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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

The Top 2010 Art Market Trends – artmarketblog.com

admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:46:06 +0000

Due to overwhelming demand I have posted the entire Top 2010 Art Market Trends series in one post. Hope you enjoy !!!

Top 2010 Art Market Trends Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

‘Venus of the Rags’ by Michelangelo Pistoletto

1. Arte Povera: The Arte Povera trend that took hold in 2010 has more to do with the concept of “Arte Povera” as opposed to the actual artists involved in the movement. The trend also extends to the work of other artists whose work embodied the concepts of Arte Povera such as Art Brut artists and naive artists. Without a doubt this has been the most dominant and most visible trend of 2010.

According to the Tate Modern website:

“The name (Arte Povera) means literally ‘poor art’ but the word poor here refers to the movement’s signature exploration of a wide range of materials beyond the quasi-precious traditional ones of oil paint on canvas, or bronze, or carved marble. Arte Povera therefore denotes not an impoverished art, but an art made without restraints, a laboratory situation in which any theoretical basis was rejected in favour of a complete openness towards materials and processes”

The glossy, blingy art that has dominated the market for years has given way to a desire for the more gritty and raw work of artists such as Lucio Fontana, Helio Oiticica, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alighiero Boetti, Piero Manzoni, Jean Dubuffet etc. The un-primed slashed canvases of Fontana, the graffiti style of Basquiat, the artist’s shit of Piero Manzoni and the unusually textured canvases of Dubuffet all represent artists who took a stand against the commercialism of the art market – a stand that collectors have taken up as they turn their back on the current commercialism of the art market.

Interestingly, the Tate Modern opened galleries dedicated to the Arte Povera movement in May 2009. According to a Tate press release “The central space of the new Energy and Process wing will be devoted to a selection of works made by artists in the 1960s and 1970s. The term Arte Povera was coined by the art critic Germano Celant to describe the activities of Italian artists who used the simplest means to create poetic statements based on everyday life. Seen as a reaction against the commercialism of the art market, the work demonstrated a keen appetite to use commonplace or ‘poor’ materials and new processes.”

2. Naive Art: The naive art trend is closely related to the Arte Povera trend with work produced by “naive” artists often resembling the work of Arte Povera artists. The work of artists who produce work in a naive style such as Basquiat, Dubuffet and Antonio Ligabue has proven to be extremely popular of late with many auction records being broken. A new auction record for Ligabue, one of the most famous 20th century naive artists, was set on the 24th of November 2010 when his ‘Autoritratto, olio su faesite’ sold for €152,000 against an estimate of €50,000-70,000.

3. Latin American Art: Although there was a general trend towards nationalistic and culturally representative art, there has been a particularly strong global increase in the popularity of Latin American art. Funnily enough, many of the artists that I associated with the concept of Arte Povera also have connections with Latin America such as Basquiat who has Haitian roots, Fontana who was born in Argentina, and Oiticica who was born in Brazil. What is also interesting is that many of the world’s most popular and influential naive artists also have a connection with Latin America.

A good example of the growing interest in the work of Latin American artists of both the past and present is the continuing success of the PINTA Latin American art fair. Although 2010 was only the fourth edition of the fair there was plenty of evidence to suggest that there is more than enough demand to support a dedicated Latin American art fair. Auction wise, 2010 saw new auction price records for many Latin American artists including: Jorge Jiminez, Helio Oiticica, Adriana Varejao, Julio Galan, Omar Rayo, Julio Le Parc, Wilfredo Lam, Alejandro Otero, Alfonso Michel and many others.

4. Sculpture: The resurgence in the interest of the work of classical style and modernist bronze sculptors, particularly those who work in metal, is somewhat of an odd and puzzling trend. There is, however, an increasing interest being shown in the work of sculptors such as Barbara Hepworth, Rembrandt Bugatti, Alberto Giacometti, August Renoir and Matisse. Christie’s set the benchmark at the beginning of 2010 when they set a new auction record for Giacometti, and a new record for a work of art sold at auction, when they sold the Alberto’s life-size bronze sculpture titled ‘L’Homme Qui Marche I’ for 65 million pounds. Proving that the Giacometti record wasn’t a fluke, Christie’s again made headlines in June when they sold Modigliani’s modernist sculpture titled ‘Tête’ for 43.2 million euros in Paris – an auction record for the artist. In November a new auction record was set for Matisse when Christie’s sold the artist’s ‘Nu de dos, 4 etat (Back IV)’ bronze sculpture for a $48.8 million. Although Christie’s appeared to dominate the metal sculpture trend, Sotheby’s also made some significant contributions with outstanding prices achieved for a range of bronze sculptures by Dame Barabara Hepworth and Rembrandt Bugatti.

5. Nationalistic Art: The beginning of the sentimental art market era, which I have written about extensively on my blog, has influenced a shift of focus towards the work of artists whom collectors can relate to on a cultural or generational level. Artists whose work is iconically representative of a particular era or culture are being pursued by collectors of that culture or era. The stark and sterile work of the contemporary art market boom combined with the faceless commercialism of the modern world is heavily responsible for what I believe to be a yearning that many art collectors and investors have to revive in themselves a sense of culture and place. As I wrote in my previous post “When art collectors or investors seek safety and familiarity they are most likely to gravitate towards works by artists from the era and culture that they have the greatest connection to. This would explain the large number of seemingly unrelated trends that emerged during 2010 many of which involved previously unfashionable styles and movements that are distinctly associated with a particular era or culture.”

