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Latest Art Market Internet Startups – artmarketblog.com

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:34:40 +0000

Latest Art Market Internet Startups – artmarketblog.com

Here is a list of the best new art market internet startups:

my-artmap

http://www.myartmap.de

my-artmap is a social network and the social network for art & the art market. Members are persons or institutions who deal professionally with art and the art market (auction house, commercials, galeries, museums, exhibitions) and private persons who are interested in art. They all have through my-artmap the chance to talk about art, to show and to share art, as well as to inform themselves about current exhibitions, appointments etc. The network my-artmap claims to establish the worldwide leading social network for art & the art market. Currently my-artmap is available in 7 different languages and provides an unique network which will be expanded by more languages and functionalities.

Artolo

http://www.artolo.com

The visual art world reinvented, rebooted and made accessible to all.

An online platform that allows you to discover and purchase work ANYWHERE, be it your local cafe, an artist studio near your holiday destination or in the basement of a well-established gallery.

A place where ANYBODY can resell work from a piece by a friend to a Monet discovered in the attic.

And a place where EVERY artist will have all the tools they need to present their work, connect with the right audience and manage the process of a sale. The art world will never be the same.

ArtBinder

http://www.artbinder.com

ArtBinder’s mission is to offer galleries a brilliant way to display a curated selection of their works.

ArtBinder provides galleries with an elegant iPad solution with intuitive tools to streamline the sales and presentation experience.

Ocula

http://www.ocula.com

Ocula presents leading contemporary galleries in Australia and New Zealand in one place.
On Ocula you can browse the latest exhibitions, explore a gallery stockroom, and discover
works by artists they represent.

Ocula online art auctions offer exciting opportunities to buy art in a new way. Prospective bidders
can access comparable sales data, artist’s profiles and provenance all at the click of a mouse.
High-resolution images  reveal details, a zoom tool gets you up close and many artworks offered
can be viewed prior to and during an auction at  our gallery in Auckland. Or you can use our virtual
gallery which offers 3D viewing of the works.

Artfinder

http://www.artfinder.com

At Artfinder.com you can explore our huge gallery of works (from over 400 museum and gallery collections), build your own art profile, collect the art you love, and share it with your friends.

The more Artfinder learns about the works you like, the better it can recommend similar art for you to discover, and connect you with other Artfinder users who share your tastes.

Collectrium

http://www.collectrium.com

Founded by Boris Pevzner in 2009, Collectrium is a New York-based company providing innovative technology for organizing, discovering, sharing, and promoting art on the web and mobile devices, including the revolutionary ArtCapture and virtual wall tools. Over time, the Collectrium team—which has extensive expertise in the fields of technology, finance, and the fine and decorative arts—will offer collectors and galleries integrated services for art storage, appraisals, financing and other needs.

Artnetbook

http://www.artnetbook.com

Artnetbook is a web-based art management solution, art management web tool to manage, market and sell your arts online. Manage your arts on the web from anywhere in the world!

Artnetmarket will allow art people, artists, art galleries, to freelty join online artnetbook.com art community and add profiles for free.

The idea of ArtMap lays in the systematic interactive map with thorough art directory. Visitors will be able to find and search for the different part of art world services provided by different institutions.

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.

Top 5 Art Market Internet Startups – artmarketblog.com

Record Rise for Orientalist Paintings – artmarketblog.com

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:19:10 +0000

Record Rise for Orientalist Paintings – artmarketblog.com

As the art market continues to rebound, and new buyers continue to emerge from the middle east, the demand for top orientalist paintings has risen significantly over the last twelve months. Exceeding the market high seen during the 2007/2008 boom, the prices being paid for the work of many orientalist artists have reached record highs. Christie’s 26 January 2012 Old Master & Early British Drawings & Watercolors held at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York saw the fifth highest auction price achieved for British/Italian artist Edward Lear whose orientalist watercolour painting Montenegro - a group of figures in a mountainous landscape – shot past the $120,000 – $180,000 estimate for a final price of $422,500. Previously sold by Christie’s for US$93,400 (excluding premium) in 1992, the painting then passed to the vendor through Artemis, London in 1996. Lear’s View of Gwalior, India, 1880 also sold well fetching $170,500 against an estimate of $50,000 – $70,000.

