A roundup of the news reports and financial results from Frieze, FIAC, the Sotheby’s and Christies London Art auctions and even Sioux Falls, SD. If there is any doubt that the contemporary art market is in limbo, then just check out these headlines that have crossed my desk in the past few days. Most recent are listed first. Click on the headline for a link to the full article.

Is your glass half full or half empty? If half empty, then skip the reading part. Maybe skip the whole post! Though there are a few positive takes in the mix.

Financier puts record setting Degas on auction block, Bloomberg

Baroque or simply broke? Money Woes hit art market, the Associated Press

Arts sales boom may be over, but profits go on amid financial crisis, Telegraph

At contemporary art sales, market stumbles on, International Herald Tribune

Shocked Collectors Seek Bargains as Frieze Buying Stampede Ebbs, Bloomberg

And now, for the good news, The Guardian

Art prices may plummet, report says; Works snapped up at FIAC, Bloomberg

London free art fair offers antidote to market hype, ArtInfo

Lean times for artists, Sioux Falls Argus Leader

Financial crisis: Contemporary art market hit, The Telegraph UK

Aboriginal art sale in Sydney misses target; paintings spurned, Bloomberg

Sotheby’s auction house the latest victim of financial crisis, The Telegraph UK

Prices plunge as financial woe hits art market, GMA News

Will the art bubble burst?, CNN

Art as an alternative ‘passion’ investment, Asia One Business

The contemporary art market–mad as a rubber crutch, Art Knows blog by Tom Flynn

The end is nigh (and other press hysterics), The Art Market Monitor

Christie’s sale misses target as crisis quells demand, Bloomberg

Christie’s art sale falls well short of estimates, Reuters

Still plenty of gain…sales are steady at fairs and at auction, The Financial Times of London

$10.8 m Warhol painting keeps ahead of the contemporary art pack, The Age, Sydney