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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

**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.

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

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

Art Market Blog Press Update – artmarketblog.com

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:06:02 +0000

Art Market Blog Press Update – artmarketblog.com

The latest press coverage featuring Nicholas Forrest and the Art Market Blog:

Reconsidering the L.A. vs. New York Art Market Rivalry by Nicholas Forrest

http://www.fabrikmagazine.com/content/reconsidering-the-la-vs-new-york-art-market-rivalry/

5 Reasons the Chinese Art Boom May Not Buoy the Global Art Market After All

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/38578/5-reasons-the-chinese-art-boom-may-not-buoy-the-global-art-market-after-all/?page=2

The ‘bubble’ and the ‘wobble’

http://www.artnewsnviews.com/view-article.php?article=the-bubble-and-the-wobble-&iid=23&articleid=609

After Gold: Eight Things Ron Paul Should Convince His Supporters to Buy Next

http://www.tnr.com/slideshow/95320/after-gold-eight-things-ron-paul-should-convince-his-supporters-buy-next?7

ArtMarketBlog | Top 10 PurePhoto Images

http://blog.purephoto.com/?p=3861

Exposing the Chinese Art Market with Six Questions (All 6) – artmarketblog.com

admin — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 11:38:08 +0000

Exposing the Chinese Art Market with Six Questions (All 6) – artmarketblog.com

1. The records from the recent Christie’s fine modern paintings sale (31 May), along with records from China Guardian Auctions Co. from the 2009 Autumn sale onwards, show that auction house estimates have become little more than conventional additions rather than indicative price guides. Your thoughts? Are price estimates for works being suppressed and, if so, why do you think this is the case?

Estimates are a tricky affair. An estimate that is too high will put buyers off and an estimate that is too low will cause buyers to wonder why the estimate is so low. Even though an estimate is nothing more than an educated guess as to what the object might be likely to fetch, the psychology is similar to that of retail pricing. If a customer goes into a shop and the price appears too high for a product they will likely look for a different product that offers better value for money or look elsewhere for a better price for that product. If the price is too low the customer will likely become suspicious as to why the price is so low and will either question the quality and condition of the object to ensure it is worth buying before they make the purchase, or will avoid the product all together.

Although the estimate will often have very little or no bearing on the price that people can bid and subsequently purchase the work for (ie. bidding much lower than estimate and purchasing the object for much lower than the estimate), the psychology of the art auction is such that the estimate is often viewed as much more of an indicator of value than it really is. The problem this creates is that auction houses are therefore able to use the estimate as a powerful and influential marketing tool that has the potential to seriously affect the perception that potential bidders have of a particular work of art and influence the way they bid.

One of the main problems with the explosion in demand for the work of many contemporary, modern and historical Chinese artists is that interest (or the level of interest) in their work from a market perspective is relatively new and without precedent. What this means is that there is very little or no past data (ie. gallery prices, auction prices) to use as a basis for the creation of estimates for many of the artists whose work is appearing at auction. Looking at the work of ZHANG DAQIAN, for example, artprice.com shows that 3578 of his watercolour paintings have been auctioned since 1991 with almost half of those works appearing at auction since the beginning of 2009. That means that the same number of works by ZHANG DAQIAN were auctioned in the last two and half years as were auctioned in the 18 years prior to 2009. Such an unprecedented level of demand generated in such a short time period is bound to cause problems for the auction market of an artist’s work. Considering that some contemporary artists who have no auction track record at all are achieving prices at auction that are usually the sole domain of famous master artists, the inaccuracy of auction estimates is hardly surprising.

It is always in the best interest of auction houses to keep estimates lower rather than higher to encourage competition and bidding but I do not think that auction estimates are being suppressed any more than they usually are. At the end of the day auction houses are businesses whose primary goal is to make money and as such they really have no obligation to present accurate estimates. The use of auction estimates as a marketing tool is something that has been going on for a long time and is perhaps just more apparent due to the media scrutiny of the prices being paid for works of art by Chinese artists.

2. (A tricky one..) Are the works themselves worth the prices being paid?

