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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

Singapore to Conquer French Contemporary Art Market – artmarketblog.com

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

Singapore to Conquer French Contemporary Art Market – artmarketblog.com

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

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

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

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

November New York Art Auctions Confuse Market – artmarketblog.com

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

November New York Art Auctions Confuse Market – artmarketblog.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

image:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued…………

Image:

Clyfford Still

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

The Overlooked Italian Post-War Artist Domenico Gnoli – artmarketblog.com

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:25:22 +0000

The Overlooked Italian Post-War Artist Domenico Gnoli – artmarketblog.com

See part one here:

http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/11/01/rising-stars-of-italian-post-war-art-market-pt-1-artmarketblog-com/

When it comes to overlooked artistic talent, Italian born realist painter Dominico Gnoli (1933-1970) would have to be one of the most compelling. Born to an art historian father and artist mother, Gnoli never undertook formal training as a visual artist instead choosing to learn the art of drawing and printmaking from the Italian artist Carlo Alberto Petrucci. Best known for his known for his portrayal of details of dress and domestic objects, Gnoli’s work ranges from Escher like surrealist illustrations to richly detailed paintings of hair and clothing. An artforum article from 2001 suggests that one of the reasons that Gnoli’s work not have received the attention it deserves is that he spent much of his life away from his native Italy and has therefore been almost ignored by Italian museums which rarely revisit the output of this seminal postwar artist

Very little information is available on Gnoli, but that is likely to change very soon given the rapidly increasing desirability of Gnoli’s work. According to a book written in 1975 by Luigi Carluccio dedicated to the final period of Gnoli’s work that extends from 1954 to 1969:

“Gnoli’s work is rich and lucid in a super-realistic style with subtle colors that somehow radiate light. His elegant, almost enameled , perfection often has the luster we notice in Vermeer. Gnoli has created an intimate world that focuses on single details with an absorbed, uncanny attention that reveals a household in a rumpled bedspread, the story of a man’s life in the parting of his hair, the social values of an entire decade in a lady’s brassi re. Here are passive people and objects that quiver with life, boats that turn into towers and towers that seem to be siling: here are the humble and banal mass-products of daily life painted in the most accurate and realistic manner that somehow transforms them into a source of wodner, beauty and pleasure.”

A new world auction record was set for Gnoli by Christie’s on the 14th of October when the sold for Busto femminile di dorso (Female Bust from the Back) for £2,337,250 against an estimate of £500,000 – £800,000. The previous auction record for a work by Gnoli was also set by Christie’s who sold the artist’s Branche de Cactus for £1,049,250 against an estimate of £280,000 – £350,000 during their 28 June 2011 Post-War and Contemporary Evening auction. The third highest price at auction for a work by Gnoli was also set by Christie’s on the 14th of October 2011 with the artist’s Pelliccia (Fur) which achieved £881,250 against an estimate of £250,000 – £350,000. This work was previously offered by Sotheby’s in 2005 for £160,000 against an estimate of £180,000 – £250,000.

Given that so few of Gnoli’s works appear at auction, it may take a while for his reputation as an artist to receive the recognition it deserves. Nevertheless, the signs are positive that the work of Dominico Gnoli, an artist whose life was cut short by cancer at the age of 37, is on its way to becoming as popular as that of other famous post-war Italian artists.

image:

Domenico Gnoli (1933-1970)
Busto femminile di dorso (Female Bust from the Back)
signed, titled and dated ‘D. Gnoli “Busto femminile di dorso” 1965′ (on the reverse)
acrylic and sand on canvas
39 3/8 x 47¼in. (100 x 120cm.)
Painted in 1965

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued………..

image:

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

Canadian Art Auctions Defy Art Market Downturn – artmarketblog.com

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:06:30 +0000

Canadian Art Auctions Defy Art Market Downturn – artmarketblog.com

In my final post in this series on the Canadian art market and the market for Canadian art I want to take a look at recent auction results as well as well as the upcoming auctions of Canadian art to see what emerging trends are developing. Having remained relatively resilient during the art market downturn that gripped the market during the GFC, the signs are positive that the market for Canadian art will continue to grow in the currently confused global art market that is experiencing strong sales yet is shrouded in a growing sense of negativity.

