Category: Auctions
Christie's Contemporary sale lifts the gloom
October 15 2011
Picture: Christie's
Christie's comprehensively beat Sotheby's this week in the battle of the contemporary art sales. Where Sotheby's totalled only a below estimate £17.8m, Christie's came in with an above estimate £38m.
One of the star performers was a maquette by Anthony Gormley of The Angel of the North (above), which sold for £3.4m (inc. premium) against an estimate of £1.5m-£2m. As a guide to how fast the contemporary market can move, it was only in 2008 that Philip Mould's valuation of another Gormley maquette of The Angel made headlines as the first Antiques Roadshow item to beat £1m.
'The mood has changed'
October 14 2011
So says London-based art dealer Edmondo di Robilant, discussing last night's weak contemporary art auction at Sotheby's. A number of high-profile lots failed to sell, and although the Sotheby's press release talks boldly about records being broken, a closer look at the numbers reveals a different story.
The Contemporary Art Evening Sale, Sotheby's major event of this important contemporary art week (alongside Freize) raised a total of £17.8m. This figure includes buyer's premium, whereas the the pre-sale estimate of £19-26m does not. So knock off a couple of million for premiums, and you get a total hammer price some way below even the lower pre-sale estimate. That's not good, however you spin it.
From Bloomberg:
Some paintings went unsold, such as Peter Doig’s “Bellevarde,” valued at as much as 2 million pounds.
“That would have sold a year ago,” the London-based dealer Edmondo di Robilant said. “The mood has changed. Auction houses entice things with high estimates and in the past they’ve been able to sell them. That wasn’t always the case tonight. A number of lots that sold were knocked down against lowered reserves.”
Dealers said economic worries were weighing on some buyers. Even headline-grabbing pieces such as Marc Quinn’s 18-carat gold sculpture of Kate Moss in a yoga pose attracted just one bid. The 2008 “Microcosmos (SIREN)” was knocked down to a bidder represented by Patti Wong of Sotheby’s Asia for 577,250 pounds.
There was also just one telephone bid for the 1952 close-up portrait “Boy’s Head” by Freud, who died in July, aged 88. It was valued at 3 million pounds and fetched 3.2 million pounds.
The word is that Frieze this year hasn't exactly been stellar. So - what's going on? Is it the economy? Has the price-it-high and sell-it-low game played by the auctioneers finally been rumbled? Or, is the excesseive hype around contemporary art beginning to fade. Probably a combination of all three.
Which one is by the Orangutan?
October 14 2011
Picture: Sotheby's/Hogle Zoo
Which one of these sold last night at Sotheby's for £421,250 and which one was painted by an orangutan? I bet quite a few of you get the answer wrong.
Ok, I know it's a tired old cliché. But you've got to admit that this particular Orangutan, Acara (b.2005), is pretty talented...
Here's the catalogue note for Untitled by Christopher Wool:
Wool's attitude towards the role of images in our culture today, one which he shares with contemporaries such as Prince, Oehlen, Cady Noland and Kippenberger, has become increasingly important to a younger generation of image makers, including New York artists Wade Guyton, Josh Smith and Kelley Walker.
And here's the note for Untitled by Acara;
Born here at Utah's Hogle Zoo in 2005 to Elijah and Eve, Acara inherited some of her talent for art from her parents. She has been the most consistent and reliable orangutan in her desire to paint when asked to, and rarely turns down an opportunity to create a masterpiece. Still learning her craft, she has been an intent observer of the techniques our human guest artists have used, and has then used these techniques in her own work. She seems to be the most versatile in using different materials as well as different styles and can be counted on to deliver a finished piece in mere moments.
If you like Acara's work, then why not buy some here to help protect orangutans' native forests around the world.
The Madoff Curse
October 12 2011
Picture: Christie's
That Wootton once owned by Bernie Madoff failed to sell again today at $70-100k. An after-sale offer of $30k would probably do it. A better investment than any fund of Madoff's...
The price of bad provenance
October 11 2011
Picture: Christie's
A picture from Bernie Madoff's collection will be sold at Christie's in New York tomorrow. Brocklesby Betty, 1718, by John Wootton has an estimate of $70,000-100,000. In the first Madoff sale in June this year it had an estimate of $140,000-169,000. Strangely, this time it is being offered in a 19th Century European Paintings sale, which is hardly the right auction.
Being an auctioneer
October 11 2011
Picture: Sotheby's
Here's an enlightening video from Sotheby's about being an auctioneer. It's a touch laudatory, but includes interesting snippets from Henry Wyndham (above), who's the best in the business.
Money for old rope (with a dead child on it)
October 10 2011
Picture: BG
Viewing the London contemporary art auctions is one of the highlights of my art market year, as the auction houses transform their sale rooms with dramatic lighting and enormous estimates. Where an old master sale is crammed with pictures, people and conversation, contemporary sales are hushed, reverential affairs where no expense is spared. Every piece of art is treated as if it were a priceless masterpiece, its virtues extolled to gullible collectors by trendy specialists in look-at-me glasses. Even the labels are larger than usual, to cope with all those extra zeros. It's worth going just to marvel at the sheer decadence of it all.