The true “value” of an artist’s work is something that is developed over a long period of time and is primarily a reflection of – among other things – their cultural and art historical importance, the influence that they have had on their chosen genre and medium, and the results of critical review. As an artist’s career progresses through the various stages of development the dollar value of their work also develops and progresses. Prior to appearing at auction, artists usually sell their work through private commercial galleries which helps create a stable and justifiable price point for their work. One of the problems facing the Chinese art market is that China has an underdeveloped private gallery system that cannot support the number of contemporary artists being thrust into the limelight at such a rapid rate. Many Chinese contemporary artists are skipping the private gallery stage of their career and going straight to auction which makes the value of the work much more unstable and unjustifiable over the long term.

What makes valuing works of art so difficult is that there are two types of value that are especially relevant to the Chinese art market. The first value is the true artistic value of the work of art and the second value is the prestige and social status that comes with owning a piece of expensive fine art. Are the works of art being sold worth what people are paying for them from a market/artistic value? The answer would have to be no for two reasons, the first of which is that many Chinese buyers are being driven by a desire for social status and prestige. Secondly, many of the artists whose prices are being driven to extreme heights do not have the career credentials to justify the prices being paid. Are the works of art being sold worth what people are paying for them from a social status/prestige perspective? The answer to the question would depend on what effect the work of art has had on the social status and prestige afforded to the owner. Only the owner can answer this question as there is no way of qualifying or quantifying the value of social status and prestige.

Because the value of social status and prestige cannot be qualified or quantified, and because such value is in no way inherently attached to the work of art, the likelihood of the massive prices being paid for works of art by Chinese artists remaining at the level they are currently at is very low.

3. What specific indicators would suggest a price bubble for Chinese art, and is this “bubble” a general feature across all art sectors in China, or specific to contemporary art since the 1990s, for example?

The characteristics of an art price bubble are an unjustifiable sudden and rapid increase in the prices being paid for works of art combined with an increase in the number of works of art being sold on either a market-wide scale or within a particular sector of the art market. Given The rapid rate at which the unprecedented yet unjustifiable rise in prices for Chinese art is progressing, combined with the large increase in the sheer volume of works of art by Chinese artists being sold at auction, I think that there can be no doubt that this is what is currently happening and that all indications point to a price bubble for Chinese art.

Without doubt the price bubble for Chinese art extends across all categories of Chinese art from 14^th century Chinese scroll paintings to works by emerging Chinese contemporary artists. The bubble is, however, most evident in the contemporary and modern sectors.

4. There’s evidence to show that gallerists and artists in China pay for positive critical reviews. But Chinese contemporary artists generally lack the level of critical attention given by critics, historians and galleries in comparison to Western artists. Is the lack of criticality a major contributor to the volatility of the contemporary market? What other factors are there?

The lack of critical review is one of the main problems that the Chinese contemporary art market is facing. Without adequate critical review, buyers do not have the information that they need to make justifiable and discerning decisions when buying works of art. Another factor that causes contemporary art price volatility is the rate at which the careers of young emerging artists are progressing. Once finishing art school, young artists usually go through a process of development and progression that includes several crucial steps. One of those crucial steps is exposure to critical review; another step is establishing a primary market through private gallery representation.

Without the private gallery step in the process of natural progression, young artists end up being thrust into the limelight ill-prepared and without having been through that crucial process of critical review that the private gallery system is a major part of. It is that private gallery system that would usually separate the true stars from the posers and direct the marketplace towards the true stars. Artists whose work is taken directly from the art school to the auction house are essentially being thrust into a position of authority and responsibility without the proper credentials.

The long term value of an artist’s work depends on the level of support and patronage that they receive from the cultural and private gallery sectors. It is pretty much inevitable that the super-heated Chinese art market will begin to cool at some point in the near future which means that buyers will have to begin to justify their purchases and the amount of money they are spending on fine art. If an artist has not been through the traditional route of progression, and does not have the support of a strong private gallery sector, it is unlikely that they would be able to survive the justification process.

An influx of wealthy yet impressionable and uneducated buyers, combined with an art market littered with strategically placed artworks by unseasoned young contemporary artists whose work is seen as being “trendy”, is a recipe for disaster.

5. You’ve drawn comparisons between the present market climate, and the lead up to the Japanese crash in 1990. What are your fears for the Chinese market? Is a crash imminent and what are the likely results? (And just because the media loves a bit of sensation) When do you see this happening?

