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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

**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.

Contemporary Art Market Karma at Phillips de Pury Pt. 3 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:10:59 +0000

Contemporary Art Market Karma at Phillips de Pury Pt. 3 – artmarketblog.com

My last two posts, parts one and two of ‘Contemporary Art Market Karma at Phillips de Pury’, provided an insight into the way auction house Phillips de Pury approach the contemporary art market niche that they have chosen to pursue. With this post, the last of this series, I am going to focus on what I believe will be the reason that Phillips de Pury will see continued success into the future.

As the market for contemporary art continues to be buoyed by the introduction of new sub-markets that are defined primarily by geography and culture, dealers and auction houses operating within the contemporary art market are discovering new ways of profiting from the market for contemporary art. What makes the ever increasing range of possible sources of profit within the contemporary art market so significant for a business like Phillips de Pury is that the demise of one source of profit can easily and quickly be replaced with another source of profit. With so many sub-markets of the contemporary art market operating at the one time it is likely that there will always be a profitable sub-market within which an auction house like Phillips de Pury can operate. Take, for example, the first ever BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) auctions held by Phillips in 2010 and repeated in 2011. Although each of these sub-markets is profitable in its own right, by combining all four into one sale Phillips have found a safer and more profitable way of approaching each of these sub-markets.

Although the BRIC auctions held by Phillips de Pury are so enticing because they combine the strengths of four major art market forces, Phillips have also found that they can shift the focus onto one particular sub-market should the others not do as well as planned. Speaking about the 2011 BRIC sale, Henry Allsopp, the Worldwide Director of Curated Sales and Exhibitions for Phillips, said: “With this auction we aim to show the new strength and depth of the Contemporary Art Market in Brazil, and the continuing upward trends of the Chinese, Indian and Russian markets.” Allsopp’s comment cleverly focuses on the Brazilian art market which was likely to be the most successful sub-market of the auction. Sure enough, Phillips de Pury & Co. found buyers for eight out of the 10 Brazilian works offered in the evening session of their 2011 BRIC sale. Although they only sold 53% by lot, Phillips were able to cleverly direct attention away from the poor overall results and towards the success of individual sub-markets. Allsopp’s post-sale comment was “China and Brazil continue to demonstrate strength with solid prices and world records and will continue to be markets where Phillips de Pury & Company consolidates its presence.”

Curated auctions are another way that Phillips are trying to expand the number of different avenues of profitability. Having pioneered the concept of “curated” auctions, Phillips de Pury are once again seeking to profit from the concept with ‘The World of Muriel Brandolini’, an interiors auction celebrating the life and work of decorator Muriel Brandolini which will take place in New York on the 21st of October 2011. The Brandolini auction will allow Phillips to once again profit from the profile of a highly regarded cultural icon and create a whole lot of hype surrounding the auction with the introduction of a number of associated events. According to Phillips: “A blaze of color on the fall calendar, Brandolini’s sale will include works from her wide-ranging collection of decorative arts, contemporary design and fine art, as well as examples of her own signature line of furniture”.

Exposing the Chinese Art Market With 6 Questions Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:59:46 +0000

Exposing the Chinese Art Market With 6 Questions Pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

Q1. 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?

Nic’s Answer: 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.

Q2. (A tricky one..) Are the works themselves worth the prices being paid?

Nic’s Answer: 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.

To be continued…….

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.

Towards a False Art Market Globalisation pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:46:33 +0000

Towards a False Art Market Globalisation pt. 1 – artmarketblog.com

One of the things that I find particularly interesting about the current progression of the art market is that although it is often said that the internet has globalised the art market, I often come across circumstances where geographical and cultural boundaries still have a major impact on the way people perceive and interpret the value of an artist’s work. One such artist whose work appears to have been affected by such boundaries is the now deceased German artist Hannah Hoch. The event that alerted me to this issue was the March 9 2011 Impressionist and Modern Art auction held by Christie’s in New York where two works by Hannah Hoch achieved prices that were way above the estimates. The first work, a paper collage titled ‘Konstruction’, fetched a massive $104,500 against an estimate of $10,000-15,000 and was also the highest price of the auction. Another Hoch work in the same auction titled ’5 + 6′ also blitzed its $4,000-6,000 estimate finally selling for $68,500. These phenomenal results really piqued my interest in Hoch’s work, which led to me conducting further research into Hoch’s auction price history. What I found was particularly interesting and led me to make some rather interesting conclusions about the art market that I will reveal later.

If the two Christie’s results had been random anomalies there would not be anything to write about, however, there is a clear trend of estimate busting prices. But this is no ordinary trend. This is a trend that is very much a result of geographic and cultural boundaries. You see, very few works by Hoch appear at auction outside of Germany compared with the number of works that appear at auction within Germany. When works by Hoch do appear outside Germany in one of the major English speaking Western art market centres such as America or England, there is bound to be considerable interest. Christie’s have a record of having sold a total of 19 works by Hoch since 1991. Of those nineteen, five have sold for well over the assigned estimate. The most recent two are those that I mentioned above. Previous to those there was a new auction record set for Hoch by Christie’s in 2007 when ‘Mechanischer Garten’ sold in New York for $824,000 against an estimate of $8,000 – $12,000. Another work sold by Christie’s during 2007 fetched $217,000 against an estimate of $120,000 – $160,000. Going further back, Christie’s sold a work by Hoch for £22,000 in 1992 against an estimate of £10,000 – £15,000. Sotheby’s have sold even fewer works by Hoch than Christie’s with records showing a total of two works passing through their auction rooms. Of those two, one was a collage titled ‘Portrait Gerhard Hauptmann’ which sold for £67,200 against an estimate of £8,000—12,000 in London on the 18th of October 2000.