The above caught my eye at Christie's. Maurizio Cattelan's Untitled consists of three flagpoles. At the top of one hangs a life-like dummy of a child on a rope. It is the centrepiece of this week's Contemporary Art evening auction on 14th October. At the entrance to the room in which Untitled is displayed is a sign saying:
Please note an artwork in this room is of a challenging nature. Please ask a member of staff if you require any further guidance.
Powerful, or revolting? You decide. But at £900,000-£1,200,000 it provides a telling narrative of the time we live in.
Restitution - a case study
October 10 2011
Picture: Philip Mould Ltd
This is worth going to: Dr Clarence Epstein of the Max Stern Art Restitution Project will be in London on 20th October to give a talk on tracking down Nazi-looted art. Max Stern was a Jewish art dealer forced to dissolve his business, with his pictures sold at knock-down prices. The lecture is at 8pm at Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square London (near Russell Sq.). Call 020 7520 1535 for seats.
We recently gave the above Flemish picture back to the Stern collection. It had originally been sold from Stern's collection at Lempertz auction house in Germany. And guess where we bought it, unknowingly, some 70 years later? Lempertz. And would they give us a refund? Nein...
Elizabeth Taylor - up a Hals, down a Modigliani?
October 5 2011
Picture: Architectural Digest
Yesterday saw the news that Elizabeth Taylor had a previously unknown Hals portrait in her collection. But today we find that her Modigliani (lower right, above) is in doubt. Is part of the problem the seemingly vice-like grip over Modigliani 'expertise' by our old friends the Wildensteins? From the LA Times:
When asked about the painting... Christie's Americas head Marc Porter said it was not appearing in a Christie's sale.
"There is a great controversy in the Modigliani authentication world because Restellini and Wildenstein are supposed to be producing new catalogue raisonné."
"So many collectors of her generation have bought Modiglianis that in this time period can't be authenticated," he added. "There are dozens of Modiglianis waiting to be established."
Elizabeth Taylor: Actress, Star, Connoisseur?
October 4 2011
Picture: LA Times
A portrait from Elizabeth Taylor's collection has been identified as a Frans Hals by Christie's. Previously, the picture was considered to be an imitation of Hals' work. From the LA Times:
The painting, "Portrait of a Man, Half-Length," was for decades thought to be by an imitator or student of Frans Hals, the great Dutch painter often compared to Rembrandt for his vigorous, sometimes humorous depictions of the growing merchant class. Now Ben Hall, the head of Christie's Old Masters department in New York, is making the case that Taylor's painting was the handiwork of Hals himself. An expert in Hals' work agrees.
With the change in attribution comes a change in projected value: a canvas that would have likely brought less than $100,000 could now bring $1 million in an Old Masters auction in January.
The re-attribution is an example of the importance of seeing a painting, long known through reproduction, in the flesh. In the 1970s, the painting appeared in scholar Seymour Slive's catalogue raisonné on Hals — the industry standard for what is and is not authentic — as "doubtful and wrongly attributed." But Slive only saw the work in a black-and-white reproduction.
Hall, on the other hand, saw the painting in person in July, when it arrived at Christie's Rockefeller Center warehouse with other material from Taylor's estate. He said it "packed a real punch — making a tremendous impact from even 20 feet away."
Exclusive - Nazi loot extortion attempt foiled?
October 3 2011
Picture: The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper recently reported on an attempt to sell a painting by Jan van Huysum stolen from the Palazzo Pitti in 1943/4. The picture had been evacuated from Florence in 1943, but was 'acquired' by a German soldier in Italy in 1944 'in exchange for food'.
Now, the soldier's grandson wants a EUR2m 'finder's reward' for returning the picture. He is threatening to sell the painting if he doesn't get the money. The demand has come through Edgar Liebrucks, the German lawyer who represented those who handled the Tate's two stolen Turners in 2002-4, for which the museum paid a ransom fee for information of £3.5m.
Liebrucks has proposed that if the picture is worth EUR 10-12m, then it should be sold at auction with 80% of the proceeds going to the museum, and the balance to his client. Liebrucks says:
My client needs the money, and it is feared that he will sell the painting elsewhere. I hope this will never happen.
Well, Edgar, I hope it doesn't happen either. After The Art Newspaper reported the story, I contacted The Art Loss Register. Surely, if the picture was not lawfully disposed by the Palazzo Pitti, it cannot legally be sold now? And sure enough, it can't. The picture is now listed on the Art Loss Register's database, ruling out the auction option at least. So if Mr Liebrucks and his client still want to squeeze money out this shoddy deal, they'll have to think of a plan B.
Guffwatch: Koons special (Vol.III)
September 29 2011
Picture: Sotheby's
Sotheby's has put together an entertaining film called 'The Artist'. The premise is, what inspires great artists to make their great works? As Sotheby's auctioneer Tobias Meyer asks in the introduction:
How could Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel, how did he come up with all these compositions? How did he do it? It's a miracle.
Cut to Jeff Koons (sitting, I presume, in his studio with four assistants making his works behind him) - so, how do you do it, Jeff?
My father was an interior decorator, and from a young age I would see all the samples for carpet and wallpaper and I was also around a lot of objects. I really learnt about how colours and textures really can effect emotionally how you feel about things. My grandfather used to have an ashtray, it was of a woman lying down on a couch, with her legs in the air and if you put a cigarette here the heat from the cigarette would make the legs go back and forth... I was so fascinated by that, so it had a big influence on me... [etc., etc.]
Can't you just imagine Michelangelo saying something similar? Still, the film is worth watching for the views of some other, more enlightening artists.
New Fitzwilliam acquisition
September 27 2011
Picture: Tribune De L'Art
The Fitzwilliam has bought the above Lamentation of Christ supported by the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene by Marcantonio Bassetti (1586-1630). The picture is painted in oil on slate, and measures 15 x 11 3/8 inches. Apparently it was acquired from the sculpture dealer Danny Katz, who bought it at Christie's in New York in 2003 for $273,500.
It says something of the Fitzwilliam's determined introspection (check out their non existent labels next time you go) that the news comes in French via the site Tribune de L'Art, with, at the time of writing, not a whisper on the museum's own website.
Lost Sassoferrato found in US?
September 27 2011
Picture: Fairfield Auction
A painting thought to be by Sassoferrato has been discovered in a small auction house in New England. Catalogued as 'Italian Old Master', and with an estimate of just $5-7,000, the picture sold for $184,000 including premium. More images here (scroll down to Lot 108).
The world's most expensive fake?
September 19 2011
Picture: People's Daily
The above picture sold in June last year for $11.25 million in Beijing as a work by Chinese artist Xu Beihong (1895-1953). It had been authenticated by his son, above. However, a group of students has now come forward to say that it was painted by a classmate, in 1983.
Given the stratospheric prices for Chinese art at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if the market is riddled with similar fakes. But the most interesting fact seems to be that in China, the auction house faces no liability should it sell a fake:
Zhao Li, director of Chinese Modern & Contemporary Art Document Research Center, told the Global Times that mistakes can be made when identifying and evaluating art works, but that the crucial problem was the lack of an official authority to certify the authenticity of any artwork.
"There is no strict and standardized assessment mechanism for art appraisal in China. Once a work is discovered to be fake, there is no regulation to stipulate which party should shoulder the responsibility and face punishment," Zhao said.
According to the country's Auction Law, auctioneers are not allowed to promise the authenticity or the quality of the products, which is believed to exempt auction companies from taking the blame.
Caveat emptor...
Strong Indian art sales
September 16 2011
Picture: Christie's via Bloomberg
More high prices for anything painted east of the Suez this week. The above painting by Maqbool Fida Husain, Yatra, sold for $932,500 in New York, beating its high estimate of $500,000 by some way. Details at Bloomberg here.
Poussin goes to the Kimbell
September 9 2011
Picture: Christie's
Nicolas Poussin's Sacrament of the Ordination, which was offered by the Duke of Rutland at Christie's last year, will now go on display at the Kimbell Museum in Texas. Carol Vogel in the New York Times has the story of what happened after it failed to sell:
What few people realized was that the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth was quietly keeping tabs on the painting. “We were watching it closely,” said Eric M. Lee, the Kimbell’s director. “But December was not the right time for us to buy it.”
When it didn’t sell, he added, he “felt it was too important a painting to pass up.” So Mr. Lee approached the museum’s trustees “to see if we could afford it.”
This summer the institution finally made a deal, paying $24.3 million — Christie’s low estimate — without the auction house’s steep buyer’s premium. Robert Holden, a fine-art agent based in London, and George Wachter, head of Sotheby’s old master painting department worldwide, represented the Kimbell.
I wonder how long it will take for the Duke's four remaining Sacrament paintings to end up at the Kimbell...
La Peregrina pearl to be sold
September 8 2011
The famous pearl given to Mary I by Philip II, and worn by her in her portraits, will be sold in December at Christie's. Valued at $2-3m, it was until recently owned by Elizabeth Taylor. Interestingly, a portrait such as the above by Hans Eworth is worth at least twice that.
More on the history of pearl, and Taylor's ownership of it, here.
Art market futures
September 7 2011
Picture: Sotheby's
Here's a first - and a sign of things to come. Next week, Sotheby's in New York will host their first ever Fine Classical Chinese Paintings sale. Above is an anonymous 17th/18th Century Seated Portrait of a Prince (detail), ink and colour on silk, estimated at $90-120,000.
Probably, it won't be long until Chinese Paintings sales are as important as the bi-annual Old Master sales. The only question is, will such sales take place in the West, in Europe and America - or will the world's art market gravitate permanently to Asia?