The biggest problem with the Chinese art market is that there is very little evidence that the prices being paid for contemporary, modern and historical art are sustainable and justifiable. In order for prices to merely stagnate – as opposed to crash – when the wealth driving the Chinese art price bubble dries up (as it surely will), the current prices being paid for Chinese art, and for western art by Chinese buyers, would have to be justifiable in a post-boom climate. This would mean that the prices being paid at the moment would have to correlate with the perceived art historical importance, the level and nature of critical recognition, the aesthetic appeal , the rarity of the work of art – in other words, all the factors and characteristics of the works of art that can be rated, graded, compared and contrasted.

There is no doubt that the market for Chinese art and the Chinese art market are in serious trouble. The rate at which the prices for Chinese are rising, and the rate of growth that the Chinese art market is experiencing, cannot continue for much longer. I do, however, think it would be foolish to underestimate the level of wealth coming out of China and the momentum of the Chinese economy. Whereas the Japanese were focussed very much on the work of Western master artists – a market of limited supply – the Chinese are showing much more interest in the work of their own contemporary artists of which there is a virtually unlimited supply. As long as the money continues to flow, there will continue to be emerging Chinese contemporary artists ready and waiting to take the place of those artists who perhaps lose their appeal. What this means is that the current Chinese art market boom theoretically has a longer shelf life than the Japanese boom. This also means that the most likely reason for a price contraction will be an economic event such as the bursting of the real estate bubble.

In my opinion the most damning evidence of a bleak future for the Chinese art market is the direction that China’s property market is heading. What China is doing is boosting their economy by building massive cities in anticipation of the massive rise in the number of Chinese people who can afford to purchase their own home that the Chinese government thinks will take place. The problem is that many of these cities remain empty long after construction was completed and offer no signs of filling up with people. Commenting on China’s property market, a recent article by Bloomberg stated that: “China’s property market may be heading into a bubble as the economy’s reliance on real estate reaches a level close to the housing peaks in the U.S. and Japan, according to Citigroup Inc.”. This statistic from Bloomberg is particularly relevant because it compares China’s property market boom to the Japanese property market peak – the collapse of which caused the art market collapse of the early 90′s. With so much money being invested in property and being made from China’s property boom it is highly likely that a significant proportion of the money being spent by the Chinese on antiques and fine art comes from the property boom. It is therefore also highly likely that the ability to pay any debt that Chinese buyers are racking up to pay for their trinkets is reliant on the continued positive progression of China’s property boom.

According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Malcolm Turnbull, “HSBC recently calculated that the total value of China’s residential property market was now 3.27 times GDP, which is nearly twice the peak reached before the subprime crisis in the US and approaching the levels in Japan during its 1980s property bubble.” (Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/chinese-debt-binge-is-fuelling-a-dangerous-property-bubble-20100615-yd1a.html#ixzz1OS5FPLFB)

Many of the top Japanese investors leading up to the Japanese economic crisis in 1990 ended up with the largest amount of debt as a result of the crisis, and for those that had used their wealth to purchase fine art this meant that they had to sell their assets including the fine art that they had purchased to pay back their debts. As a result, a wave of “bad-debt art” was thrown back into the market and sold at prices well below what the Japanese had paid for them. Because the Chinese have speculated so much on the work of young emerging artists, an influx of “bad-debt” contemporary Chinese art back onto the market would be catastrophic for the reputation and future value of these artists. This is, however, something that is very likely to happen in the near future.

When it comes to predicting the end of the Chinese art price bubble, I would suggest that the current rate of progression cannot last longer than another eighteen months – in other words, until the end of 2012. The most likely cause of the end of the Chinese art price bubble is the bursting of the Chinese real estate bubble which people are predicting will end in the next twelve to eighteen months. If the real-estate bubble doesn’t cause the bust, a massive increase in negative art market sentiment surrounding the work of Chinese artists and the Chinese art market Chinese resulting from an awareness by Chinese buyers that they paid too much for many contemporary works of art – an awareness caused by problems getting what they paid for works of art when they try to resell them at auction auction to fund new purchases. Either way, I give the art price bubble no more than eighteen months.

6. What has been the effect of the Chinese art boom in recent years on the Australian market (contemporary indigenous/non-indigenous art)?

One of the problems that the Chinese art boom has created for the Australian art market is the increased level of faked and forged Aboriginal artworks that are causing problems for the entire Aboriginal art market. Copies of genuine Aboriginal artworks and outright fakes are being made in China and then passed off as genuine items.