Over at Bonhams, a new auction record was set for Russian artist Vasilii Dmitrievich Polenov with an orientalist inspired painting titled He that is without sin from the artist’s The Life of Christ series. Estimated to sell for £1,200,000 – 1,800,000, this epic painting by one of Russia’s greatest artists sold for £4,073,250 during Bonham’s The Russian sale held on the 30 Nov 2011 in London. Earlier in the year, on the 6th of June, Sotheby’s achieved a new auction record for one of Polenov’s contemporaries, Vasily Vasilievich Vereschagin, whose orientalist painting of the Taj Mahal sold for £2,281,250 against an estimate of £250,000 – 450,000.

According to French auctioneers Artcurial, they were the world leader in orientalist paintings in 2011, posting a turnover total of 5 million euros for the year. Artcurial set four orientalist auction records during 2011 including:

La Kasbah rouge by Jacques Majorelle, 1924, sold for €1,315,818 on 9 June 2011;
A work on paper by Alexandre Roubtzoff, sold for €60,020 on 9 June 2011, reaching a record of €434,300, on 8 June 2010 for an oil painting from 1935, la Bédouine de Tunis;
La Tikka, l’heure du thé by Edouard-Léon-Louis Edy-Legrand, sold for €378,494 on 9 June 2011;
Les Beautés de Marrakech by Lucien Levy-Dhurmer, pastel on paper, sold for €297,900 on 18 December 2011.

image: Montenegro by Edward Lear

Jan 2012 Art Market Blog Press Update – artmarketblog.com

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:58:48 +0000

Jan 2012 Art Market Blog Press Update – artmarketblog.com

Just a few recently published articles that I wrote. Hope you enjoy !!

In Recognition of an LA-Centric Art Market Trend

http://www.fabrikmagazine.com/content/in-recognition-of-an-la-centric-art-market-trend/

Latest London Contemporary Art Auction Roundup

http://www.arterynyc.com/2011/12/october-2011-london-contemporary-art-auction-roundup/

Pearls prove a collectors best friend

http://www.worthpoint.co.uk/2012/01/pearls-prove-a-collectors-best-friend/

image: Painting by Frederick Hammersley

Singapore to Conquer French Contemporary Art Market – artmarketblog.com

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:41:51 +0000

Singapore to Conquer French Contemporary Art Market – artmarketblog.com

Having focused recent posts on the Southeast Asian art market, I found it particularly interesting that Artprice have announced that Singapore should soon overtake France in the field of Contemporary art sales. Although 2011 was a better year for France than 2010, the French art market is still lagging behind other major art market centres. Currently fourth in world art market rankings, France may be heading further down the list if Singapore continues to rise through the ranks.

Evidence of the growing profile of Singapore as an art market hub is the success of the Art Stage Singapore art fair first held in 2010 and currently taking place in Singapore from the 12th to the 15th of January. According to their website: “Art Stage embraces Singapore’s unique position as a bridge between the East and the West in a celebration of both emerging new regional artists and international superstar names.” The inaugural edition of the fair attracted 121 galleries from 26 countries and regions, and 30 special projects, with the number of visitors hitting 32,000. This year, the show will host 120 exhibitors from 18 diverse nations and will be introducing 50 special projects. Adding to the hype of the 2012 edition of the fair is the inclusion of major international galleries such as White Cube, Haunch of Venison and Victoria Miro.

What first alerted me to the importance of Singapore to the market for Southeast Asian art was the number of works by Indonesian and Filipino artists being sold by Singaporean auction houses. The main auction houses with a presence in Singapore are Masterpiece Fine Art Auction, Borobudur Auction, Larasati Auctioneers and 33 auction. Enticing bidders with the lowest buyers premium in Singapore of between 10% – 12%, 33 auction auction have proven to be one of the main players in the Singapore art market. Having moved major sales of modern and contemporary South-East Asian paintings from Singapore to Hong Kong in 2007, both Christie’s and Sotheby’s may now be regretting this move. The move did, however, allow the regional auction houses to gain a foothold that has resulted in a strong regional art auction market that continues to grow.

Without the same high profile as artists coming out of Indonesia and the Philippines, Singaporean contemporary artists still have a long way to go before they catch up to the success of Singapore as a destination for Southeast Asian art. But, with the way the Singapore art market is heading, it may only be a matter of time before we see some big prices for Singaporean artists – and the French being left behind by the Singapore art market machine.

Why Indonesian Artists are Hot Property – artmarketblog.com

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:02:51 +0000

Why Indonesian Artists are Hot Property – artmarketblog.com

My previous post revealed some recent auction results that suggest that the market for the work of some of Indonesia’s top artists is gaining strength. One of the factors that has contributed to the strength and resilence of the market for Indonesian art is the existence of a cross cultural dialogue between east and west that is due to the Dutch colonisation of Indonesia that ended in 1942. This dialogue is not limited to the influence of Eestern art on Indonesian artists; many Western born artists such as Walter Spies, Theo Meier, Le Mayeur de Merprès and Hofker spent time in Indonesia and produced work that was heavily influenced by Indonesian society and culture. An indication of the close connection between the Netherlands and Indonesia is the partnership between Larasati, an Indonesian auction house, and Glerum, an Amsterdam based auction house. In 1990 Glerum became the first Dutch auction house to organize specialist auctions of Dutch colonial and modern Indonesian art. Their first joint sale with Larasati in 2000 resulted in a new world record W.G. Hofker when the artist’s ‘Ni Noneh’, offered by a collector in the Netherlands, sold for € 386,000. Also achieving a high price was a work by Hendra Gunawan titled ‘Fruit Seller’ which soared past the Rp 180 – 240 million estimate for a final price of Rp 550 million.

Although the frequency of high prices has not reached 2008 levels, the prices being achieved for the work of many Indonesian artists have, importantly, not gone down – and in some cases, have continued to increase. 2011 proved one of the best years for Indonesian art since 2008 with many new auction records set. An example of the demand for works by Indonesian artists was Christie’s November 27 Asian 20th Century Art (Day Sale) in Hong Kong which saw some excellent prices achieved for works by Indonesian artists. The seventh highest price of the sale went to S. Sudjojono’s ‘Ngaso’ which blitzed the 800,000 – 1,200,000 HKD (102,612 – 153,919 USD) estimate for a final price of 3,860,000 HKD (495,106 USD). Hendra Gunawan’s ‘Bathing by the river’ achieved the tenth highest price of the sale with a final price of 3,620,000 HKD (464,322 USD) against an estimate of 700,000 – 1,000,000 HKD (89,786 – 128,265 USD).

Christie’s November 26 Asian 20th Century Art (Evening Sale) in Hong Kong again produced some stellar results for Indonesian art. Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merprés’ ‘Three dancers in the garden ‘ produced the fifth highest auction price for the artist selling for 7,940,000 HKD (1,018,431 USD) against an estimate of 2,700,000 – 3,700,000 HKD (346,318 – 474,584 USD). ’Barong dance’ by Indonesian born artist Affandi achieved 4,220,000 HKD (541,282 USD) against an estimate of 1,800,000 – 2,500,000 HKD (230,878 – 320,664 USD) – the second highest price for the artist at auction.

Although the market for Indonesian art centres around the work of more established artists, there is still considerable interest in younger contemporary Indonesian artists. A retrospective exhibition of the work of contemporary Indonesian artist Heri Donow was held at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam in 2009 and represented an important recognition of the global relevance of contemporary Indonesian art. According to the Tropenmuseum: “Dono can truly be called a glocal artist: a term which contracts the words local and global. The story of his images is about the changing face of Indonesian society that is not separate from developments in the rest of the world. This story is meant for a broad audience; though it is coded (criticizing politicians has long been a dangerous activity), it recognizable and accessible. Glocal art shows how local sources can still nourish artists in a time of globalization to say something about the world around them. Dono dislikes the distinction between high art and low art. He never literally copies traditional art; he plays with the image material in a personal style influenced by various European artists such as Matisse and Picasso, and artistic trends such as Cobra, nouveau réalisme and fluxus.”

