For an enterprise that specializes in the avant-garde, the art world has been shockingly slow to suffer the effects of the economic crisis. True, business is down at the seventh annual installment of Art Basel Miami Beach, Dec. 4-7, 2008, which brings some 250 dealers from 33 countries to the city’s modern convention center. No longer do collectors rush to snap up prize artworks lest some other buyer beat them to it. Now they take their time. The frenzy is gone.