Top 2010 Art Market Trends Pt. 2 – artmarketblog.com

There is really not just one dominant “art market” that one can refer to anymore. Once upon a time when one referred to the art market they were generally referring to the global leaders England and the USA, with perhaps the French market included depending on who you talked to and what their allegiances were. Now, however, there are so many more highly influential markets emerging on a regular basis that it has become extremely difficult to trace, track and predict art market movements – not totally impossible though. My last post focussed on the art market trends that I have seen emerge during 2010, which were identified primarily from observing auction sales throughout the year. With this post I want to look a bit further into those trends and the reasoning behind them.

The arte povera trend that I mentioned in my previous post on art market trends is not exclusive to the auction world. Some of the world’s top contemporary galleries are exhibiting works that have obvious ties with the concepts and characteristics that one associates with the Arte Povera movement – in particular the use of found objects. For instance, the Barbican Gallery recently held a special exhibition of work by Damian Ortega, a Mexican artist who has strong associations with the White Cube gallery, which consisted of a number of installations using found objects. New York’s Gagosian Gallery chose to use one of Rauschenberg’s ‘Combine’ paintings, a series of works that incorporate found objects and reproduced images, as the feature image of their Rauschenberg show that finished in November 2010. In fact, the first three works of the exhibit were from the artist’s ‘Combine’ series. Since September Hauser and Wirth have exhibited a sculpture by Martin Creed titled ‘Work No. 700’ (2007), three progressively slimmer steel I-beams balanced on top of each other. Creed’s steel girders are left in their used, practical state, which once again fits in with the “found object” trend.

If I can divert back to the auction market for a moment, the January 11-12 2011 Christie’s sale of items from the estate of Dennis Hopper included a particularly interesting array of works that perfectly reflect the current market trends that I have been talking about. A range of junk assemblages by George Herms, an artist who many consider to have been overlooked by the art world, attracted a particularly high level of attention and sold for several times the estimate. The Hopper sale also included a noticeably high number of collage works – another trend that I consider an extension of the “found object” trend. A “found object” collage by Bruce Conner titled ‘Picnic on the Grass’ took the third highest price of the auction reaching a fantastic $96,100 against an estimate of $10,000-$15,000. According to the Christie’s press release “Conner was a key artist in the development of assemblage art, a movement of found-object sculpture that critic Peter Plagens defined as “the first home-grown California modern art.” Hopper’s collection boasts several Conner works, including this multi-layered work that employs fabric, printed paper, plastic, string and even an acorn”. A verifax collage by Wallace Berman proved popular finding favour with a US buyer who paid $42,500, going well beyond the $12,000 to $18,000 estimate. Also included in the sale were collages by Viggo Mortensen and Llyn Foulkes; a collage by Lyn Foulkes titled ‘The Scene that is God’s Mouth’ was purchased by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

Collages also proved popular on the gallery side of the market during 2010 with Gagosian Gallery holding an exhibition of discarded object sculptures and photographic collages by Nancy Rubin from June to July. Victoria Miro extended their exhibition of renowned collage artist Tom Lubbock who passed away less than a month after the exhibition closed. According to the gallery website, “Tom Lubbock died on Sunday 9 January 2011. In tribute to him Victoria Miro Gallery will reopen his exhibition on Saturday 15 & Saturday 22 January. This exhibition of beautifully crafted paper collages, provides the first opportunity to see a small selection of works made weekly by Tom Lubbock for the Saturday edition of The Independent between 1999 and 2004”.

The current fascination and focus on the 2D and 3D versions of “found object” assemblages tells us more about the market than you may realise. Erik Davis gave an excellent explanation of the allure of found objects in an article he wrote titled ‘The Alchemy of Trash, the West Coast of Spiritual Collage’. According to Davis:

“Duncan (Robert Duncan) praises the outsider artist, who goes against the grain, risks height, ignores dogma. This is all part of our “alternative” myth these days, but it remains to be seen whether the margins still exist — culturally, economically, spiritually — that could allow such creative feats to flourish. Juxtaposition has become an advertiser’s art. Trash is not the same thing today, in our belated self-conscious world of thrift-store savvy, mediated hipster rebellion, and omniverous collector mania. Before you know it, it’s on Ebay. Many of us still hear the spiritual call of redemptive refuse, of glimmers, junk, and “bits of beauty.” But it remains to be seen whether we can join the ranks of those who, in Ginsberg’s howling words, “dreamt and made incarnate gaps in Time & Space through images juxtaposed…”.

In a world that is so obsessed with material possessions, and that is so influenced by commercialism, it is inevitable that there will be times when the world becomes disillusioned with this particular path of progression and the objects associated with it. In my opinion the false, shallow and impersonal nature of the material world we live in is more than enough reason for collectors to want to seek works of art that represent a more idealistic and romantic approach to life. The familiar nature of works that are constructed of “found objects” is one reason that such works have greater appeal during times of disillusionment and disenchantment. As far as I am concerned it makes sense that a work constructed of familiar “found” objects would quite easily evoke a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality in many people and, as I have mentioned in previous posts, the familiar brings a sense of comfort and confidence to people during times of uncertainty.