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Exposing the Chinese Art Market With 6 Questions Pt. 3 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:32:49 +0000

Exposing the Chinese Art Market With 6 Questions Pt. 3 – artmarketblog.com

See part 1 here:

http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/07/01/exposing-the-chinese-art-market-with-6-questions-pt-1-artmarketblog-com/

See part 2 here:

http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/07/11/exposing-the-chinese-art-market-with-6-questions-pt-2-%E2%80%93-artmarketblog-com/

6. What has been the effect of the Chinese art boom in recent years on the Australian market (contemporary indigenous/non-indigenous art)?

image: Materialist’s by Wang Guangyi

Phaidon Releases Carl Andre Monograph – artmarketblog.com

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:44:59 +0000

Phaidon Releases Carl Andre Monograph – artmarketblog.com

Phaidon have just released an awesome Carl Andre monograph that would make a great gift. Check out the details below.

CARL ANDRE:

Things in Their Elements

By Alistair Rider

An Enlightening Monograph on the Groundbreaking Minimalist Artist

Phaidon Press is pleased to present the only monograph on the groundbreaking American minimalist sculptor Carl Andre. With unique access to Andre’s studio and personal archives, author Alistair Rider sheds new light on this enigmatic artist. This monograph, beautifully presented in hardback, offers a comprehensive and insightful look at Carl Andre’s entire career. It includes never before published sketches and writings, and many contemporary installation photographs, as well as works in private collections and those in major international museums.

Best-known for his floor-based grid-like formations of breeze blocks, Carl Andre’s (b. 1935) work was a highly significant contribution to the increasing importance of site-specificity, space and material, and the development of installation art. Written by academic and Carl Andre expert, Alistair Rider, the title examines Andre’s role as a sculptor and installation artist, but also presents his rarely seen poetry and photography. Though the latter are lesser known than his sculptural work, they form an integral part of Andre’s oeuvre.

Born in 1935, Andre first entered the public eye in 1965, in ‘Shape and Structure’ at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery. The following year, New York’s Jewish Museum included his controversial LEVER in its important exhibition ‘Primary Structures’, and he debuted his first solo show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1970. Since then Andre has had many exhibitions throughout the USA and Europe, and participated in group shows in major museums and galleries. The artist lives and works in New York, and his work features in leading collections worldwide.

About the Author

Alistair Rider is a Lecturer in Art History at the University of St Andrews. He teaches classes on modern sculpture, critical theory, New York modernism and experimental art of the 1960s. In 2006, he co-edited an anthology of art criticism on Carl Andre (About Carl Andre: Critical Writings since 1965), and more recently has written on Robert Smithson, in ‘Arts of Isolation, Arts of Coalition’, in On Location: Siting Robert Smithson and his Contemporaries (2008). Articles on British Sculpture in the late 1960s (Royal Academy), Richard Long and Carl Andre (Getty Publications) are forthcoming.

Carl Andre: Things in Their Elements is available from Phaidon.com

Get your copy here: http://www.phaidon.com/store/art/carl-andre-9780714849225

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Questioning the Art Market – artmarketblog.com

admin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:04:07 +0000

Questioning the Art Market – artmarketblog.com

Mugrabi family

I was recently asked some questions about the art market for a magazine article and thought I would share my answers. Hope you enjoy !!!

1. Last year there was a trend for portrait pieces, why do you think this is?

Although portraiture fell out of fashion, as it has done on several occasions, the fact that there is so much scholarly, academic and art historical support for the genre means that there will always be a market for portraits – a market that can only continue to get stronger each time the genre comes back into fashion. The long term value of a work of art is linked to a certain degree to the extent to which one can disassociate the work of art from the artist, and the extent to which one can assign value to the actual characteristics of the art object as an independent entity. Because portraits require a high level of technical skill to get right, and because the face is universally recognisable and has universal characteristics, the portrait is able to be more easily assessed using a more objective approach. This makes the portrait a more attractive option to art investors and collectors during times of financial crisis, such as we experienced last year, when long term safety and justifiability become important factors.

The value that can be placed on portraits because of their status as historical documents is the sort of future proof intrinsic value that will always remain with the portrait and cannot be disassociated from the portrait. Regardless of what happens to the art market or to the reputation of the artist in question, classical figurative works of art (portraits in particular) will always have significant technical, historical and documentary value. The fact that the physical characteristics of figurative portraits are so comparable across the whole genre, and so easy to rank, also means that they are also easier to value when compared to other genres.

