Art down but not out at Art Basel Miami Beach

By Tom Brown

MIAMI (Reuters) - Even Picassos seem to be less than recession-proof these days as the art world succumbs to the global economic downturn.

Art Basel Miami Beach, which is billed as one of the world's most lavish art fairs, closed on Sunday to mixed reviews about whether the fine art boom of recent years has definitely turned to bust.

The fair was held in a week when it was confirmed that the U.S. economy has been in a recession for the past year and as the turmoil gripping world financial markets continued unabated.

"We're in a moment, like every other part of the economy, where there's a lot of uncertainty," said fair co-director Marc Spiegler as the show ended its seventh annual appearance in the cavernous Miami Beach Convention Center.

There was a lot of talk of discounting and collectors gunning for huge markdowns on the sidelines of the fair, after prices plunged as much as 50 percent below pre-sale estimates at last month's post-war and contemporary art auctions in New York.

But Spiegler said the fair had exceeded expectations, highlighting the resilience of art even in hard times.

"To the extent that you can draw a conclusion from this show, there's still a lot of money out there for art works of high quality," said Spiegler.

"A lot of art work was sold for a lot of money despite the economic conditions."