The last round of major auctions of Canadian art took place in May 2011 with Heffel, Joyner Waddington’s and Sotheby’s all vying for a slice of the pie. Heffel were the most successful, as one would expect, with their May 2011 live sale in Vancouver going on the record as the sixth highest grossing Canadian fine art auction. According to Heffel, “The auction exceeded its conservative pre~sale estimate of $8 to $12 million, selling $13.5 million worth of Canadian art and breaking the $1 million mark three times”. Heffel set two new auction records for Jean Paul Lemieux during the May round of auctions, the first of which came with Dimanche which sold for $819,000 followed by the next lot, Les Moniales, which broke the record set with the previous lot with a sale price of $1,023,750. A rare E.J. Hughes painting from the 1940s was the second work of the sale to sell for over a million dollars blitzing the 700,000-900,000 estimate with a final price of $1,140,750. The third lot to go over a million was Jean-Paul Riopelle’s Sans titre which sold for $1,082,250.

Sotheby’s May 2011 Canadian art sale wasn’t as near as successful as Heffel’s but still found success with works under $150,000. The top lot, a signed work by Jean-Paul Riopelle with an estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million, failed to find a buyer even though Sotheby’s had a financial interest in the painting. Also failing to sell during the auction was Tom Thomson’s Early Snow, Algonquin Park which had the second highest estimate of $450,000 to $650,000. The sale wasn’t a complete failure with lower priced works by Lawren Stewart Harris, James Wilson Morrice, Christopher Pratt and Frederick Simpson Coburn, among others, exceeding their estimate. David Silcox, president of Sotheby’s Canada, stated in a press release that “The variety and quality of the paintings in this spring’s offering at last brings Canada closer to other countries in the sale of contemporary art”

Joyner Waddington’s held their auction of Canadian fine art on the 27 May 2011 and stunned the Canadian art market with their sale of Lawren Harris’s Island Off Greenland, Arctic Sketch XIX, for an astounding $1.77 against an estimate of $500,000-700,000. The twelve by fifteen inch oil sketch achieved the highest price of any work during spring 2011 Canadian art auction season and entered the top ten most expensive works by Harris to be sold at auction. Another small by Tom Thomson measuring eight and a half by ten inches also found a buyer at $472,000 against an estimate of $400,000-600,000. According to Joyner, “The Joyner auction was the top grossing Toronto-based auction of the spring 2011 season”.

As preparations continue for the upcoming November round of auctions of Canadian art, all eyes will be on Bonhams who will be holding their first sale of Fine Canadian Art in New York on November the 29th. Holding a sale of Canadian art outside of Canada is a huge deal and a big gamble for Bonhams’s which I hope will find success. Heffel will hold their sale on the 24th of November followed by Joyner Waddington’s on the 25th and then Sotheby’s on the 28th. Previews of the November auctions can be viewed here:

Heffel: http://www.heffel.com/links/news/A11F_%20Flyer_PWC.pdf

Joyner Waddington’s: http://joyner.waddingtons.ca/25november2011/gallery/0/

Sotheby’s: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2011/important-canadian-art-t00139/overview.html

Bonham’s: http://www.bonhams.com/eur/canadasale/

Overall, the market for Canadian art is strongly geared towards the work of the major groups of artists to come out of Canada including The Group of Seven, The Painters Eleven, Les Automatistes and the Eastern Group of Painters. Recently released books on the Painters Eleven, Les Automatists and abstract painting in Canada as well as the launch of major exhibitions of work by some of Canada’s most famous artists all point towards a growing interest in Canada’s artistic heritage. What was once a market that struggled to develop an internationally relevant identity is now a blossoming market that is only just beginning to reach its potential while defying the current growth in negativity surrounding the art market.