2. Can auction houses or art market analysts predict trends in the market?

Predicting art market trends is becoming more and more difficult as fine art becomes a more globally recognised and accessible status symbol, and a more widely accepted alternative investment. As a much wider range of people from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds become active in the art market, a situation has arisen where there are so many different groups of art market participants with different agendas, that trying to foretell the buying behaviour of each group is extremely hard. To predict trends these days requires a very deep knowledge and understanding of the behaviour of art buyers as well as an extremely well developed trend sensing radar.

3. Do social, political or cultural issues affect market trends?

Social, political and cultural issues all have a profound effect on art market trends. Fine art is often used as a tool for making statements regarding social, political and cultural issues. A consequence of this is that people’s perception of such works can often be altered by their own beliefs or by important events of the day.

4. Do you think that the sale of a piece of art is just at the end of the day due to personal preference? Can buyers be strategic?

Buyers can definitely be strategic when it comes to purchasing fine art and are doing so at an ever increasing rate due to the greater level of acceptance of the benefits of approaching art as an investment. However, because everyone has a personal taste when it comes to fine art, a strategic approach is best undertaken with the guidance of an unbiased art advisor or via an art investment fund where the works that are invested in are chosen by a group of experts.

5. What may / may not determine the end sale price at an auction?

There are a myriad of different factors that can determine the final sale price of a work of art being sold at auction. A few, however, are much more influential than others. One of the most important factors to consider when buying or selling a work of art at auction is how many people are likely to be competing for that particular work of art. All it takes is two determined bidders for the auction estimate to fly out the window and the final price to skyrocket beyond all expectations. The energy of an auction sale can become all consuming and cause even the most timid of individuals to become super competitive. Another important factor that can affect the final sale price is the estimate given to a work of art. An estimate that is too high can discourage people from bidding for a work and an estimate that is too low can cause people to become suspicious about that work of art.

6. Do you think the artist’s name behind the art itself has a large factor into how much a piece would sell for? Can this limit the art in any way?

The commercialisation of the contemporary art market has evoked a scenario where artists are often looked upon as celebrities and performers who are expected to act in a certain way. Art buyers who view art as a status symbol will often view the artist’s social reputation and level of fame as being crucial factors when it comes to deciding whether or not to purchase a work or art. A result of this is that artists often have to conform to the desires of rich art buyers, and produce works that they will like, which can severely limit the work that the artists can produce.

7. What is the significance of branding and the correct marketing for pieces of art?

In theory, a work of art should really sell itself. However, the reality of the situation is that the conceptual nature of a large amount of the contemporary art being produced, combined with the increasing commercialisation of the contemporary art world, has created a situation where artists need to be marketed correctly in order for their work to be properly appreciated and stand out from the rest of the crowd. Without correct branding and marketing, an artist is likely to find it difficult to sell their work and differentiate themselves from the already saturated contemporary art market.

8. The Mugrabi family are said to own a monopoly on the Warhol catalogue. Do you feel that a collector can be excessive? Can a person own too much art?

The problem with collectors who monopolise the market for a particular artist is that those collectors can then manipulate the rate of supply and demand and consequently manipulate the price of that artist’s work. This sort of situation can have a seriously negative impact on people’s perception of an artist’s work and, as such, I would never such behaviour by collectors.

Six Super Art Investment Tips – artmarketblog.com

admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 08:34:54 +0000

Six Super Art Investment Tips – artmarketblog.com

1. Know what to expect

In recent times fine art has gained popularity as a hedge against the volatile fluctuations that have plagued the more mainstream financial markets such as the stock market. The fact that fine art is a tangible object and can be traded for money in any currency also appeals to investors who have large amounts of money in intangible products and markets that use virtual or electronic market places. As well as the financial benefits associated with the purchase of art as an investment, there is also the enjoyment you will get from purchasing and owning a piece of fantastic fine art, which is why it is important to purchase something that you actually like.

