Contemporary

Phillips London Contemporary Has Richter, Kippenberger and Lichtenstein

February 20, 2019 by Marion Maneker

Gerhard Richter’s Düsenjäger (1963) is back on the market after a brief dalliance with an over-confident Chinese guarantor. The work was sold by collector Paul Allen in November of 2016 to Zhang Chang who had provide a third-party guarantee at $24m. Zhang would not or could not pay for work. Now Phillips is bringing the major work in Richter’s oeuvre back to market with an estimate £10-15m, almost the same estimate it carried nearly a dozen years ago when it sold to Allen in November 2007.

The work comes to market amid rumblings within the art market that the third-party guarantee system has gotten over-extended in both the number of works that it covers and the number of buyers that participate. Questions remain—that will only be answered in sales to come this year—whether there are more dis-illusioned guarantors out there burned by the failure of works to find buyers. Are these guarantors sufficiently put off to retreat from the guarantee market?

In the meantime, Phillips has more than one noted German artist in their London sale. Martin Kippenberger’s Ohne Titel (Meine lügen sind ehrliche) (1992) (£3.5-4.5m) leads the sale along with another self-portrait the artist. In between the Kippenberger and the Richter is an example of Roy Lichtenstein’s enamel, Girl in Mirror (1964) with an estimate of £4.5-6.5m. The Lichtenstein enamel is an editioned work with eight examples and two artist’s proofs.

The Lichtenstein is guaranteed by Phillips. The example on offer was bought at the sale of Max Palevsky’s at Christie’s in 2010 where the buyer paid $4.89m. Four years later, another example of the work was sold at Christie’s for $6.885m. Over at Sotheby’s, the work has had its day in the sun too. One sold in 2007 for $4m in New York. Another sold in London in 2012 for nearly £2.4m.

George Michael’s Collection of YBA Art at Christie’s in March

February 8, 2019 by Marion Maneker

MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN (b. 1941) Commissioned Self-Portrait (George) (£60-80k)

Christie’s reveals today that it is offering George Michael’s art collection for auction in London this March. Here’s their release:

George Michael’s private art collection represents a dialogue with his own British contemporaries, artists such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Michael Craig-Martin, and Marc Quinn, who rose to prominence by challenging the status quo of the time, and together creating the Young British Art movement. Through visits to galleries and artists’ studios, he developed friendships with many of the YBA artists whose work he deeply admired. The collection represents George Michael’s dedication to cutting-edge creativity in every field and reflects his instinctive support of young emerging artistic talent.

Wham! was the first major Western act to perform in China, playing two historic concerts in 1985. In 2019, Christie’s will pay tribute to the groundbreaking spirit of George Michael with an expansive global tour of the Collection including a stop in Shanghai, and concluding in London with the works appearing in a public view at Christie’s headquarters. The flagship auction will take place on 14 March, alongside an online sale which will be open for bidding from 8-15 March, with estimates ranging from £400 – £1,500,000, offering fans and collectors alike a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a work owned by George Michael.

Key works of the sale will include Tracey Emin, Drunk to the Bottom of my Soul, 2002; Damien Hirst, The Incomplete Truth, 2006, Bridget Riley, Songbird (1982); and Michael Craig-Martin, Commissioned Self-Portrait (George) (2007).

Additional key works from The George Michael Collection will be unveiled during the global highlights tour, beginning in New York from 8-11 February. The tour will continue to Los Angeles where works will be on view from 11-16 February, Hong Kong from 19-22 February, and Shanghai from 23-28 February. The complete collection will then be open to public view at Christie’s King Street, London from 9-14 March, with the sale taking place on the evening of 14 March.

Comprising more than 200 lots across both the live auction and the online component, “The online sale will allow fans and collectors alike to participate globally, with estimates starting from as little as £400,” said Paola Saracino Fendi, Specialist, Post-War & Contemporary of Christie’s.

The Top of the Contemporary Art Market, 2007-2018

January 31, 2019 by Marion Maneker

This analysis of the 12 years of Contemporary Art Evening sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips was made possible with data from our friends at Pi-eX. It is available to AMMpro subscribers. Subscriptions begin with a free month for the curious. (Please note: these numbers do not include single-owner and curated sales that have punctuated the market at various times. The point of these charts is to show year-over-year changes and so the single-owner and curated sales are thought to interfere with a consistent comparison.)

