Prices slashed at Art Basel

The slumping economy has hit this year’s Art Basel: Works by artists including Andy Warhol are being sold at a bargain, as dealers attempt to navigate the biggest drop in the market since 1991. The Swiss-based art fair—featuring nearly 300 international galleries and more than 2,500 artists—opened to VIPs today. Gone are the days of letting art sell itself, dealers say, noting that the average auction price of contemporary art has fallen 76.2 percent since May 2008; they’re now pricing works to sell. New York gallery Deitch Projects is offering a small 1964 Warhol silkscreen at the fair, priced at $675,000. “Last year I would have asked at least $1 million,” gallery founder Jeffrey Deitch told Bloomberg.