AS SPRING SALES APPROACH, OPTIMISM VIES WITH WARTIME QUALMS

Some art dealers have advised clients to horde their treasures and wait out the Iraq war and the global economic slump, but others are optimistic about New York’s annual spring auctions. “The very rich have remained very rich and that is our clientele,” Manhattan dealer Howard Zwirner told Reuters reporter Grant McCool. “Serious collectors have somewhat of an addiction and won’t turn that off.”