Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Whither the Old Master Market?

July 9, 2009 by Marion Maneker

There seems to be some confusion in how to view this week’s sales of Old Master works. Some see continuing strength where others see weakness. George Gordon told The Art Newspaper, “Estimates are no lower than two years ago–the market has been maintained,” he said. But Bloomberg‘s Scott Reyburn did a year-over-year comparison:

Immediately after last night’s Johnson sale, the auction house offered a further 48 lots of Old Master paintings from other sellers which raised a total of 26 million pounds with fees, against a lower valuation of 24 million pounds.

Here, the success rate dropped to 69 percent, with just 10 works selling for hammer prices that were above the upper estimate. At the equivalent mixed-owner sale last year, Sotheby’s raised 51.5 million pounds from a 90-lot auction, with 77 percent of the material finding owners.

Excluding the Johnson property from the totals may not be a fair comparison. Auction houses bring work to market whenever and however they can. Sotheby’s total for the whole evening was £36m, only a 30% decline in sales volume. That compares favorably with the 70% decline in Contemporary art seen the week before.

Nonetheless, Reyburn offers this additional caveat not to draw too much meaning from the Old Master sales:

“A lot of people are chasing the same pictures,” Jack Kilgore, a New York-based dealer, said in an interview. “Good things are selling well. This is a small and selective market.”

Johnson & Johnson Heiress Raises $15.9 million at Art Auction (Bloomberg)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • The Last SculptorThe Last Sculptor
  • Poor Man's CanalettoPoor Man's Canaletto
  • Louvre Abu Dhabi Announces Acquisition of £9.48m Rembrandt StudyLouvre Abu Dhabi Announces Acquisition of £9.48m Rembrandt Study
  • Christie’s Has Richard Feigen Collection in MayChristie’s Has Richard Feigen Collection in May
  • Christie’s Sells £11.4m Leyden Drawing to Benefit Rugby SchoolChristie’s Sells £11.4m Leyden Drawing to Benefit Rugby School
  • Getty Buys Previously Unknown Quentin Metsys PaintingGetty Buys Previously Unknown Quentin Metsys Painting

Filed Under: Auction Results Tagged With: Featured, Old Master

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • British Modernists Draw Deep Bidding in Christie's $42 M. London Sales
  • $10 M. Picasso Portrait Unseen for Decades to Sell at Bonhams
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Miami Sales Report 2015
  • The Billion-Dollar NYC Apartment of Ben Heller
  • About Us/ Contact
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor