues:
“Wealthy Catholics nowadays, in general, do not seem to be particularly ambitious to crown their art collections with an outstanding crucifix or a painted Crucifixion,”
All of this adds up to a difficult market for contemporary Christian art. Read the article here.
What do you think? Is the market for Christian art going from bad to worse? Do you see churches or private households buying more or less Christian imagery? Do the prices of vintage paintings at auction even have anything to do with contemporary art?