To be continued………..

image:

Hannah Hoch (1889-1978)
Konstruction
signed with initials and dated ‘H.H. 21′ (lower right)
paper collage on paper
10 1/8 x 13½ in. (25.6 x 34.2 cm.)
Executed in 1921

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

Masterful Photographer Juan Baraja at PurePhoto – artmarketblog.com

admin — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 23:34:48 +0000

Masterful Photographer Juan Baraja at PurePhoto – artmarketblog.com

If I told you that I was going to make a connection between fine art photography and those famous robots The Transformers, you might think I had gone mad. So, today I am going to make a connection between fine art photography and those famous robots The Transformers. Still with me? Good, because you are about to be exposed to the work of one of the most talented photographers that I have come across in recent times.

Toledo, Spain born Juan Baraja is one awesome photographer. Having completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Barcelona in 2001, Baraja has gone on to win multiple awards including first prize at the XXII Concurso De Fotografia-Arquitectura 2010 COACM and first prize at the VI Concurso de Reportaje Fotografico ARCO Madrid to name a few. If he keeps up what he has been doing there are sure to be plenty more awards to come.

In the same way that The Transformers bring robots to life thus giving personalities to inanimate objects, Baraja’s photos make machines and other industrial objects appear alive and animated. Amazingly, Baraja has been able to give life to inanimate objects AND create still scenes that evoke a sense of anticipation and progression that actually animates the images. The perspective, lighting and environment play a big part in the drama and tension that exist in many of Baraja’s photos. Unusual patterns of illumination from unascribable sources of light create tension and a sense of impending action from outside the viewing window.

With ‘Metamorfosis Nocturna’, an image from Baraja’s Dock series that I have been referring to, what appears to be some sort of crane or conveyor belt machine – a machine that has animal like characteristics – looms menacingly above the viewer from behind a wall in what feels like a tense standoff that could see the machine walk over the wall and give chase at any moment.

Another image titled ‘Encrucijada’ shows a number of bollards that bear an intriguing resemblance to uniformed soldiers standing guard. A sense of tension and anticipation is created by the bright light coming from the right hand side of the image – the source of which is again unknown. Is it friend or foe?

The theatrical and animated images that Baraja produces are the sort of images that one never tires of because of the number of different ways they can be interpreted and read. Every time I see one of Baraja’s photos I can’t help but be drawn into the drama and intrigue that the images evoke.

To see more of Baraja’s work head to his page on the PurePhoto website:

http://baraja.purephoto.com/#/collection/241

To be part of the PurePhoto fine art photography revolution all you have to do is head to:

http://www.purephoto.com/profilelogin.do

and enter the referral code: NF0110RP73

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

admin — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 13:07:11 +0000

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

“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”.

To be continued…………

image:

George Herms
Song for Hope
ca. 1986

The 2010 Art Market Review – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:31:45 +0000

The 2010 Art Market Review – artmarkeblog.com

2010 has been one of the most confusing, unpredictable and unexplainable years for me as an art market analyst. So many of the trends, events and fads that emerged during 2010 did not appear to be caused by the sort of conditions, have the same effects, or follow the same path of logic that one would expect they would given the way things have panned out in past years. This leaves me with no doubt that the art market is evolving at such a rapid pace that there is little point trying to justify or explain the events of today using logic that is based on the progression and events of previous years. In fact, more of the art market events that took place during 2010 appeared to defy logic than ever before. I do, however, strongly believe that one of the reasons that it has become even more difficult to determine what is going on with the art market is that the art market (auction houses in particular) has become adept at making the situation appear much better than it really is. Whether it be by skewing figures or manipulating the way results are perceived – galleries, fairs and auction houses have become the plastic surgeons of the art world.

What has also made 2010 such a hard year to analyse was the contraction, and slow regeneration, of the market for the work of trendy emerging artists and recent works by top contemporary artists – both of which are usually the most global, visible and publicised sectors of the market. As the market moves towards the work of artists with a proven track record, collectors and investors have shifted their focus from the usually dominant and globally relevant contemporary art market to the work of artists from a wide of variety of styles, mediums and movements that cannot appear to have very little in common. This has resulted in a situation where there is not one dominant global trend that art market analysts such as myself can focus on, but a number of smaller and disjointed trends that make reading the market particularly difficult.

A few months ago I wrote a series of posts on what I believed was a move towards a more sentimental art market, which appears to be exactly the direction that the market has headed. General disillusionment with the contemporary art market has sent many collectors and investors take a more sentimental approach to fine art that is characterised by a focus on the safety of more established artists and the familiarity of artists that they can relate to. 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.