The work of artists who are influenced by, or who produce work in line with, the concepts adopted by the Arte Povera movement, can also act as a sort of escapism that transports the viewer to another world that Erik Davis describes in his article ‘The Alchemy of Trash, the West Coast of Spiritual Collage’ as:

“a life authentically rooted in the noncommercial margins of bohemia, a magic circle of art and fellowship and esoteric romanticism that transmuted the objects and images it embraced”.

The inauthentic, sterile and commercialistic path that the art market tends to take during heady times of blissful ignorance will always come to a grinding halt when people are forced to face facts and return to reality. Works that embody the concept of arte povera, such as “found object” collages and sculptures, have an authenticity and spirituality that is extremely difficult to ignore unless one has been blinded by the glitz, glamour and sheen of the modern material world. Thankfully, the veil of commercialism and materialism has been lifted allowing these often shunned works to be experienced in all their glory – if only for a short period of time.

To be continued…………

image:

George Herms
Song for Hope
ca. 1986

Top 2010 Art Market Trends Pt. 3 – artmarketblog.com

Although 2010 saw a plethora of cities all over the world emerge as centres of cultural and artistic production, one of the most interesting locations of art market growth during 2010 was none other than the city of Los Angeles. The opening of a new building at the LACMA, the naming of Jeffrey Deitch as the new head of the LA MOCA, the sale of the LA based Dennis Hopper estate and other major events that took place during 2010 have taken the LA art scene to new heights – a climb that some say will soon elevate the LA art scene above the NY art scene.

If you have read my last couple of posts on the art market trends of 2010 you will know that one of the strongest trends that I identified from 2010 was a focus on work that was clearly influenced by the concepts and characteristics of arte povera. One of the most significant auction sales of arte povera style work in 2010 was the sale of the Dennis Hopper estate which, as I mentioned above, was an LA based estate. Ïnterestingly, we already we have a connection between the arte povera trend and the LA art scene. To explain the connection between the LA art scene and the arte povera trend further I need to take a slight detour and take a look at the different ways that dealers can approach the sale of fine art.

When a dealer decides to open a new gallery or take on a new market, there are several options that they have when it comes to deciding how they are going to approach that market. The options are:

A. Discovering and promoting emerging young talent

B. Selling the work of well established and highly recognisable artists

C. Reviving and promoting the work of artists from the past who were either overlooked or just not considered worthy at the time they were most active.

The market for emerging talent in LA is obviously flourishing, as is the market for the work of famous LA artists such as Hockney and Ruscha, which leaves option C as the option with the most potential for dealers. Art critic Mat Gleason recently wrote a piece for the Huffington Post titled ‘The Ten Most UNDERRATED Los Angeles Art World Stars’ ( see article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mat-gleason/the-ten-most-underrated-l_b_684359.html ). What made me particularly excited to find this article was the fact that three of the artists were artists that produced work that fits in perfectly with the arte povera trend; the second connection between the LA art scene and the arte povera trend. The current progression of this trend suggests that these three artists – George Herms, Lynn Foulkes and Michael C. McMillen – will begin to get the recognition they deserve as dealers continue to look for “new” artistic talent to promote in the form of overlooked artists from the past.

One of the reasons that LA is such an important location for the arte povera trend is the strong connection that LA has with artistic movements and cultural trends that relate strongly to the concepts and characteristics of arte povera. An influential beatnik trend that emerged in LA during the 50’s and 60’s was partially responsible for one of the most significant arte povera related (even though it appears to have predated arte povera) art trends to emerge in LA – the California Assemblage movement. According to the Laguna Art Museum website:

“Historically speaking, California Assemblage art was most prominent in the 1950s and 60s. The California Assemblage movement was born out of the Beat Generation of artists and poets, and George Herms was an active participant. Herms, whose work dates back to the early 1950s, is seen as one of the last living luminaries of the California Assemblage movement. Herms’ reclamation and reverence for the found object, along with his appreciation and use of entropy as an active and constant force operating on it, are the tools he uses to transform the detritus of our society into his artworks.”

The connections that I have made over the last few posts between arte povera, assemblage, collage, Latin American art and the LA art scene show that art market trends are more than just random coincidences. This particular trend has become so influential because of the strengthening and emergence of several markets around the world that have a strong connections with cultural and artistic traditions that can linked to the concepts and influences that resulted in the emergence of the arte povera movement and associated styles.

image:

Llyn Foulkes
Dali and Me, 2006
Mixed media
33 x 26 in. (83.8 x 66 cm)
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

**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

Do Art Auction Houses Camouflage Results? – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:42:02 +0000

Do Art Auction Houses Camouflage Results? – artmarketblog.com

I received an email on December 2nd from one of Australia’s leading art auction houses, Menzies Art Brands, with the subject ‘Defamation Alleged’. The email read:

DEFAMATION ALLEGED

Menzies would like to bring to your attention this story on Page 10 of The Age newspaper today:

LEADING art auctioneer Rod Menzies has described as ”scurrilous” allegations made by Robert Le Tet and Rick Anderson about his business practices, in The Age yesterday.

