Kenny Schachter has his annual account of his New Year’s holidays in St. Moritz which include a heavy round of gallery going. Schachter indulged in a wide ranging show that featured at least one work with a recent auction reference point:
I dipped into Robilant + Voena with its show, “From Taddeo Gaddi to Lucio Fontana,” on view. The Fontana was vacationing in St. Moritz after a fall appearance at Frieze Masters in London. I sheepishly asked one of the principals which Old Master was the best—okay, the most valuable—to which he bellowed, “Anyone could see!” Er, anyone but me, apparently. It was the Gaddi (1300–1366) panel, which was going for $2,500,000 and had an auction record of $2,138,089, set in 2011 at Christie’s London.
Schachter points out that the record-making triptych is much larger than the small panel price 20% above the record. Perhaps more interesting in the endless debate about the relative values of Old Master and Contemporary art, Schachter found that the panel on offer (above) was bought in at auction 11 years ago with an estimate range that gave the work a ballpark value of $750,000.
Kenny Schachter on Art and Horse-Racing in St. Moritz (artnet News)
