Colin Gleadell has been running some of the numbers on next week’s New York sales. He points out that inventory on offer amounts to about $1.3bn in merchandise which is on par with the sales in November and slightly higher than last May’s $1.1bn.
Gleadell also has done the math on the guarantees and irrevocable bids amassed by the auction houses. Christie’s is back to leading the way with a substantial 57% of their Evening sale versus Sotheby’s 54%. (At Sotheby’s the guarantee is concentrated whereas at Christie’s it’s spread across more lots.)
In the less competitive Impressionist and Modern market, the ratios are a far lower (and closer) “guarantee percentage-to-value ratios sink [of] 28 per cent at Sotheby’s and 34.5 per cent at Christie’s.”
Based on the lower pre-sale estimates, the accumulative value of the guarantees made either directly by Christie’s or by a third party, is $207 million, or 57 per cent of the value of the sale. In spite of the Basquiat, Sotheby’s trails with just $115 million of art guaranteed, or 54 per cent of its estimated $212 million sale.
What’s on offer at New York’s $1.3 billion Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sales? (Telegraph)
More from Art Market Monitor
The Use of Guarantees Is Changing How the Most Expensive Art Is Sold—But How?
February Sales Begin to Indicate Cautious Market
Sotheby’s Increases Auction Commission Margin in Q1
New York Sales Evenly Balanced Between Contemporary & Impressionist-Modern Categories
Phillips Jumps to Sunday Evening with Hybrid Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale
Christie’s Out Guarantees Sotheby’s 4-to-1 but “Only” Tops Sales 2-to-1
