Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

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

Sotheby’s Imp-Mod Sale Suggests a Picky Market

November 15, 2016 by Marion Maneker

otto-mueller-nude-in-mirror-600-800k-1-45m-usd

The bulk of this AMMpro post is available only to subscribers. Each subscription begins with a free month. You're welcome to register to read the content and cancel your subscription before your credit card is charged if you do not find the content useful.

It is never a good measure of the effect of an systemic event to look at the sales closest too that event. One need only look at the art auctions right around the time of the failure of Lehman Brothers and the bailout of AIG in the Fall of 2008. Damien Hirst had a very successful sale on the day of Lehman's bankruptcy. The Frieze sales that followed in the next month were sober but not cataclysmic. By November, the mood had darkened and sales suffered.

Looking for signs of how art will fare under a Trump presidency is premature. Will we know more in February, May or June? Sure. But until then, the art market should be judged more on the internal dynamics than as a response to the US election.

That didn't stop Sotheby's Jeremiah Evarts from declaring the art market safe from Trump, according to ArtNews's Nate Freeman:

“We definitely had the election in mind, but since today was a good night, all signs indicate that the market won’t be affected,” Everts told ARTnews. “There’s a buffer—for better or for worse, there’s a buffer.”

As noted in a previous post, Sotheby's approach to the Impressionist and Modern evening sale is somewhat instructive. The sale had an 81% sell-through rate. Given the new model of managing sales tightly, that seems low but not worryingly low.

Kelly Crow remarked on the absence of eager bidders in the Wall Street Journal:


Sign up to Art Market Monitor Premium today

You need a membership to AMMpro to view this article and other exclusive content daily.

You can register today for $90 per month—with your first month free!—or for $756 per year (no free trial period.)

Screenshot 2016-08-05 16.28.45

If you already have an account, sign in here:

 
 
Forgot Password

Filed Under: Auction Results, General, Premium

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

  • Gorky, Kandinsky Works to Make First Public Appearance Since 1970s at Sotheby's
  • Soulages First Owned by Senegalese Poet-Politician Léopold Sédar Senghor Sells in France
  • For 2020, Phillips Brought in Total of $760.4 million, Down 16 Percent from 2019; Asia Sales Up 24 Percent
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • A Season of Resilience: Fall 2020 Hong Kong Auction Analysis
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Christie's to Sell $12m Yves Klein to Benefit The Water Academy
  • Rare $80 M. Botticelli Portrait Poised to Break Records at Sotheby's Auction
  • 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