Overall, the high auction prices being achieved for Indonesian artists combined with the significant number of works by Indonesian artists that frequently exceed the auction estimate suggests that works by such artists are currently undervalued. As Asian buyers continue to become more wealthy and more interested in collecting art, and Western buyers continue to search for undervalued and untapped sources of “new” art, the work of Indonesian artists is likely to only become more popular.

image:

‘Ngaso’ by S. SUDJOJONO
(Indonesian, 1914-1986)

Ngaso

Description S. SUDJOJONO

(Indonesian, 1914-1986)

Ngaso

signed ‘S. Sudjojono’ (lower right); signed with artist’s monogram, titled and dated ‘Ngaso 1964′ (lower centre)

oil on canvas

140 x 100 cm. (55 1/8 x 9 3/8 in.)

Painted in 1964

Medium oil on canvas

Year of Work 1964

Merry Christmas from Nic Forrest @ artmarketblog.com

admin — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 02:04:49 +0000

Merry Christmas from Nic Forrest @ artmarketblog.com

A big thank you to everyone who has supported the Art Market Blog over the last year and helped the site to grow and prosper.

Wishing everyone a merry Christmas and a fantastic new year !!!

Kindest Regards,

Nic Forrest (CEO and author or artmarketblog.com)

‘A Christmas Dole’ by Joseph Clark

Cautious Optimism at Chinese Art Auctions – artmarketblog.com

admin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:43:25 +0000

Cautious Optimism at Chinese Art Auctions – artmarketblog.com

Although the latest round of auctions of Chinese art suggest that the rate of growth of the Chinese art market appears to have slowed somewhat, the results are far from disappointing. In fact, the sheer volume of works being sold combined with the prices being paid for many of the most desirable works appearing at auction in China is difficult to fathom. While most of what we know about the market for Chinese art comes from Western sources, the true state of the Chinese art market can really only be determined by looking beyond the results of Western auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, to the results of Chinese auction houses such as China Guardian auctions and Beijing Poly International auctions.

When delving into the depths of the epic auctions held by China Guardian and Beijing Poly International it becomes apparent that the Chinese art market is very much still dominated by works produced using traditional techniques and displaying a classical aesthetic. Traditional style ink on paper paintings clearly influenced by Chinese calligraphy occupy so many of the top prices paid at auction in China that one could be forgiven for thinking that Chinese buyers aren’t buying anything else. Although the 2011 Autumn auctions held by China Guardian and Beijing Poly yielded some truly remarkable results that seem to create a positive picture of the Chinese art market, the market’s reliance on such a narrow niche is cause for concern.

The highlight of the 2011 Chinese Autumn auction season was the sale of Xu Beihong’s ‘Cultivation on the Peaceful Land’ which was sold by Beijing Poly International for a record RMB 266,800,000 (42,108,586.09 USD). Coming in a close second was Fu Baoshi’s masterpiece ‘Chairman Mao’s poetry octavo volumes’ as sold by Beijing Hanhai auctions for an artist auction record of RMB 200,000,000 million (31,565,656.74 USD). Shengjia auction sold “Chairman Mao’s poetry octavo volumes” in 2003 for 19,800,000 – a record at the time for Baoshi’s work. The third highest price went to an album of landscape paintings by the master Qi Baishi which fetched RMB 194,000,000 (30,618,687.03 USD) at China Guardian’s “Grand View: Chinese Paintings Highlight” held on the 13th of November. Previously sold by China Guardian for RMB 5.17 million in 1994, Baishi’s landscape album is an good example of how rapidly the market for Chinese art has developed. Also breaking the RMB 100 million mark was Wang Hui’s “Chinese poetic figure” which was also sold by China Guardian for RMB 126,500,000 (19,965,277.89 USD).

