The contemporary art market poses one of the great chicken-egg questions in all of economics: If the thing for sale has no objective value, do prices need to be manipulated? Or is value meaningless because prices are being manipulated in the first place?

This question applies to other markets too (private equity, for one), but it is more apparent in the market for contemporary art — art by living artists, especially emerging artists, whose work sells for between $50,000 and say $300,000. The entire art market is slowing down, but that is particularly true for younger artists, also known as “ultra-contemporary.” In some cases, prices are collapsing, risking many careers.