Sotheby’s Brings in $223 Million On the Back of a Few Masterpieces

The Wall Street Journal Profiles the Malevich and Its Provenance

David D’Arcy tells the convoluted story of how Sotheby’s Malevich (right) came to market:

In 1927, with Stalin in the Kremlin tightening rules on art, Malevich left for the West, taking 100 pictures. There was praise and a potential market for his work in Warsaw and Berlin. Then came an official letter summoning him home, citing “visa problems.” He left his art in Berlin, returned to Russia, and stayed there for the rest of his life. Malevich died in 1935, an impoverished and intimidated “bourgeois formalist,” argot for artists unacceptable to Soviet officialdom.

What followed is a convoluted tale of claims, stratagems, payoffs and seizures. D’Arcy points out that Phillips sold in 2000 for $17 million one Malevich that had been caught up in the intrigue: Read the rest of this entry »

Richard Prince’s Nurse Paintings Have Been a Mainstay of the Market

“That market has been ready to crack for a long time,” a senior auction house specialist said late last week while casting a glance toward one of the two Nurse paintings on offer in the Contemporary art sales.

No single body of work has better tracked the recent levitation of the art market better than the Nurse paintings. In London last month, Dude Ranch Nurse #2 (left) sold for $5.5 million, a let-down considering the rapid upward arc of prices. Had the financial markets not collapsed, the painting might have made $8 million or more . That was surely the consignor’s hope. But since the owner had bought it a mere 18 months earlier for $2.5 million, no will feel sorry for the consignor’s “loss.” Read the rest of this entry »

The New York Times Is First Out of the Gate

Carol Vogel had this column in Sunday’s Arts and Leisure section.

A $60 million painting by Kazimir Malevich. A $40 million self-portrait by Francis Bacon. It hardly seems the ideal moment to be selling such pricey art. As Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips de Pury brace for their big fall auctions in New York, starting with a sale of 71 Impressionist and Modern paintings, drawings and sculptures at Sotheby’s on Monday night, anxiety is the dominant mood. [ . . . ] Much of the art up for auction this week and next was secured early in the summer, when the world seemed a far different place. Now, with the net worth of so many buyers plummeting, auction houses have been trying to persuade sellers to lower their reserves, that is, the undisclosed minimum price that a bidder must meet for the art to be sold.

“Prices of all assets have fallen — stocks, gold, oil, real estate — and it would be unrealistic to expect works of art to be immune to the market’s pressures,” said Marc Porter, president of Christie’s in America. “We are actively encouraging consignors to set reasonable reserves.”[ . . . ]As for buyers, the message is a little trickier. With them, Mr. Porter said, Christie’s is making the argument that the objects they desire “might not reappear on the market next season at an even lower price.” [ . . . ] “Americans who fled when prices began soaring will jump back into the market but at a different price level,” said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art. Among the standouts in the fall lineup at Sotheby’s are paintings like Edvard Munch’s “Vampire” (1894), priced to bring more than $35 million, and an Yves Klein wall relief estimated at more than $25 million. Christie’s is offering a 1934 portrait of Picasso’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter estimated at $18 million to $25 million and a Basquiat painting at $12 million and $16 million. “I still hold the belief that the great works will find buyers,” said Guy Bennett, of Christie’s.

Tapped Out? (The New York Times)

Kimmelman Finds Flaws in Paris Show; Estate Withdraws Sale

Picasso and the new realities of the global economy, is there a connection? Here’s how the New York Times’s Michael Kimmelman brings them together in his review of the “Picasso and the Masters” show in Paris:

“FIAC, the art fair that shared quarters in the Grand Palais these last several days, was populated by shell-shocked dealers murmuring worriedly amongst themselves about the bygone customers whom not so long ago they had blithely turned away or gave five minutes to decide whether to buy a picture. Picasso, in such straitened times, remains at least a reliable brand . . . ”

But how reliable? Kimmelman goes on to make this compelling point: “Picasso’s later career, you might say, was a one-man wrestling match with the limits of his own enormous genius in relation to history, and his failures were, humanly speaking, as compelling as his accomplishments, but that interpretation requires from an exhibition not blind hero worship but, as Delacroix had it, a little humility. The show here lacks this altogether, substituting swagger for judgment, bluster for nuance, and in art, as in politics and finance, we’ve had enough of that approach already.” [emphasis added] Read the rest of this entry »

(Top Ten after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

(Top Ten after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

Italian Collectors Hold the Line

At Sotheby’s, the Italian sale brought in £13,583,725 ($23,668,282) with 46 of the 52 lots (or 88.5%) sold. Although the sale total is at the low end of the estimate, the relative strength of the Italian market in the midst of uncertainty is a tonic. Perhaps the rest of the market for recent art can organize an orderly retreat.

From Sotheby’s press release: Commenting on today’s sale, Claudia Dwek, Chairman of Sotheby’s Italy, said: “We are extremely pleased with the success of today’s sale of 20th Century Italian Art, which shows the keen appetite for classic modern works. Italian Art is a niche market which has developed over the last 10 years and as we saw today many collectors are looking to grow their collections with works by the modern Italian masters. What Sotheby’s was able to offer was a well-edited, highly-curated sale, both in quality and as regards estimates, and the market clearly responded with enthusiasm.”

The Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune Call the Action

By now you’ve no doubt heard that the Art market took a beating this past weekend in London but came out better than the financial markets all around it. Souren Melikian narrates the blow-by-blow at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Kelly Crow comes up with some good quotes from collectors and dealers: “People are just being so cautious,” says Roberto Annicchiarico, a Milan-based dealer. “Before, collectors had to take whatever art they could get from dealers and auction houses, but now those collectors are saying, ‘Kneel down and ask nicely.’ ”

Not a Pretty Picture at Auctions (Wall Street Journal)

Art market stumbles on at contemporary sales (International Herald Tribune)

The Contemporary Art Evening Sale Brings in $38m with 71% Sold

Sotheby’s got the job done this evening in London. The Contemporary Art sale had a respectable 71% sell-through as 45 of the 63 lots went to buyers. Clearly consignors were willing to lower reserve prices because many lots sold below the low estimate. Though there were many artists like Jenny Saville, Antony Gormley, Yves Klein and John Currin who saw their work soar above estimates. Subodh Gupta, Fred Tomaselli and Sean Scully performed well within their estimates too.

Cheyenne Westphal said: “Bidding in tonight’s sale was rational and considered with many long-time collectors actively participating.  It is important to keep perspective; this market has witnessed rapid growth.  What we have seen tonight is that buyers are continuing to respond to unprecedented saleroom opportunities and works of high quality, fresh to the market and properly estimated continue to perform well.”

To put things in perspective, Sotheby’s reminds us that the sale is the highest total for an October Contemporary art sale in London–even though it was well below the low estimate. More to the point, so far this year Sotheby’s has sold $1.2 billion worth of Contemporary art, 68% more than 2007 which was already a record year well above the previous year.

Bloomberg reports that the Mugrabis bought Andy Warhol’s Skulls for £4.3 million, a price below the low estimate.

Sotheby’s Press Release for the Sale