Continuing our look at the last 12 years of Evening sales, we've got data fro Pi-eX on the Contemporary Evening sales from 207-2018. The familiar three-phase pattern we described for the broader market is visible again here (because the Contemporary market composes a large portion of the overall art market and the Evening sales volume.)

Seeing the reduced number of lots sold over the last three years comes as no surprise. But it does confirm the significant shift in the Contemporary art market from the trophy market that dominated the years 2010-2015.

The consistent number of lots sold during the 2010-15 period and the 2016-18 period did not yield a consistent dollar volume. In the chart below, we can see the rising value of the Evening sale lots sold.

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Francis Outred Leaves Christies

November 21, 2018 by Marion Maneker

Francis Outred is leaving Christie’s after nine years as head of Contemporary art in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India. Outred was responsible for the epoch-making consignment of Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud which made $142.4 million at Christie’s New York in November 2013 and sparked a new era of mega sales. Here’s Christie’s release:

After nearly twenty years in the auction world and a decade with Christie’s, Francis Outred, Chairman, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, EMERI, has decided to leave the company.

“It has been an incredible journey and I am proud of all that the teams have achieved over the last decade. We have built a strong, sustainable and profitable business, leading the market with an innovative vision and five of the six highest grossing auctions ever to take place in our field,” said Francis Outred, “but with the team having achieved three of these in the past thirteen months including the record auction in March this year, the time is right for a pause, a refresh and a new beginning. I want to take a break with my family and I am excited to start a new chapter in my career.”

“On behalf of everyone at Christie’s, I would like to thank Francis for his outstanding commitment and contribution. His work has been characterised by creativity, relevance and audacity,” said Guillaume Cerutti, Chief Executive Officer, Christie’s. “He leaves Christie’s as leaders in the post war and contemporary field in Europe with a strong and diverse group in place to continue to serve clients building on recent success and innovations.”

Francis joined Christie’s in January 2009 to oversee the management, strategy and vision of the Post-War and Contemporary Art team in Europe. In July 2014, he was promoted to Chairman and Head of the department in EMERI, following a period of unprecedented development, growth and success. During his career, Francis has overseen five of the six highest grossing auctions ever to take place in his field in Europe.

Known for his innovative approach to catalogues and exhibitions, under his guidance the team have significantly expanded the remit of the department, extending their activities in private sales, digital engagement and other innovative projects. These have included special one-off exhibitions such as House of Cards at Waddesdon Manor and the first exhibition of Peter Doig in China, at Faurschou Foundation, Beijing alongside the launch of the gallery, Christies Mayfair, and landmark cross category exhibitions there such as Reflections on the Self and About the Line.

Francis was also responsible for the consignment of the most expensive work of art ever sold in his field, Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud which achieved $142.4 million at Christie’s New York in November 2013. He has also twice been instrumental in achieving the record for any photographic work of art at auction, both times by Andreas Gursky as well as other records for contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein and Peter Doig.

London Gives Some Second Thoughts About June Sales

June 29, 2018 by Marion Maneker

This wrap-up of the coverage of the June Contemporary sales is available to AMMpro subscribers. Subscribers get the first month free on monthly subscriptions. Feel free to cancel at any time before the month is up. Sign up for AMMpro here.

The great surprise of the London Contemporary art sales was not the strong performance of works by younger artists or overlooked historical masters. Taken together, all four auction houses transacted somewhere around £186m with only a few of those works selling above £10m.

That trend within the art market continues to be pronounced and persistent. We'll have a more detailed discussion of the sales composition and performance when we publish our sales analysis in the next week. In the meantime, let's marvel at the unexpected strong performance of the Evening sales of Contemporary art in London just when it looked like these events were getting squeezed out of the calendar.

To be sure, the top of the market is much lower than it has been in the past for these sales. Sotheby's posted the biggest single lot with a guaranteed Lucian Freud reclining nude that sold for nearly $30m. Just below that was the surprise lot of the week, Jean-Michel Basquiat's untitled work sold from an American collection (said to be New Line's Michael Lynne) that composed a significant portion of Sotheby's sale. It made just below $20m but had carried a low estimate nearly half of the final selling price.

The dogged bidding over the Basquiat began with auctioneer Oliver Barker pushing the opening bids toward the low estimate. It wasn't long before two aggressive telephone bidders engaged in pitched campaign to out do each other. Their bids came either without the briefest hesitation or in increments greater than the crying required. The underbidder bowed out several times before finally capitulating.

In the current climate where high-value works are sold with an armature of financial support surrounding them which have a tendency to often but not always dampen bidding, it was a rare show of determination by two collectors.