The Detroit Free Press spoke to an appraiser who offers a view of the works that differs from the assumption that the sales could maximize value from the top Detroit works:
Beverly Schreiber Jacoby, president of BSJ Fine Art in New York, said that while Christie’s did what the city asked it to do, she regarded the evaluation process as “conceptually flawed.” She said it ignored the reality of bringing the art to market in the context of bankruptcy and what would be, in effect, a forced sale.“This evaluation didn’t take place in a fair-market value situation,” she said. “It’s a liquidation.”She also pointed to other conditions that could potentially depress prices, including the intense negative publicity that would surround the sale of DIA art, scaring away museums and significant collectors who are trustees at those institutions.“A smaller pool of buyers may have a negative impact on prices,” she said.Other art consultants and dealers, however, have said that while American buyers might shy away from DIA art, deep-pocketed collectors in burgeoning markets in the Middle East, China, Russia and Japan would be less afraid of the stigma of taking advantage of Detroit’s misfortune.