Mr Menzies, an entrepreneur, cleaning business tycoon and owner of Menzies Art Brands, said he ”always honoured every deal” and was ”well known for carrying out every commitment and for his integrity”.

He said he observed the ”highest ethical standards” and denied suggestions to the contrary. He said in a statement that he had instructed his lawyers to start proceedings for defamation and damages claiming $38 million.

Enquiries
sydney@menziesartbrands.com

Before we continue, this is not the first time that allegations have been made regarding Menzies’ business practices. In 2008 complaints were made by other auction houses in Australia regarding Menzies’ alleged failure to adequately disclose details regarding guarantees provided by Menzies, as well as details regarding works being sold by Menzies that Menzies either owned or had a share in. Menzies denied the charges which were dropped in March of this year by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

This time around, Menzies is being accused of misleading reporting of art sales through his auction house. The accusations were aired in the Melbourne, Australia based newspaper ‘The Age’ where details of a transaction involving a painting by Brett Whiteley, one of Australia’s most famous and valuable artists, were questioned. According to The Age, the painting in question was reported by Menzies Art Brands as having been sold in Sydney on the 25th of March for A$1.44 million. Apparently, however, only two months later Mr. Menzies was offering the painting in question for sale privately through his company for A$1.25 million, which suggests that it wasn’t sold at all. It is then alleged that Mr. Menzies struck a deal with a collector, named as a Mr. Anderson, to swap the Whiteley painting, and another painting, for two paintings owned by the collector. The swap apparently took place in June of this year.

If this allegation wasn’t enough, ‘The Age’ alleges further issues regarding ownership of the Whiteley painting. Apparently a Melbourne financier launched a court case to retrieve the Whiteley painting, which he claims he owns because his company, Questco Pty Ltd. , loaned money to an art dealer to purchase the Whiteley painting – a dealer who is now having financial difficulties. The Melbourne financier apparently then asked Menzies to sell the painting through private treaty for A$1.25 million, but Menzies reneged on the deal a short time later. Menzies is being accused of then returning the painting to the dealer, not the financier, and purchasing it off the dealer for A$850,000. Mr. Menzies then put the painting up for sale in March of this year, which is where this story began. Menzies sought to retrieve the painting from Mr. Anderson whom he sold the painting to by private treaty and apparently even offered several other paintings in exchange which had also been reported as having been sold at auction. Mr. Anderson has so far declined to return the painting.

According to the article in ‘The Age’:

Mr Anderson claimed Mr Menzies has been ”ramping” up the art auction market, and he said it was in the public interest to know how the prominent auctioneer operated: ”He reported the Whiteley painting as sold and then he offered it to me for $200,000 less than what it was supposedly sold for at auction,”.

No charges have been laid against Mr. Menzies or his company and, as you can see from the email I was sent, Mr. Menzies strongly denies the allegations made against him and his company. The question of who is telling the truth will presumably come to light if the defamation case goes ahead.

The reason that I have alerted you to this case is that I have been on a bit of an art auction house crusade of late in an attempt to inform the public about what goes on behind the scenes and hopefully encourage the art auction houses to be more transparent and ethical with their dealings. With transparency being one of the biggest issues, I thought it was important to highlight this case even though none of the allegations have been confirmed as being true. I will be doing a series on this issue as there are lots of allegations to cover.

2010 Art Market Status Report – 2nd half – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:06:25 +0000

2010 Art Market Status Report – 2nd half – artmarketblog.com

The art market has found its self in a rather interesting predicament. On the one hand, confidence in the art market has increased considerably since the beginning of the year. On the other hand, the ever increasing likelihood of a major financial crisis has seen more cautious and selective buying. Adding to the drama is the increasingly obvious lack of top quality paintings by the Old Masters, which the market is currently showing a very healthy appetite for.

On the 13^th of July an impression of Edvard Munch’s controversial work Madonna sold for an amazing £1,252,000 at Bonhams – twice its lower estimate of £500,000. This makes it the most expensive print ever sold in the UK and the second most expensive print in the world. At Bonham’s 19th Century Paintings sale held on the 22nd Apr 2010, ‘Female figure study’ , a drawing on paper by John Constable with a hidden history, sold for four times it pre-sale estimate to make £24,000. Also achieving success was an interesting ‘Portrait of a Gentleman’ by George Dawe (British 1781-1829) which was the subject of fiercely competitive bidding and finally sold for £43,200 against a pre-sale estimate of £4,000-6,000.

At Christie’s Victorian & British Impressionist Pictures Including Drawings & Watercolours sale on the 16^th of June, Sir George Clausen’s ‘Head of a young girl (Rose Grimsdale)’ made £505,250 against an estimate of 250,000 – 350,000 setting a new world auction record for a work on paper by the artist. The same sale also saw a new record for Archibald Thorburn with yet another work on paper titled ‘Grouse in flight’ which made £217,250 against an estimate of 60,000 – 80,000

At Christie’s 23 June 2010 auction of Impressionist and Modern Art the top price was achieved by ‘Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto’, 1903, a Blue Period masterpiece by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), which sold for £34,761,250 against an estimate of 30,000,000 – 40,000,000. Another portrait titled ‘Frauenbildnis (Portrait of Ria Munk III)’, one of the last great female portraits painted by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), sold for £18,801,250 against an estimate of £14 million to £18 million.

Yet more portraits achieved high prices at Christie’s Old Masters & 19th Century Art sale held on the 9^th of July at their South Kensington saleroom. Margaret Sarah Carpenter’s ‘Portrait of a young girl’, who is thought to be Henrietta Carpenter, reached £32,450 against an estimate of 7,000-10,000 and achieved a new world record price for the artist at auction. A work from the Studio of Sir Peter Lely titled ‘Portrait of King Charles II’ also fetched £32,450 against an estimate of 6,000-8,000.

Over at Sotheby’s the ‘An Exceptional Eye: A Private British Collection’ sale held on the 14^th of July saw a watercolour over pencil by John Robert Cozens titled ‘The Lake of Albano and Castel Gandolfo’ reach £2,393,250 against an estimate of 500,000 ‐ 700,000 – the top price of the sale and a new record for the artist at auction. The portrait miniatures performed particularly well with the Sotheby’s press release stating that “a very high price achieved for an early work by John Smart (lot 17, £56,450), and a record for a work by Bernard Lens (lot 10, Portrait of King Charles I, sold for £58,850)”

At Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale held on the 22^nd of June, the top price paid was again for a portrait. Edouard Manet’s ‘Portrait de Manet par lui-même, en buste (Manet à la palette)’ fetched £22,441,250 against an estimate of £20,000,000-30,000,000 - a record for the artist at auction. The top-selling lot of the June Russian Paintings Day Sale was Boris Grigoriev’s oil on canvas Portrait of the artist’s son, Kirill, which sold for the sum of £253,250, above its high estimate of £200,000. Another portrait, Alexander Evgenievich Yakovlev’s ‘Titi and Naranghe, Daughters of Chief Eki Bondo’, took top spot at the 7 June Important Russian Art Sale selling for £2,505,250 – more than triple the £700,000 – 900,000 estimate . Sotheby’s sale of the long-lost art trove of Ambroise Vollard saw more records set for works on paper held in Paris on the 29^th of June. According to the Sotheby’s press release from the sale: “Key works among the highlights of the group were an extremely fine impression of Picasso’s celebrated 1904 etching ‘Le Repas frugal’ (another portrait), which more than doubled its high estimate of €300,000 to bring €720,750 (£584,078), the highest price of the sale. A monotype by Edgar Degas, ‘La Fête de la patronne’, circa 1878-79 soared past pre-sale estimates (€200,000-300,000) to bring €516,750. Paul Gauguin’s ‘Trois Têtes Tahitiennes ‘sold for €312,750 (£253,445) well above the estimate of €100,000 to €150,000 and a record was set for a print by Pierre-Auguste Renoir when ‘Le Chapeau Epinglé, Deuxième Planche’ more than tripled its high estimate of €80,000 to bring €252,750 (£204,822). Man Ray’s ‘Autoportrait solarié’ fetched €168,750 ($206,138)”

On the 2^nd of June at Sotheby’s in London, in the sale of 19th Century European Paintings, one of the finest figure paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ever to have appeared on the market was purchased by the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva for £1,609,250, exceeding its pre-sale high estimate of £1.2 million. According to Sotheby’s “‘Jeune femme à la fontaine’ enjoyed an exceptional early provenance before it was requisitioned during the Nazi period, and was recently restituted to the heirs of its erstwhile owners.”

The results that I have highlighted above give a good indication of the current market sentiment and the market trends that are likely to define the market for the near future. To start with, the popularity of portraits is a major indication that buyers are seeking the safety of the academic and the scholarly. With portraits in particular, the level of skill and talent of the artist is pretty much immediately obvious to even the most untrained eye. When it comes to fine art, and portraits in particular, I do not think that people use the term craftsmanship to describe the work carried out by some artists. To accurately portray the physical attributes and the personality of the sitter is, in my opinion, a craft that requires skill, training and a healthy dose of talent. When one adds the historical value and importance of portraiture, the appeal of a famous (or not so famous) face from history to an investor becomes even more apparent.

I have spoken about the concept of fine art as a form of currency in previous posts. If ever there was a type of art that was more suited to being used as a form of currency, it would have to be portraiture. The number of common features that most portraits share, combined with the ease with which one can judge and value a portrait based on intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics, makes the portrait a prime candidate for an art world currency. As I have said before, scholarship is the key to successful art investment, and successful wealth preservation using art for that matter. Portraits are usually afforded the honour of in depth scrutiny and attention by scholars and academics because of the information that portraits can provide about various branches of history. For this reason, among others, portraits are given the sort of long term continued attention that constantly adds value.