There is no doubt that the art market has recovered far quicker than many people thought possible. Again, the unexpectedly rapid recovery has thrown a spanner in the works when it comes to analysing the art market and trying to make sense of what is going on. Some journalists and analysts have gone as far as to admit that they cannot explain how a market that seemed to be at breaking point could make such a rapid recovery. To give you an idea of how quickly the art market has recovered, in March of this year (2010) Walter Robinson, editor of Artnet Magazine, said that “Art Market Watch has been on something of a hiatus during the last few months. What with the recession, reporting on auction results just isn’t as compelling as it was during the boom years”. Six weeks later a painting by Picasso become the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction when it fetched a staggering $106.5 million. A week after that an Andy Warhol self portrait sold at Sotheby’s for $32.6 million (more than twice the estimate) setting a new record for a Warhol self portrait at auction. Compelling enough?

When it comes to rationalising art market events there is much to be gained from knowing who has money to spend and how much they have to spend. The top end of the market is fuelled by super wealthy collectors whose level of wealth would not have been affected enough by the financial crisis to deter them from buying art. Therefore at the high end of the art market things have been pretty solid as is evident from the number of record auction prices set in 2010. The lower end of the market is fuelled by collectors who focus on edgy and trendy contemporary art by emerging and newly established artists, and who will usually have a high level of interest in the cultural and artistic side of fine art. Collectors at the lower end of the market are a very determined group who are always going to be around even if they appear a little less active at times. Things at the lower end have improved but have done so at a less than rapid pace which makes it difficult to judge where this sector of the market is heading. Without a doubt the sector of the art market that has suffered for the longest period of time due to the effects of the global financial crisis and the art market downturn is the middle market. The middle market includes lesser works by big name artists, and the more expensive (less justifiable) works by the trendy contemporary artists, which makes the middle market a sort of currently un-necessary compromise for the super rich, and a stretch too far for the modestly well off. Middle market works are, however, perfect for the financial advisor and hedge fund manager types who are more interested in art as a status symbol than the quality or art historical importance of the works they are buying. With the pay packets of hedge fund managers and financial advisors taking a massive hit due to the financial crisis, there is little interest in the middle market works. The super rich are still rich enough to not have to compromise and settle for middle market works and the modestly well off continue to fuel the lower end of the market.
My next post will be the top ten art market 2010 so stay tuned……..

How to Avoid Dirty Art Auction Tricks – artmarketblog.com

artforprofits — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:14:39 +0000

How to Avoid Dirty Art Auction Tricks – artmarketblog.com

Having focused my last few posts on the issues surrounding the questionable practices of some art auction houses, I thought it important to let people know how they can avoid becoming a victim of dirty art auction tricks and tactics. The only real way to avoid becoming a victim of the art auction houses is to ask questions and to know which questions to ask. Below is a list of questions, and the reasoning behind each question, that will ensure that you know exactly where you stand.

Seven questions every buyer should ask before bidding on a work of art:

1. Does the auction house or anyone associated with the auction house have an ownership interest in the work of art I am thinking of purchasing?

(The reason you should ask this question is that if an auction house has an ownership interest in a work of art you should question whether this would have an effect on the way the auction house markets and presents the work of art in question – as well as the final price. Auction houses are required to indicate in auction catalogues when they have an ownership interest in a work of art.)

2. Is the auction house employee who is advising me on my purchases also representing the seller of the works they are advising me on?

(The reason you should ask this question is that it is not unknown for a specialist assigned to a particular client as an advisor to be representing the seller of the works they are advising the buyer to purchase. If you are assigned an expert advisor by an auction house make sure they are not representing the seller of the particular works you are interested in.)

3. Is there any doubt regarding the authenticity or provenance of the works of art I am interested in purchasing?

(The reason you need to ask this question is that auction houses are not always forthcoming with information regarding authenticity. It is worth while making sure that you are getting what you are paying for.)

4. Who has authenticated the works of art I am interested in purchasing, what qualifications do they have and what evidence was the authentication based on?

(The reason you need to ask this question is that auction houses have been known to justify the attribution they make using less than reliable information.)

5. When were the works of art I am interested in purchasing last consigned to an auction and what was the result?

(The reason that you should ask this question is that auction houses are not always forthcoming with information regarding the consignment history of a work of art. Auction houses have been known to sell the same work of art a number of times within a short period of time and not disclose this information to buyers. It is important to know this information as it is likely there is reason that this has occurred. It is also important to know this information because a work of art being passed in at auction can gain a stigma that can reduce the value.)

6. Does the auction house allow the auctioneer to bid in his own sale?

(It should be obvious why one needs to ask this question, and yes, some auction houses to allow the auctioneer to bid on their own sale.)

7. What is the condition of the works of art I am interested in purchasing and has a condition report been completed on each work?

(Auction houses are not always forthcoming with information regarding the condition of a work of art. It is generally expected that buyers will inspect a work of art themselves and will be aware of the condition of the work of art. If you are not able to assess the condition of a work of art then hire an expert.)

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