One of the most notable diversions from the traditional ink on paper paintings was the sale of San Yu’s CHRYSANTHEMUM oil on board for RMB 34,500,000 ( 5,445,075.78 USD). The Chinese born, Paris trained artist’s CHRYSANTHEMUM resembles the work of European abstractionists more than the work of any traditional Chinese artist, but still exhibits elements reminiscent of the traditional Chinese aesthetic. The auction record for a work by Yu is USD 14,726,564.

iamges:

1. ‘Chairman Mao’s poetry octavo volumes’ by Fu Baoshi

2. ‘Cultivation on the Peaceful Land’ by Xu Beihong

November New York Art Auctions Confuse Market – artmarketblog.com

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:51:48 +0000

November New York Art Auctions Confuse Market – artmarketblog.com

The recent round of Contemporary, Modern and Impressionist art auctions produced some interesting results that require some serious analysis to understand. Thanks to Sotheby’s November Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which saw the record sale of four Clyfford still paintings, there has been plenty of confident banter surrounding the current strength of the art market. But is this confidence misplaced? A more widespread and objective analysis of recent art auctions would suggest so. Take the Clyfford Still auction for instance. The entire auction produced a total of $315,837,000, which was well above the $192,000,000 – 270,800,000 pre-sale estimate, and was also the company’s third highest Contemporary Art Evening sale total. However, the four Clyfford Still paintings made up $114 million of the sale total against a $71 million high estimate.

Considering that the four Clyfford Still paintings paintings were a complete and utter anomaly because of the fact that they should never really have gone to auction, and also because they represent a once in a lifetime, never to be repeated opportunity, I think it only fair that they be removed from the equation. After all, if 95% of Still’s oeuvre were not out of bounds it is unlikely that the prices being achieved for his work would be anything close to what they have been, right? What the sale of the Still paintings tells us about the market is that there is still plenty of money available when an opportunity arises to make a highly significant purchase.

Next on the agenda is Gerhard Richter whose Abstraktes Bild (849-3) 1997 set a new auction record for the artists of $20.8 million. A total of eight Richter paintings were sold by Sotheby’s for a total of $74 million against a pre-sale expectation of $27 million, which is a great result but not an unexpected one considering that a major retrospective of Richter’s work has recently opened at the Tate Modern in London. Sotheby’s should be congratulated for the success achieved with the sale of the Richter paintings that do deserve to be recognised in their sale total unlike the Still paintings.

What concerns me most is that when the prices achieved for the eight Richter works and the four Still works are combined the result is a startling total of $188,000,000 which is more than half of the entire total of the Sotheby’s sale. The reason this concerns me is that the numbers could easily be used to justify a bullish view of the art market – and have been numerous times over recent weeks. Although Sotheby’s did achieve an excellent result and deserve to be praised for winning the opportunity to sell the Still paintings, the results need to be approached with caution and a healthy dose of skepticism.

Christie’s didn’t fair as well as Sotheby’s with their Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale managing 90% sold by lot and 87% by value for a total of $247,597,000 against an estimate of $226,450,000-$312,340,000. With commissions removed, Christie’s failed to break the low estimate although they did manage to set 16 new world auction records for artists including Roy Lichtenstein, Paul McCarthy, Charles Ray and Louise Bourgeois.

Phillips de Pury did okay with their Contemporary Art Evening Sale achieving 94% by value and 84% by lot with a sale total of $71,292,500 against an estimate of $66,560,000 – 97,970,000. A new world auction record was set for Richard Serra whose Palms sold for $2,322,500 against an estimate of $2,500,000 – 3,500,000.

The all important Impressionist and Modern Art sales failed to produce any spectacular results. Sotheby’s once again triumped over Christie’s with an evening sale total of $199,804,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $167.6-229.9 million and a sold by lot rate of 84%. Exceeding the May 2011 sale total, Sotheby’s set new auction records for Gustave Caillebotte, Tamara de Lempicka and Maxime Maufra with the top price of the auction going to Klimt’s Litzlberg am Attersee (Litzlberg on the Attersee) which sold for $40,402,500. The unusual “in excess of $25 million” estimate provided for Litzlberg am Attersee (Litzlberg on the Attersee) suggests that Sotheby’s had were unsure about how successful this work would be and thus chose to provide an estimate that ensured the greatest chance of a positively perceived result.

