Was Sotheby’s the Favorite to Win the YSL Collection?

Pinault Steps In and Wins the Contest for Christie’s.

What Will This Do for the Paris Auction Market?

London’s First Post gives us the back story on Christie’s not-so-surprising success in getting the YSL art collection to sell in Paris in the Winter of 2009. The Independent confirms that Sotheby’s was close to a deal and values the collection at more than $500 million, making it the largest single owner sale ever. Those who have seen the collection describe it as “a room full of masterpieces.”

Reuters adds this quote from YSL’s dealer:

Antique dealer Alexis Kugel, who told Le Figaro his relation with the collectors was the closest a dealer could have with his clients, said: “For Yves Saint Laurent art was a vital need, indispensable for his inspiration, like water to survive. It soothed his depressive character.”

The Times tries to pour cold water over the whole affair by turning it into an important market test–which it will be–and using a bitchy quote from Godfrey Barker: “We now learn that Saint Laurent moved stealthily to become one of the biggest buyers in the most overpriced sector of the art market - paintings from 1900-25, which cost £5m to £25m each,” said Godfrey Barker, an art-market expert. Read the rest of this entry »

More Questions About the Meaning of the London Sales

As promoters of the idea that the rapid rise of value in the art market over the 2006-2007 period was not a bubble, we find ourselves in the interesting position of wondering whether there isn’t a bubble forming now. (Our case after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

Sotheby’s $18.2 million Impressionist and Modern Sale in Paris

. . . Carries the Momentum from London

The small Parisian sale pulled in serious interest. 51 lots were offered; 35 of them sold. 20 of those lots sold for prices above the high estimate.

The Press is Taking Stock of the Contemporary Sales

Sotheby’s

From the report of the Master, Judd Tully:

“I think the market is continuing its onward march, blissfully ignorant of all the turmoil in the financial markets,” said New York private dealer Christopher Eykyn. “It certainly hasn’t been a bad investment so far.” Read the rest of this entry »

Following Up on London’s Impressionist and Modern Sales

Russian bidding is thought to have played its part in both sales [the Monet and Degas], as well as in the record prices paid for three early-20th-century Russian modernist paintings by Natalia Goncharova (£5.5 million), Vladimir Baranoff Rossine (£2.7 million) and Vera Rockline (£2 million) - all artists who have really prospered only since the Russian art buying spree began five years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

Severini Leads 102 million Pound Sale of Hand-Picked Winners with an Impressive 90% of Lots Sold

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not Just the Blockbusters–or Why a $30 million Picture Doesn’t Seem Like a Big Deal Anymore

The Master, Judd Tully, comes in with the first report on the Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern sale. Still hunkering down for the soft landing, Sotheby’s exceeds its pre-sale estimate. Though, to be accurate because the final sale includes 12+% of premium and more, the sale came in at the upper end of the pre-sale estimates. In Tully’s words: Read the rest of this entry »

Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Sale is Going Strong

Severini went for 15,000,000 pounds, well over the pre-sale estimate. Giacometti and late Picasso round out the top lots supporting last night’s numbers at Christie’s and the continuing trend of strong prices for certain prized works. Giacometti and Picasso’s late works, especially the Mousquetaires, have been durable performers over the last two years. This Picasso went for 5 million pounds ($10 million) and the Giacometti sold for 9 million pounds ($18 million.) The only weak performer was the Monet beach scene which sold below the low estimate; though, sell it did.

A full report with press links to follow.

Severini Work Sells for Record 15 Million Pounds (Bloomberg)

The Highest Total in Europe for an Impressionist/Modern sale; 81% of lots sold

Such is the strange nature of the press coverage of the art market that a solid sale with 81% sell-through can be reported with doubts.

The top end of the Impressionist market remains strong. Christie’s sale confirms what experts have been saying for several years now: the market likes quality. And it should be added that quality includes provenance. But the important statistic to emerge from last night’s sale was the weighting of the top ten lots in the total. At 86,932,500 pounds, the top ten lots represented 60% of the total sale value.

The average price for the Evening sale was 2,188,492 pounds, a figure comparable with the numbers last seen in New York in May where Christie’s had an average lot value of $6.3 million. The median price in last night’s sale was 1,060,450 pounds against a median of $3 million in New York.

The Miller Monet goes for $80 million in London; Goncharova hits $10 million; Degas Surprises

Two big records set at Christie’s in London. The Monet Water lilies, which have not been seen in public for 80 years, doubled Monet’s record of just a few weeks ago in New York. Goncharova bests her record by a small margin. But reports of the death of the Impressionist market seem to be mistaken.

“So much for the Impressionist market being dead,” said James Roundell, a London art dealer. “If you can get good pictures and price them low, people will buy.”

On the other hand, the never-optimistic Carol Vogel observes: Read the rest of this entry »