If you are expecting to score large and fast profits from investing in fine art then fine art is not the investment for you. If, however, you are looking for a long term investment in a tangible object that can be enjoyable, educational AND potentially profitable if approached in the right way, fine art is definitely something you should consider investing in. Before you whip out the credit card there are some things you need to know about the art market and art investment. First of all, the nature of the art market means that art investment needs to be approached as a long term investment that will usually require a minimum holding period of seven to ten years – but be prepared to sell sooner if market conditions are favourable. Secondly, the cost of selling fine art tends to be quite high so one needs to factor in those costs when deciding whether to sell or not. Thirdly, it is extremely important to remember that fine art should be approached as a way of diversifying an investment portfolio and should form part of a balanced portfolio.

2. Buy the best you can afford

When it comes to deciding what to buy it is important to remember that when purchasing art as an investment you should always purchase the best that you can afford. This means that it is better to purchase a really excellent drawing or limited edition print than to purchase a mediocre painting. At the end of the day, a top quality original work on paper or limited edition print will always be more desirable than a mediocre painting. It is also extremely important to purchase something that you would actually be happy to live with should the value of the work of art you have purchased fail to increase in value or, in a worst case scenario, go down in value. If have purchased something you like and it does go down in value, at least you can still enjoy the work of art.

There is really no minimum amount of money that one needs to spend to invest in art, however, the more money you spend, the more options you will have, and the more likely the work/s you are buying will increase in value. Limited edition prints or photographs by emerging artists can be purchased for as little as a few hundred pounds, but stand much less chance of increasing in value than a ten thousand pound drawing by a well known artist. Essentially, the more you spend, the less risky the investment, and the greater the chance of receiving a higher return. The more well known blue chip artists who have plenty of art historical and curatorial backing are going to be a much safer investment, but will also be require a considerably higher outlay to begin with. Less well known emerging artists who are at the beginning of their career require a much smaller initial investment, but are also a much more risky investment as they do not have a proven track record. To be honest, anyone can “invest” in art as long as they have extremely low expectations, but to stand a chance of actually seeing a proper worthwhile return on your investment I would suggest a minimum figure of ten thousand pounds. The reason I suggest ten thousand pounds is that ten thousand pounds will buy a good quality photograph, drawing or limited edition print by a desirable artist.

3. Get involved

The best way to find out where, when and what to buy is to get to know people who are involved in the fine art world. Go to gallery openings, visit museums, attend auctions and art fairs, befriend curators and engage with artists. Not only will you get advice from these art market insiders, you are also likely to get opportunities to purchase works from sources that would normally not be available to the average art buyer. Getting to know collectors and the artists they support can open the door to an artist’s studio where you may be able to purchase a work of art directly from the artist for less than you would pay in a gallery or at auction; befriending a curator or gallerist might get you access to works that are not usually made available to the general public; getting to know an auction house representative is a good way of finding out what the current trends are and which artists are worth investing in. There is no doubt that the most successful art investors are those who are able to use the knowledge and expertise of other people to make informed, rational and justifiable decisions.

4. Think outside the box

If you have a limited income that would not allow a ten thousand pound investment then you may have to look outside the box to find something worth purchasing. Artists often experiment with a range of different mediums even though they may be particularly well known for one medium in particular. By thinking outside the box and looking at alternative mediums that an artist may have worked in, one can find some interesting and highly desirable works of art by well known artists for relatively small sums of money. For instance, did you know that Picasso produced quite a number of limited edition ceramic objects that can be purchased for as little as a few hundred pounds? Picasso ceramic works are particularly desirable and present a rather interesting alternative for those who have a more limited budget.

5. Buy from a reputable source

Auction houses, galleries and art fairs are the best sources of investment quality fine art. Although it may be tempting to just jump on ebay, the high number of fake and fraudulent works of art sold online make going to a reputable dealer who will guarantee the authenticity of what you are buying well worth the extra effort. That is not to say that I would never recommend purchasing works of art online. If you are going to purchase online you need to make sure that you are purchasing from a reliable source that has an excellent reputation and will provide a written guarantee of authenticity. Regardless of whether you are purchasing from a dealer or online, it is well worth getting the opinion of a few experts before deciding what to purchase and where to purchase from.

6. Build a collection

Once you have purchased your first piece of fine art it is likely that you will be bitten by the bug and want to buy more. By building a collection based around a particular theme, movement, artist or medium, you can develop a certain level of expertise and knowledge that will help make future purchases much easier. Developing a collection is an enjoyable and rewarding process that also encourages a certain amount of discipline and connoisseurship that will help you make more rational and justifiable decisions – decisions that are more likely to result in the purchase of works that will increase in value.