See parts 1 and 2 here:

Re-evaluating the Canadian Art Market Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/10/03/re-evaluating-the-canadian-art-market-pt-1-artmarketblog-com/

Re-evaluating the Canadian Art Market Pt. 2 – artmarketblog.com

http://www.artmarketblog.com/2011/10/09/re-evaluating-the-canadian-art-market-pt-2-%E2%80%93-artmarketblog-com/

image:

LAWREN STEWART HARRIS

ISLAND OFF GREENLAND, ARCTIC SKETCH XIX

medium: oil on board

Height: 12 ” – 30 cm

Width: 15 ” – 37.5 cm

Re-evaluating the Canadian Art Market Pt. 2 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:07:08 +0000

Re-evaluating the Canadian Art Market Pt. 2 – artmarketblog.com

The Canadian art market and the market for Canadian art exist within a particularly interesting framework that has limited the extent to which the market for Canadian art can explore its potential. Although many of Canada’s most famous and highly desirable artists sought to establish a distinctly Canadian aesthetic and a uniquely Canadian artistic heritage, the strong connection with Europe that influenced many of these artists led to the adoption of styles and techniques that are universally admired and highly marketable. For this reason, combined with what would seem to be a prime geographical location, it would therefore make sense that the market for Canadian art would be a dominant force on the world stage and that Canadian art would be a strong feature of important international art auction catalogues. Except, for a number of reasons, the market for Canadian art has failed develop the sort of strong international market that it deserves.

A clue alluding to one of the reasons for the current status of the market for Canadian art comes in the form of a statistic provided by Heffel’s, Canada’s top art auction house. According to their website, Heffel “holds over 60% market share of worldwide Canadian art auction sales, with over $275 million in art auction sales since 1995″. Considering that Heffel only operates in Canada, and is not one of the big international auction houses, the market share that Heffel has is rather impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that having hammered down the sixth highest grossing Canadian fine art auction at their May 2011 live sale in Vancouver, Heffel have now conducted all 11 of the top grossing sales of Canadian fine art. Although impressive, these stats suggest that even though Canada’s artistic heritage is inextricably international thanks to its European roots, the framework and mechanics of the Canadian art market are decidedly nationalistic and remain relatively cloistered.

A statistic even more indicative of the level of dominance that Canadian auction house Heffel has over the market for Canadian art comes from a recent Heffel press release which states that: “As the industry leader, Heffel, in the spring 2011 sale, sold more than all of our competitors’ sales totals combined in the 2011 spring season and realized a total value of over 168% of the pre~sale low estimate, with 87% of the consigned lots sold”. A dominant art market force if ever I saw one!!. This is not to suggest that Heffel are in any way doing anything wrong as it is through no fault of their own, or of any other auction house, that the Canadian art market is the way that it is. In fact, Heffel should be commended for their efforts to reach an international audience and promote the work of Canadian artists around the world. Heffel should also be congratulated for becoming so successful in a market where others have failed. My purpose for highlighting these Heffel statistics is to show how reliant the Canadian art auction market has been on a single Canadian national auction house and to provide evidence that suggests a highly nationalistic and insular art market.

The last serious attempt by an international auction house to attain a significant share of the market for Canadian art ended in disaster. In 2001, Sotheby’s joined forces with Canadian auction house Ritchies in an agreement that saw Ritchies provide the space and handle payments for auctions for which Sotheby’s had located the items as well as provided the appraisals and estimates. Failure by Ritchies to pay consignors within an appropriate time frame after an auction in 2009 saw Sotheby’s sever ties with Ritchie’s who declared bankrupt soon after the split. According to an article from liveauctioneers.com at the time:

“Visitors to the Web site for Canadian auction house Ritchie’s will find that the company’s last connection to the sector it once dominated no longer exists. A notice on the company’s site, www.ritchies.com, confirms that a bankruptcy order was issued against Ritchie’s Inc. on Oct. 26, 2009, with Grant Thornton Limited of Royal Bank Plaza, Toronto, shown as the court-appointed trustee.”