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale was estimated to achieve more than $215,000 but only managed a total of $140,773,500. The highlight of the sale was Max Ernst’s The Stolen Mirror, which sold for $16,322,500 against an estimate of $4,000,000-6,000000, setting a new artist record that more than tripled the artist’s previous record. A new auction record was also set for any single print sold at auction with Pablo Picasso’s La femme qui pleure selling for $5,122,500 against an estimate of $1.5-2.5 million.

Overall, the major November auctions produced relatively consistent results that suggest a market dominated by buyers who have the money to spend, and are interested in purchasing fine art, but only at the safe haven high end of the market. The fact that the market is relying on the work of a small number of highly desirable artists is concerning as it leaves a very small margin for error.

image:

Max Ernst (1891-1976)
The Stolen Mirror
signed ‘max ernst’ (lower right); signed again, dated and inscribed ‘max ernst 1941 product of France’ (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
25 5/8 x 31 7/8 in. (65 x 81 cm.)
Painted in 1941

Sotheby’s Clyfford Still Record Fails to Impress – artmarketblog.com

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:05:24 +0000

Sotheby’s Clyfford Still Record Fails to Impress – artmarketblog.com

Sotheby’s seems to have re-ignited confidence in the art market with the results of their Contemporary Art Evening Sale. But I for one won’t be celebrating just yet because all I see is a market that reacted to an extremely rare opportunity to acquire works by an artist who is about to have 95% of his life’s work excluded from the market behind the closed doors of a museum. The fact that ANY of Clyfford Still’s works were able to be sold from the endowment is a miracle as both the artist and his widow, whose estate the works being sold come from, left stipulations in their wills that none of the the artist’s works from either estate were to be sold. Fortunately for Sotheby’s, the museum dedicated to Still’s work would not have been able to be built without the proceeds from the sale of some of his paintings. Because of the stipulations left in both wills, The Denver City Council, who are to receive the endowment and build the museum, had to challenge the will in court and then vote on whether or not to sell the paintings. Obviously, the decision was made to sell.

So, considering that most of Still’s works – 2400 works or 94% of his oeuvre - are in the collection to be installed in the Still museum, and considering that none of these works are likely to ever come onto the market again, the opportunity to purchase a major Clyfford Still painting from the endowment was too good to ignore. And, in my opinion, would have been too good to ignore even in a depressed market because of the nature of the opportunity (not that I am suggesting that we are in a depressed market). What I will suggest, however, is that the stellar prices paid for the Still paintings was not a result of their art historical importance or artistic value, but was a result of the nature of the opportunity. I will also suggest that the Clyfford still paintings sold by Sotheby’s were an irrelevant anomaly in the scheme of things that is in no way an indication of the strength of the art market.

If you want evidence that the Still paintings are over-rated then look no further than the auction history of “1949-A No. 1″, the US$61,682,500 superstar of the Sotheby’s sale. Although conspicuously absent from the provenance and history of the paintings as provided online by Sotheby’s, this painting has been offered for sale before. Although I couldn’t find pics of the “1949-A No. 1″ painting sold in previous years, Still’s obsessive approach to the naming of his works that consist of letters, dates and numbers that signify the order in which they were created makes it incredibly unlikely that two paintings with the same name exist. The last time that “1949-A No. 1″ was sold was in May 1990 when Christie’s offered the work with an estimate of $3.5 million to $4.5 million but failed to sell it. A quote from the time of the auction by Martha Baer, Christie’s top specialist in contemporary art, states that “We haven’t experienced a major Still painting in the boom market for contemporary art that began two years ago.” After the auction, auctioneer Christopher Burge was quoted as saying that the big disappointment was was Clyfford Still’s “1949-A. No. 1″ which failed to sell after bidding in the jammed gallery stopped at $3 million. Burge then went on to say that the reserve was not met requiring the work to be withdrawn from sale. The other work by Still offered for sale during the 1990 auction was “1955-D” which had an estimate of $3 million to $5 million but was allowed to sell for a mere $1.1 million. Doesn’t seem like a market hungry for Still’s work to me !!

