Scott Reyburn talks to industry players at Art Basel to take the pulse of the fair:
“We’ve seen buyers from Russia and Asia, though not as many Middle Eastern clients as we’d like,” said Amy Gold, a director at the New York-based dealership L & M Arts, which is asking $4.2 million for the 1952 Franz Klein abstract, “Diagonal, Black and White.” “We’re expecting interest in classic works.”
The days are over of collectors running to booths to buy works by the hottest contemporary names that could be sold two or three years later for substantial profits at auction, said dealers.
“It’s still tough for the galleries,” Todd Levin, the New York-based art adviser, said. “Prices are still down. Though dealers are selling and new buyers have entered the market, it’s not like 2006 and 2007 when they had waiting lists and they could sell shows four times over.”
Buyers Eye $25m Giacometti at Biggest Contemporary Fair (Bloomberg)