The fact that Sotheby’s already had a presence in Canada that had been active since the late 1960′s suggests that Sotheby’s knew how nationalistic the Canadian art market was and that they would need to join forces with a Canadian national auction house if they were to infiltrate the market for Canadian art to a worthwhile degree. Unfortunately, it seems that the business model chosen by Sotheby’s was not the right model for the Canadian art market.

As I discussed in my last post, there is strong evidence to suggest that the market for Canadian art is beginning to emerge from the stifled confines of the Canadian art market and achieve the sort of international recognition and market activity that it clearly deserves. My next post, the final on the Canadian art market, will take a further look at some more evidence that supports the positive trend towards a stronger international market for Canadian art.

To be continued………………..

Re-evaluating the Canadian Art Market Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:48:09 +0000

Re-evaluating the Canadian Art Market Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

One of the best parts of my job is identifying trends within the art and antique market. A particularly exciting trend that has recently captured my attention is the increased interest being shown in the work of some of Canada’s most famous artists – particularly those of, and those associated with, the Group of Seven. The Group of Seven came together at the beginning of the 20th century thanks to a shared desire for a more distinctly Canadian landscape painting tradition to rival that of Europe. According to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection website:

“In the early decades of the twentieth century, circumstances brought together several artists who were committed to exploring, through art, the unique character of the Canadian landscape. Collectively they agreed: Canada’s rugged wilderness regions needed to be recorded in a distinctive painting style. This style would break from European tradition and reflect an increasingly nationalistic sentiment. ”

The Group of Seven originally consisted of Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson but grew to include A.J. Casson, Edwin Holgate an L.L. FitzGerald. The Group’s contemporaries included David Milne, Thoreau MacDonald, J.W. Morrice, Clarence Gagnon, Albert H. Robinson, Maurice Cullen and Emily Carr. With such a strong French influence that resulted in an extraordinary artistic heritage, it is surprising that the work of great Canadian artists such as those associated with the Group of Seven is not more highly valued. There are, however, several factors that I believe have contributed to the undervaluation of the work of many Canadian artists, which I will explore in a future post.

There are two major events about to take place that support my theory of a revaluation of Canada’s most significant historic artists. The first is an exhibition titled Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven which includes 122 paintings and numerous sketches by Tom Thompson and other members of Canada’s famous Group of Seven that has been organised by the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. What makes this exhibition so significant is that fact that it is the largest international exhibition of works by the Group of Seven to date and will be a touring exhibition. The first stop of the tour will be London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery, which will host the exhibition from the from Oct. 16 to Jan. 8, followed by the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo from Jan. 29 to May 13, and then the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands from June 3 to Oct. 28, 2012.

The second major event is the launch of Bonhams’ first sale of Fine Canadian Art in New York to be held on the 29th of November. All paintings in the sale will be sent to Bonhams New York for preview and auction. The auction will be simulcast in New York and Toronto, with bidders attending the preview and auction in either location. So far the highlight of the auction is a work by Marc-Aurèle Fortin titled Barque à Percé (Estimate: CAD$150,000/200,000), an artist who shared the Group of Seven’s pursuit of a distinctly Canadian landscape painting aesthetic. A major exhibition of Marc-Aurèle Fortinn’s work titled Marc-Aurèle Fortinn: The Experience of Colour, the first major museum exhibition devoted to the artist in more than 45 years, was held at the Musée national des Beaux-Arts du Québec from February 10 through May 8 2011 and then at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection from May 28 to September 11, 2011.

To be continued………..

image:

Marc-Aurèle Fortin
Barque à Percé
Estimate: CAD$150,000/200,000

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