Art is collateral in fickle market

London

ART and money have long been closely linked, but in the 21st century, it seems, the two have become synonymous.

One way to extract the latter from the former is art-based lending, in which paintings or sculptures are used as collateral for loans. Now that the notoriously fickle and opaque art market is seemingly headed towards a downturn, with money tighter and the prices of many artworks lower, will this kind of niche financing become more attractive to collectors?

Carlyle Group, the private-equity behemoth, certainly t…