Record auction sales for Giacometti
3 February 2010. Sotheby’s record-breaking evening auction brought in record sales of £146,828,350 - the highest amount ever made at a London sale. The top lot: Giacometti’sL’homme qui marche 1 sold for £65 Million ($104.3 million) as "...the highest price ever paid for any work ever sold at auction!" says Sotheby's co- chairman Melanie Clore. The February sales signify confidence returning to the art market.
Top tier art returns to auction
Lucian Freud's self portrait with black eye expected to bring heated bidding up to £4 Million at Sotheby's, 10 February. An emotionally charged self portrait of Lucian Freud, the result of the artist's altercation with a cab driver, is coming up for auction. Sotheby's expects Freud collectors to attend for an opportunity to win this rare prize. This auction is expected to breath fresh air into the market offering other master works by Doig, Richter and Warhol.
Andy Warhol's 200 One Dollar Bills sells for $43million
During Sotheby's auction on 11th November 2009, Andy Warhol's iconic piece, 200 One Dollar Bills, sold for $43 million, well past the pre-sale estimate of $8 to 12 million. Bidding was said to be fierce in the New York auction house and the piece eventually went to an anonymous buyer via the telephone. The sale of Contemporary Art raised a total of $134 million, selling 98.6% sold by value and 96.3% sold by lot - a considerable result for the art market that is showing strong signs of recovery. Seven records were set during the auction, including one for Jean Dubuffet, Trinité-Champs-Elysées, 1961, which sold for $6 million.
Collection of Lord Attenborough Sells for $7,699,470 at Sotheby's
The sale of Lord Attenborough’s collection on 11th November 2009 in London follows a string of recent strong auction sales. The collection of fifty mid-20th Century British works were 100% sold by lot and value, and 90% of lots brought prices above their pre-sale high estimate.
Sotheby's Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on 4th November 2009 was a massive success, bringing in $181 million
The auction, held in New York, saw 84.8% sold by lot and 93.4% sold by value and two auction results, one for André Derain and one for Kees van Dongen. Simon Shaw, Head of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Department in New York was quoted as saying, “Tonight’s results were clear vote of confidence for the art market".
Sotheby’s profits down 87%
Sotheby’s announced that their 2009 second quarter operating revenues were down 48% down and their first half profits dropping 87%. Sotheby’s primarily attributed these results to a 66% decline in net auction sales during the economic recession. Positive impacts came from an increase in auction commission margins and a decrease in the number of guarantees provided by the auction house, a practice Sotheby’s has substantially reduced in 2009 and plans to limit for the foreseeable future. Christie’s International sales were also down by 35% for the first six months of 2009 in comparison with the same period last year. Christie’s positive news was that it achieved global auction sales market share of 61% against its main competitor and its average sold rates by lot rose 5% since the end of last year to 78.3%.
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The post modern and contemporary sales were a mixed bag. Christie's Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 13th May, 2009 in New York raised $93 million, was 91% sold by lot and 94% by value and set five world auction records, including one this David Hockney’s “Beverly Hills Housewife”, which sold for $7.9 million. Sotheby’s only achieved half of that amount, $ 47,033,500, at their Contemporary Art sales on the 12th May 2009 in New York - its smallest New York contemporary auction since May 2003.
Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009
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Art auction perform well yet year-on-year sales down
The latest art auctions were deemed a reasonable success despite the continued recession. Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale held on 5th May 2009 in New York brought in a total of $61 million. The top two lots in the auction failed to sell – Picasso’s portrait of his daughter Maya, "La fille de l'artiste a deux and et demi avec un bateau" and Giacometti’s “Le Chat” sculpture. However, with 80% sold by lot and 58% sold by value it was a decent overall sale. And yet the total sales are down significantly when compared to Sotheby’s May 2008 sale that achieved $235m. Similarly Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale held on the 6th May in New York raised a total of $102m, less than half of the $277 million it brought in this time last year. Despite the Sotheby’s auction, the three top lots at the Christie’s sale were two Picasso’s and this Giacometti, “Buste de Diego”, which well exceeded its estimate of $4.5-6 million by achieving $7.69 million.
Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009
Fall in art prices in the first quarterArt prices have fallen 35 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, according to the Mei Moses Index. Collectors who have been affected by the credit crunch are selling off pieces in order to raise cash. Postwar and contemporary works, which had seen the largest gains in recent years, are now the hardest hit. Mei Moses announced that such works fell by more than 30 per cent in the first quarter. Old masters works have fallen by less. In 1991 prices dropped by 41 per cent, the worst on record, according to Mei Moses.
Art Paris Fair has varied results
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The Art Paris Fair was held between 18th – 23rd March, featuring 81 French exhibitors and focusing mostly on local, Belgian and Swiss collectors. The quality of the pieces on show and the sales results were both said to be varied. According to gallerist Ernst Hilger of Vienna, “French collectors have always been more collectors than speculators and are less affected by trends in the international market. But of course it’s slower.” Purchases by museum buyers were sparse, although the Centre Pompidou bought 11 drawings on wax by the Chilean artist Sandra Vásquez de la Horra.
Art Dubai exhibits a quality showThe third edition of Art Dubai, held between 18th – 21st March, was also looking to Middle Eastern art buyers to soften the slowing art markets in other parts of the world. Although the fair was slightly smaller than last year with 68 dealers, the fair drew such high quality galleries as London’s Lisson Gallery and Gimpel Fils and New York’s L & M Arts. The quality of the works being shown were said to be of a much higher scale than in previous years. The museum contingent was drastically more than at Art Paris with 80 museum groups in attendance, 18 patrons and curators from Tate alone. Overall, sales were said to be patchy. According to Paola Weiss of Bischoff/Weiss, “Everyone’s looking for a cash cow, but there are no cash cows any more.”
Museums hit hard by economic downturn
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On 23rd March yet another deaccession of artworks was announced by a museum. Fifty works of the Montclair Art Museum’s permanent collection in Montclair, New Jersey are to be put up for sale, including a drawing by Jackson Pollock valued between $300,000 to $500,000. The museum hopes to raise from $2.9 and $4.3 million in order to purchase new works. In recent years, museums have been selling works in order to purge their collections of inferior pieces and purchasing other works that are more in line with their current strategic model. However, the recent economic turmoil has seen museums attempting to use the sale of works for more general financing activities, to the public’s and donators’ dismay.
Cultural spaces in the U.A.E. continue to grow
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Abu Dhabi has long had plans to launch four large new museums on the Saadiyat Island, designed by such great architects as Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid. The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) has recently announced another museum devoted to Middle Eastern, North African and Asian art, to open in the middle of Abu Dhabi. The 4,000sq m space will also include three theatres and art galleries. Many in the art industry are hoping that the cultural expansion in the Middle East will help boost lagging art sales due to the credit crunch.
Magnificent Collection of Emotional Assets
The Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge auction in Paris proved beyond doubt that a diversified portfolio of Emotional Assets has the potential to outperform every other asset class. The three day sale during 23rd – 25th February recorded numerous new world records in a range of genres from Modern paintings to Art Deco furniture. Against a very poor and deteriorating economic backdrop and further losses being recorded in most other asset classes, art and Emotional Assets continue to show their ability to decouple from other investments.
Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009
Henri Matisse's Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose sold for €35,905,000, well over its estimate of €12,000,000 - €18,000,000 at the Collection Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge auction.