The second trend that I have alluded to is a greater interest in works on paper – in particular original drawings and watercolours. I personally of the opinion that the increased popularity of watercolour paintings, particularly those by British artists, is due to the greater interest in the art of the Victorian era which was the golden age of British watercolour painting. Although original works on paper, such as drawings and watercolours, are often looked upon as the less valuable mediums in the scheme of things, the tide can change very quickly as it has recently. As well as the revival of interest in Victorian art, a shortage of major works by the Old Masters and the Impressionists has driven buyers to seek the qualities that they are looking for in other mediums and periods. An article titled ‘Young masters in an old game’ from The Guardian newspaper written by John Windsor in November 2009 sums up the situation surrounding works on paper perfectly with the following statement: “Taste is shifting from new, ill-conceived conceptual art of the Brit-pack variety – costing thousands but faltering at auction, towards old, traditional skill-based art……. but you do need to develop an eye for quality – the easy, confident line of a master draughtsman, the luminosity of a watercolourist’s washes.” It is a shame that the watercolour painting is considered the poorer cousin of the oil painting because there are so many amazing watercolours by some of the world’s greatest artists that do not receive the exposure that they deserve.

Network of Arts and Culture Websites Creates New Model for Online Publishing – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:43:44 +0000

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brigid Brown, Publicist

Cell) 551.358.1058

brigidbrown13@yahoo.com

Network of Arts and Culture Websites Creates New Model for Online Publishing

“Life in the arts has taught (Kathryn) Born that you can’t have a life in the arts unless you’re ‘able to work for free or almost nothing.’ She thinks that’s wrong … “

—Chicago Reader, January 2010

The network of websites that comprise Chicago Art Map and Chicago Art Magazine are not simply local websites but a case study for a new model of online publishing.

See: http://chicagoartmagazine.com/transparency-pages/

“Print media is in a mindset that online publishing is simply posting on a screen rather than printing on paper,” says Kathryn Born, founder of the CAM. “It’s rarely utilizing the internet’s capabilities to connecting the story ancillary data and deeper pools of information. It doesn’t harness the power of online distributions, which can categorize and deliver content to the audience — in the exact moment and form they wish to receive it.”

What does that have to do with Chicago Art Map? The network stands as a proof-of-concept of new publishing through several scenarios. The key example is that Chicago has 300 art venues and countless events every week. Comprehensive lists are ideal, but unwieldy.

The answer? Put all the information into a database instead of a list. Put a Google Map layer on top, add images, and code additional software tools so the events can be sorted and filtered.

The result? Search an art map by geographical range or exhibit type (a museum vs. a gallery or alternative art space) or type of art or type of event. Sort alphabetically or by neighborhood, location, specialty and filtered by date and geography.

For Chicago Art Magazine, footnotes are back in style using “hovering” tools, paragraphs of extra information expand with a click to instantly reveals more information (without refreshing the page). And images! Since ink is no longer a cost factor, they’re abundant, and expand to full size when clicked upon.

Chicago Art Magazine doesn’t publish monthly, it publishes twice a day. Each piece is pushed out to over 5,000 Facebook and Twitter followers.

It’s operational budget, for what would-be a 200 page magazine, is only $1,700 a month. Every dime goes to writers, editors and staff. No rent, no paper, no trucks. Suddenly, an advertising-based model that only requires $2000 per month to support freelancers and stay in the black, is attainable, often with sole-sponsorship deals that provide a blast of coverage for only a few sponsors each month.

“‘Advertorial; content is permissible, but only if it’s fully disclosed in every instance,” is the policy of the magazine, as they are supported with “sponsored posts” along with graphic advertisements.

Most unusual, yet still in accordance with the Open source (software) background that prepared Kathryn Born for the task, is the idea of freely sharing ideas so that others can build upon what was learned. A tab called “transparency” reveals everything from tech tricks, to philosophy and budgets. A weekly blog gets into even smaller details about editorial and survival

-MORE-

The site speaks to all tiers of art fans whether a seasoned collector or a newbie looking to go out on a Friday evening. This breadth of reviews is credited to the aptly named “Friday Night Army” which is a team of critics, released onto the city, with the mission to report back on what is seen and heard in their own voice. “The editorial goal is to write about art in a simple, lively way, using pictures, video and audio,” says Born. “Our belief is that writing about art can be a literary style that’s as colorful as the art we describe.”

Chicago Art Magazine ~ Reviews & Features

Chicago Art Map ~ One-Stop-Shop Gallery Finder

The Chicago Art Machine speaks to all tiers of art fans whether it is a collector on the prowl for the latest discovery or a newbie looking to branch out. This breadth can be credited to the aptly named “Friday Night Army” which is a team of critics, released onto the city, with the mission to report back on what is seen and heard in their own voice.

Some features are more mainstream like, “The Bath Haus of Gaga” and others more niche-y but still accessible such as, “A Crash of Critters at Fill in the Blank”. No matter what genre, each article is informative and as a whole the network feels like a mini-course in art history. After a short time of perusing the sites, visitors will walk away knowing way more than when they started.

“The editorial goal is to write about art in a simple, lively way with a whole bunch of pictures, video and audio,” says Born. “The belief is that writing about art can be a literary style that’s as colorful as the art we describe.”

