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The hope was the Middle Eastern, Asian, and Russian markets, least affected by the global credit crisis, would make up for declining performances in the US and Europe.
The last 4 years had seen a 400% increase in Middle Eastern sales and the last Abu Dhabi sale only 6 months before sold 84% of its lots.
Yet, due to falling oil and equity prices, the October show only sold 70% of its lots.
This mirrored the disappointments in New York and London, where sales have been hovering around 65% of projected estimates.
By the first week of November it was clear the art world was not immune to the worldwide financial crisis.
The September 2008 auctions by Sotheby's and Christie's in New York did not fare too badly, which didn't quite prepare either house for the significant drops two months later.
Experts say it usually takes 6-12 months for markets to decline after a financial crash.
If so, we are seeing a backlash in fast-forward, probably due to public hype and the belt tightening that has made its way past the middle classes to the upper classes, the major collectors of art.
From all quarters, art experts, collectors, advisors, and auction house representatives are weighing in on the current economic crisis and its effects on the world art market.
Art work of high and medium value has slipped by 25-30% in the past 9 months.
The art still selling is mostly iconic and rare, yet run-of-the-mill modernists are staying on the shelves: Kandinsky and Chagall to name a few.
Some optimists are looking to Damien Hirst's $111.
5 million Sotheby's auction, a smashing success during the wake of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.
Yet Hirst's fans have a vested interest in keeping prices high, making him a questionable argument for continued high art sales of popular artists.
And conservative experts warn that one should avoid acquiring contemporary artists who have ascended dramatically over the past year.
Those that rose quickly could now fall even faster.
The Silver Lining Every cloud has a silver lining.
It is a buyer's market and a seriously good season for the serious collector.
Important modernist pieces are going for 25% of their value.
If you have the money and are willing to invest long-term, experts are saying now is the time to buy.
Looking forward, some investors and collectors are pointing to the Indian market, for example, the heritage artists from the Bengal School of Art.
This high-growth market is a favorite, especially in a depressed stock market.
France has boasted healthy sales at its biggest annual art fair Fiac at the end of October, the height of the financial crisis.
A gallery owner there has said that Paris isn't a market of traders, so it hasn't experienced a drop in sales, just a change in buyer behavior.
Collectors have become more serious and discerning, but aren't spending less.
Yet any art market saying it isn't financially affected by the crisis may want to hold off its verdict.
As we've seen: oh, what a difference a week can make.
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