A New Decorative Arts Category–Contemporary Design–Tries to Define Itself in an Increasingly Crowded Field

In the never-ending search for the next must-have, Christie’s New York will hold its first Contemporary Design sale on September 8, dedicated to end-of-the-century stars like Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid and the recently deceased Ettore Sottsass. According to Carina Villinger, head of the sale, Christie’s wants to tap into the enthusiasm for a cluster of big-name contemporary international designers generated by the successful Design Miami show (December) and its sister event Design Miami/Basel (June). These shows celebrate the absolutely current and present a new opportunity in the well-supplied Design market.

Christie’s is marketing the new category not only to their 20th–century furniture buyers but also to their contemporary art clients who, it is hoped, are increasingly interested in furniture that complements their artwork.  (Before this sale, Christie’s had tucked contemporary pieces in 20th Century Decorative Art & Design auctions.) Read the rest of this entry »

Two Lackluster Sales and They’re Already Talking About Survival

Australia is home to no less than 8 fine art auction houses. That’s a pretty crowded market for a nation of 20 million. Last week there were two sales with weak results prompting The Australian to wonder who might survive a shakeout: Read the rest of this entry »

The Art Newspaper Offers a Detailed Catalogue of Bacon Collectors

New York Magazine mapped out Bacon’s rise in the Spring, but Sarah Thornton’s new piece in The Art Newspaper adds the identities a slew of recent Bacon buyers: Read the rest of this entry »

Interview with Guy Bennett

In our continuing effort to de-mystify the art market and make the auction houses more accessible, we bring you this interview with Christie’s Guy Bennett (along with some video excerpts.)

First, a little background. Guy Bennett is Senior Vice President, International Co-Head of Impressionist and Modern Art. In addition to overseeing the day to day running of the department worldwide, he is responsible for the daily management, marketing and promotion of Christie’s sales of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York. And, of course, it’s his job to find the right properties to sell at the right time. He headed the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in November 2006 which totaled $491.5 million, making it the most valuable auction ever. The next year, he organized the second most valuable sale totaling $396 million in November 2007.

In 2008, Bennett landed the Miller Collection, which included Monet’s spectacular “Le bassin aux nymphéas” which sold for $80.4 million in London in June, doubling the artist’s previous record set a month earlier when Bennett had orchestrated the sale of Monet’s “Le Pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil” in New York which sold for $41.5 million. (The interview, with video, after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

From Mumbai to Bridgehampton, the reactions from the Hirst exhibitions have been revealing–and positive. The Indian press is getting its first taste of Hirst–though not any of the formaldehyde bulls:

Death, decay, religion and life - 14 examples of the favoured themes of British artist Damien Hirst left the audience stunned as global auctioneer Sotheby’s unveiled them here.It was an eye-opener for most of those who thronged to the preview Wednesday evening. The reaction ranged from gasps, amazement, downright, appreciation, a slight revulsion to ecstasy.

The hideously beautiful works mostly captured death and its symbols - glorifying them, beautifying them, and almost giving them a virtuous quality with the larger-than-life manifestations of man’s most subliminal fear.

Out on the East End of Long Island, art world insiders are upbeat. Here’s Sandy Heller, most famous for advising Steven Cohen who owns–and refurbished–the original shark quoted by Kate Taylor in the New York Sun:

“I think Sotheby’s is very in touch with Damien’s market. They know how big it is and how broad it is, and it’s not necessarily all reached by his primary dealers.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Herald in Scotland reports on the possible sale of 27 Old Master paintings from the Duke of Sutherland’s Bridgewater collection that have been on loan to the National Galleries of Scotland. The pictures might be worth £1 billion on the open market. The Duke wants £100 million for two of the pictures to leave the others on loan for an additional 21 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Three Dealers Go on the Record

Bloomberg has three comments on the upcoming auction. White Cube’s Jay Jopling denies there is a mountain of unsold works:

“The appetite for Damien’s art,” Jay Jopling, White Cube’s owner, said in the statement, “is such that we never have enough and I’m always keen to have as much work on consignment as possible.” The market for Hirst was strong and suggestions to the contrary were based on “redundant documents.” Read the rest of this entry »

£4.9 Million with 54% of the Lots Sold

Vettriano and the rest of the Scottish market cools with yesterday’s sale total down 6% from the previous year. Bloomberg covers the results:Cadell, Peploe and Flint posted very good numbers. John Lavery had the highest price of £481,250 but few of the works exceeded their high estimates.

Australia’s Art Market Records Another 49% Sale by Lot and Nearly A$5 million

The Age reports that Bonhams and Goodman had a record for John Russell at A$1.56 million and strong interest in the quality goods. Meanwhile, Bloomberg follows up on the Sotheby’s sale to include the day sale results: Read the rest of this entry »

Many years ago in the United States, a wealthy magazine publisher with a famous name decided to run for president. And though he had a distinctive political/economic point of view, many observers felt the presidential run was nothing more than a form of advertising. The media exposure the publisher received which promoted his magazine because it shared his last name, was invaluable. That lesson keeps returning as the Damien Hirst auction approaches. Whatever the outcome of the sale, Hirst has continued to imprint himself on the broader public as the most famous living artist. Read the rest of this entry »