Kathryn Born is the Editor-in-Chief of the online Chicago Art Magazine and oversees ChicagoArtMap.com. Born breaking off to start her own network of sites, Born had created the blog Art Talk Chicago for the Chicago Tribune-sponsored network of blogs called ChicagoNow.com.

If you plan to run a review and/or would like to set up an interview with Kathryn Born, please contact: Brigid Brown @ 551.358.1058 or brigidbrown13@yahoo.com

Visit us online at: www.chicagoartmagazine.com

-END-

The Reality of Feb 09 Art Auctions – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:43:50 +0000

The Reality of Feb 09 Art Auctions – artmarketblog.com

The first round of major art auctions for 09 have proven that there is still a considerable amount of money available to be spent on top quality and rare works of art provided the price is right. Fresh works from private collections appeared to be particularly sought after, a sign that solid and extensive provenance continues to be a big draw card. Even some of the less impressive works were eagerly fought over which suggests that the low prices and the excitement of the year’s first major auctions may have induced a bit of over-enthusiasm. The conservative estimates gave buyers plenty of reason to open their wallets and the smaller sales encouraged healthy competition for the top works.

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale was the most impressive sale realising a total of £63,428,750 / $91,210,543 / €70,088,769 with 83% sold by lot and 88% by value. Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale wasn’t quite as successful as Christie’s bringing in a total of £32.6 million with 76% sold by lot and 68% by value. Sotheby’s failure to mention the sold by value percentage of their evening sale even though they did mention the sold by lot percentage suggests that they weren’t quite as impressed with their results as Christie’s were.

With the Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sales, Sotheby’s trumped Christie’s with the sold by lot and sold by value percentages but Christie’s sale total was higher than that of Sotheby’s. Christie’s sold £14,131,975 / $20,307,648 / €15,841,944 work of works with a 76% sold by lot percentage and an 81% sold by value percentage where as Sotheby’s sold £11,292,825 / $16,179,230 / €12,687,503 work of work with 83% sold by lot and 90% sold by value.

The figures look impressive considering the events of the past six months but were the auctions really as successful as the figures suggest?. In short, no. And here’s why. First of all, Christie’s 2008 Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale realised £105,372,000 which is considerably more than the £63,428,750 taken at this years sale. Sotheby’s 09 Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale faired even worse when compared with their 08 sale which realised £117 million pounds, more than three times what the 09 sale achieved. Yes, the sales were much smaller, but the auction houses conducted smaller sales because there is not as much money available to be spent on art and the buyers are much more discerning. A smaller sale means that there are less works to fight over thus increasing the chance that the chance that the bidding will be far more competitive. Low estimates provided even more encouragement for bidders to get involved and, as I am sure many of you know, once you get involved in a bidding competition with someone else you don’t want to come out the loser.

Had this years sales had the same number of works and the same estimates it is unlikely that the results would have been as good as they were. Because of this, the only way that they true state of the art market could have been measured using these auctions was if the circumstances (auction size, estimates) were the same as they were the previous year. Sold by lot percentages and sold by value percentages are easily manipulated by the auction houses using the tactics that I have mentioned above. What can’t be manipulated by the auction houses is the total number of people that are willing and able to spend money on art and the total dollar value that they are able to spend. The success of a business such as Sotheby’s is determined by the dollar amount of profit that they make. Common sense would suggest that the dollar amount of profit that Sotheby’s and Christie’s made from their significantly smaller auctions would be far less than the dollar amount of profit they made in the much larger sales of 2008. Adjusting to the conditions to achieve results that appear to be positive is not the same as achieving a positive result.

To be continued…….

Specialist Sales Entice Art Buyers – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:18:05 +0000

Specialist Sales Entice Art Buyers – artmarketblog.com

During times of crisis, art auction houses tend to get creative and start looking at new ways of encouraging sellers and enticing buyers. One of the tactics that the auction houses use to try and generate new business is to create new sale categories and types of specialist sales. Most importantly, specialist sales allow auction houses to take advantage of emerging markets and target specialist collectors. When work from a particular movement, of a particular medium or from a particular country appears to be in strong demand, it would make sense that an auction house would make an effort to target that niche and it’s collectors. If the auction house had not held a specialist sale of work from that particular movement, medium or country it would seem quite logical that the first step in taking advantage of that niche would be to hold a specialist sale.

History has shown that an art market correction encourages the dedicated collectors who were priced out of the market during the boom by the speculators to re-enter the market. It is also quite likely that there new collectors will be entering the market as well who have also been encouraged by the reduction in prices. Holding specialist sales is a way of catering to the specific needs of those collectors and developing new client relationships. New sale categories are also bound to generate buzz and attract attention which is particularly useful for an art auction house during an art market correction.

As shifts in buying patterns take place it is crucial for auction houses to be aware of those shifts and to take appropriate action to cater for those shifts. Time is of the essence when it comes to the art market especially in the current market where the trends and buying patterns seem to change at a continually increasing pace. Auction houses are already beginning to make efforts to take advantage of buying trends by adding new sale categories such as the Contemporary Turkish Art sale that is being held by Sotheby’s in March.

To be continued………

An Important Message for Art Buyers – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:43:07 +0000

An Important Message for Art Buyers – artmarketblog.com

If you take a close look at the available data, information, opinions, analysis and reviews that relate to the art market you will find that a very large majority come from art market professionals. The same art market professionals whose livelihood depends on the ability to profit from the sale of art. Very little of what you read about the art market contains any sort of reference to the sentiment of art buyers which is rather unfortunate considering it is the buyers who ultimately decide the fate of the market. Because the primary sources that the media use for the articles that they publish on the art market are art market professionals, the majority of what is currently being written about the art market has a decidedly negative tone. This is obviously due to the fact that the art market professionals who rely on the ability to profit from the sale of art have been hit hard by the financial crisis. Buyers, on the other hand, stand to benefit greatly from the reduction in prices yet there are very few column inches dedicated to this, and other positive effects of the art market correction.

Although it is true that the value of works purchased prior to the correction may decline there is the question of what, if any, effects this will have on the buyers which I will address later on. There is no doubt that the lack of positive press is partly because doom and gloom attracts far more readers and also because those in the industry are far easier to obtain information and opinions from than the buyers. So what is the current state of play for art buyers I hear you ask. Well, to fully understand the current state of the art market from a buyers point of view one needs to first take a look at the different types of art buyers and their motives. The reason that the different types of buyers are important is because not all art buyers are motivated by the same things, have the same attitude towards art buying or are affected by market fluctuations in the same way. In my opinion there are five distinctively different types of art buyers (excluding dealers) which are:

Collectors: True art collectors are usually middle class professionals who have a passion for art that is accompanied by an interest in a specific period, era, movement, theme etc. The motivation for wanting to build a collection varies from collector to collector and will usually have very little, if anything, to do with financial gain. Most collectors have a specific goal that helps determine the progression of the collection. Because a true art collector invests so much time and effort into the creation of an art collection it is quite likely that they will never sell the collection but will instead donate the collection to a museum or other institution where the collection can be preserved and remain intact.

Decorators: A decorator decides buy an artwork based on aesthetic appeal and also whether the work will complement the decor of the intended location of the work. The future value of the work is unlikely to be of any great concern to the decorator.

Investors: A true investor has a long term strategy that takes into account the fact that fluctuations on the value of works in their portfolio are almost guaranteed. An investor’s portfolio should include a diverse range of works that spreads the risk so that a reduction in market value of a particular medium, artist, movement etc. doesn’t affect the investor’s whole portfolio. It is also recommended that are should make up no more than 10 percent of the value of an investment portfolio so that the whole portfolio isn’t affected by the negative movements of one particular market. Smaller gains over a longer period of time is the aim of the true investor with the average required holding period for an investment portfolio being 5-7 years. A longer holding period may be required if the market experiences a downturn but the true investor is unlikely to find themselves in a position where they have to sell their art while the market is experiencing a downturn.

Opportunists (speculators): Opportunists take advantage of a hyper-inflated art market that offers the potential for easy short term financial gain achieved by “flipping” works of art. Opportunists are only interested in the financial gain that can be achieved during the height of an art market boom and will retreat from the art market and stop buying and selling art once the ability to make fast easy profits no longer exists.

Egotists: Interested in impressing other people in their socio-economic circle by purchasing expensive works of art by the world’s top artists. Egotists are motivated by a desire to outdo the other art buying egotists and a desire to acquire trophies that show off how wealth they are.

Having excluded dealers and other people whose livelihood relies on the art market it becomes quite clear that an art market correction is not going to have that much of an effect on those people who are buying art. From the analysis of the different types of art buyers above we can see that:
-collectors are not focused on financial gain and unlikely to want to sell works from their collection
-decorators are not concerned with financial gain
-opportunists usually exit the market once the potential for quick easy profits disappears
-investors have a long term strategy and can ride out the downturn
-egotists are likely to be extremely wealthy individuals who will not be affected by the reduction in market value of their works as they only bought them as trophies. The biggest concern for the egotists is whether the reduction in market value of their trophy artwork has an effect on it’s ability to induce jealousy, envy or admiration from others.

The only people that the art market correction is likely to have a major effect in the short term on are those that are forced to sell to cover debt or because of financial hardship. In the long term there may be some investors who experience a permanent reduction in the value of one or some works in their portfolio but a well structured portfolio should include a range of works to spread the risk and avoid a more widespread permanent reduction in portfolio value. What is most important to recognise is that art buyers actually stand to benefit from the art market correction because of the inevitable lowering of prices. Collectors that have previously been priced out of the market by speculators will be able now re-enter the market and take advantage of the reduced prices to fill gaps in their collection. Investors will have the opportunity to add to their portfolios and all the decorators can get better value for money.

The reason that I wrote this post is because a large majority of information and data that is published about the art market is geared towards the art market professionals who live off the art market. All the doom and gloom that the art dealers are promoting can have a negative effect on all the other art buyers that I have discussed in the post who are not relying on the art market to make a living. I wanted to show that the art market correction is actually not such a bad thing and can actually be a positive thing for those that don’t have to make a profit from the sale of art to put food on the table. What art buyers should be doing is embracing the art market correction and taking advantage of the lower prices because the lower prices won’t last forever.

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