An Art Market Bubble Chinese Style Pt. 3 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 00:11:00 +0000

An Art Market Bubble Chinese Style Pt. 3 – artmarketblog.com

It seems that most people associate an art market boom with a sudden and rapid increase in the prices being paid for works of art combined with an increase in the number of works of art being sold on either a market-wide scale or within a particular sector of the art market. Applying this definition to the current progression of the Chinese art market leaves no doubt that we are in the midst of a Chinese art market boom. This is all well and good, but what happens when the boom ends?

Only four years ago in 2007 the art market experienced a period of Chinese domination, similar to that which we are experiencing now, that ended abruptly at the beginning of 2009 thanks to the global financial crisis. As a result of the bust a number of Chinese galleries were forced to close and a large number of contemporary Chinese artists were dropped by galleries then were left to fade into obscurity. Because galleries and dealers failed to properly nurture and cultivate the careers of the young Chinese contemporary artists who were swept up in the boom, these artists did not have the experience or level of career development that they would have needed to survive the bust.

After the demise of the Chinese art market boom in 2009, galleries and dealers admitted that they had made mistakes and said that they would act more cautiously in the future and properly nurture artist’s careers. The question is, has this occurred? As far as I am concerned there is more than enough evidence to suggest that the same problems are recurring this time around. Ill prepared young contemporary artists are still being flung into the limelight in a market that has an underdeveloped gallery and dealer network which cannot support the long term careers of all the artists involved in this boom.

An art market boom is almost always treated as a positive event regardless of whether or not the boom will end positively for the market and for the artists involved. As an art market analyst my primary concern is what the outcome of the boom will be – because all booms have to end at some stage. There are generally two ways that a boom can end. The first is what we know as a bust – or in other words a sudden and rapid decrease in the prices being paid for works of art and the number of works being sold. The second option is the most favourable and involves a stagnation of prices and the number of works being sold as opposed to a massive drop in prices and the number of works being sold.

In order for prices to merely stagnate at the end of art market boom there would have to be significant evidence that the prices being paid during the boom were in some way justifiable. This is not such a problem for works by historic and modern masters that will always be in high demand, and for which higher prices are more easily justified. History has shown that the historic and modern masters are relatively resilient even after a drop in prices as a result of a major negative art market event. To justify paying higher prices for works by contemporary artists whose work increased in price during the boom is much more difficult and would require some sort of career progression involving the sort of curatorial and critical recognition that adds true value to an artist’s career. Young emerging contemporary artists who do not have the experience and reputation to justify the prices that have been paid for their works during a boom are often just completely forgotten once prices for their works plummet. Without the reputation and desirability that they would have needed to survive the negative fallout from the massive drop in prices that their work experienced, many young emerging contemporary artists end up fading into obscurity once an art market boom ends.

In my opinion the most damning evidence of a bleek future for the Chinese art market is the direction that China’s property market is heading. What China is doing is boosting their economy by building massive cities in anticipation of the massive rise in the number of Chinese people who can afford to purchase their own home that the Chinese government thinks will take place. The problem is that many of these cities remain empty long after construction was completed and offer no signs of filling up with people. Commenting on China’s property market, a recent article by Bloomberg stated that: “China’s property market may be heading into a bubble as the economy’s reliance on real estate reaches a level close to the housing peaks in the U.S. and Japan, according to Citigroup Inc.”. This statistic from Bloomberg is particularly relevant because it compares China’s property market boom to the Japanese property market peak – the collapse of which caused the art market collapse of the early 90′s. With so much money being invested in property and being made from China’s property boom it is highly likely that a significant proportion of the money being spent by the Chinese on antiques and fine art comes from the property boom. It is therefore also highly likely that the ability to pay any debt that Chinese buyers are racking up to pay for their trinkets is reliant on the continued positive progression of China’s property boom.

All the evidence that I have come across points to a negative end to China’s art market boom at some time in the near future. I do, however, also believe that China has the money, power and resources to continue the current rate of art market progression for a while yet. How long they can maintain the momentum remains to be seem.

See part 1 here:

http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/05/03/an-art-market-bubble-chinese-style-pt-1-artmarketblog-com/

See part 2 here:

http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/05/10/an-art-market-bubble-chinese-style-pt-2-%e2%80%93-artmarketblog-com/

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