The auction record for a Still painting prior to the 1990 sale was only $797,500, which was paid for an untitled 1954 work at Sotheby’s in 1985. Accord to an Los Angeles Times article from 1985, “Clyfford Still’s old record of $165,000 toppled twice, when a 1954 abstraction from the collection of Francois de Menil brought $797,500 and a 1948 work from a European private collection was knocked down for $577,500.” A jump to $3.5 million five years later during a boom time seems pretty reasonable, doesn’t it? So why didn’t “1949-A. No. 1″ sell in 1990?

Overall, the market history of Clyfford Still’s work has been far from impressive. I don’t deny that his work has perhaps been undervalued at times, but not to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. If more of Still’s works were available on the market, and a not to be repeated opportunity to purchase a painting from his widow’s estate had not arisen, I doubt we would be so interested in Still’s work or would have such confidence in the art market.

To be continued…………

Image:

Clyfford Still

1949-A-NO . 1
signed and dated Clyfford 49; signed and titled 1949-A twice on the reverse
oil on canvas
93 x 79 in. 236.2 x 200.7 cm.

Rising Stars of Italian Post-War Art Market Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:56:24 +0000

Rising Stars of Italian Post-War Art Market Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

The October 2011 auctions of post-war/modern Italian art held by Sotheby’s and Christie’s saw two post-war Italian artists finally achieve the market recognition that they deserve. Sotheby’s and Christie’s each achieved a new world record for a post-war Italian artist whose prices had previously lagged behind those of their more famous and highly valued peers such as Fontana and Manzoni. Sotheby’s, who held their ’20th Century Italian Art’ sale in London on the 13th of October, achieved a new world auction record for Italian abstract painter and sculptor Alberto Burri (1915-1995) with the work ‘Combustione legno’ which smashed the £800,000 – 1,200,000 estimate for a final price of £3,177,250 – the top price of the sale. Another of Burri’s works offered by Sotheby’s, ‘Rosso Plastica L.A.’, again smashed the given estimate of £850,000 – 1,200,000 for a final price of £2,001,250 and the third highest price of the sale. ’Rosso Plastica L.A.’ would have been the new world auction for Burri record had ‘Combustione legno’ not reached the price that it did.

The recent interest in the Arte Povera movement, combined with the greater level of attention being paid to Burri’s work by the cultural establishment as evinced by the ‘Combustione: Alberto Burri and America’ exhibition held by the Santa Monica Museum of Art in 2010, would partly explain the recent desire for works by Burri. According to the Santa Monica Musuem of Art:

“Alberto Burri (1915–1995) was a seminal artistic figure of the 20th Century, a forebear to many artists and artistic movements—from Pop Art to Arte Povera—both in Italy and the United States. Burri’s fame is great in his native Italy, but he remains relatively unknown in the United States, despite the fact that for over 25 years he would winter in his home in the Hollywood Hills, where he produced more than 60 major works of art”.

Although Burri’s work has received significant attention from the cultural sector, and has had some strong auction results over the previous years, the prices for his work have remained relatively stagnant. A brief period of action during the 2008 art market boom saw a string of high prices for Burri’s work that unfortunately did not last. The previous auction record for Burri was set at £1,924,000 against an estimate of £1,000,000 – £1,500,000 by Christie’s in 2007 with the artist’s ‘Sacco e Rosso’. Prior to that an auction record had not been set for the artist since 1989 when a buyer bid an extraordinary £1,635,992 (hammer price) for one of Burri’s works during an auction in France.

Having lingered in relative obscurity compared to his like-minded contemporaries, Burri has now come out of the shadows to claim his place as not only one of Italy’s most important post-war artists, but one of the most highly valued as well. In fact, recent auction results would suggest that the more polished and minimalist work of Fontana is losing ground to the grittier work of artists such as Alberto Burri.

To be continued………..

image:

Alberto Burri
COMBUSTIONE LEGNO
signed and dated 57 on the reverse
wood, plastic, vinavil and combustion on fabric
117 by 97cm.
46 by 38 1/4 in.

Art Market Blog - artmarketblog.com » art auction

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