Challenges and Prospects for the Visual Arts Businesses in Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract: Despite worldwide economic reсession and unstable political situation, the global fine art market in 2014 has reached a new record in sales of 15.2 billion dollars, which is 26% more than in 2013 and 300% higher than in 2004 (Artprice annual report, date not available, online). Does this trend mean that the global fine art market is becoming extremely overpriced? Is it some kind of a bubble that will crash as soon as people will stop investing their money in art? These questions are very difficult to answer even for an experienced art broker, but according to Artprice, recently many art collectors started to invest big sums of money in emerging artists. Often in young undiscovered artists under 30 years of age. The geographical location of art buyers also has shifted, in 2007 China replaced France as the third largest market in the world for art, after the United States and the United Kingdom (Smith, 2009, p.131). The arts are usually seen as an important part of development and well-being of any society, however the individuals and companies within this industry often have difficulties to survive and sustain. This thesis will be focusing on getting a deeper understanding of causes of this problem and also drawing conclusions and recommendations on how the current situation on the visual arts market in Gothenburg, Sweden could be possibly improved.