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Update: Christie’s Withdraws Yale Skull and Bones Ballot Box

January 16, 2010

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City auction house says a human skull that had been used as a ballot box by Yale’s elite Skull and Bones society has been withdrawn from sale.

Christie’s said Friday that the 19th century skull was being removed from the Jan. 22 sale due to a title claim. The auction house declined further comment.

The skull had been expected to sell for $10,000 to $20,000. Christie’s only identified the seller as a European art collector.

The skull is fitted with a hinged flap and is believed to have been used during voting at the mysterious society’s meetings. The club was founded in 1832 and publicly known members, called Bonesmen, include both presidents Bush and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.

Tags:art title claim, Bonesmen, Christie's, Lauren Gentile, Skull-Ballot Box, Specullector, Yale's elite Skull and Bones society
Posted in American art market, art reporting, Christie's, Lauren Gentile, Specullector | Leave a Comment »

One of our own

June 25, 2008

Nice interview on NPR this morning with collector Aaron Levine. (wife Barbara is not in the interview but I wanted to mention her because she’s very knowledgeable – and charming).

A good point to develop on was the lack of Americans at Basel this year. The art market as a whole (from collectors of objets d’art at regional auctions to those picking up an $80 million Monet) is 50% American, but that is not where half of the money is coming from. It’s the money from Russia and China (secondarily, UAE and India, too) flowing through the UK and the rest of Europe that’s feeding us.

I’ll say it again, we will all be alive to see the center of the art market pass from New York to London.

Tags:$80 million Monet, Aaron Levine art collector, Americans at Art Basel, Art Market China Russian UAE India, Barbara and Aaron Levine, Claude Monet Le bassin aux nympheas, global art market, International art market, Lauren Gentile, NPR art market
Posted in American art market, art fairs, art market, art market quotes, auction market, British art market, Chinese art market, Christie's, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, French art market, global art market, Indian art market, International art market, Italian art market, Lauren Gentile, London, Specullector, Swiss art market, Washington, washington DC | 1 Comment »

Miami Bound

November 30, 2007

I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while but holidays + Miami prep = no posting time.

I am sitting here adding centimeters to inches in inventory and converting our price lists into Pounds and Euros (not Rubels,Yen or HK$ – which may have made it onto the score boards of Sotheby’s and Christie’s sales, but I don’t expect to see much of it in Miami) This conversion though especially freaked me out:

$10,000

€ 6800

₤ 4800

Thus, if you have a British accent, come to booth 74 for special attention and I’ll send you home with something/somethings good … I expect many foreign buyers next week and I’ll be posting info and pictures from the fair when I can.

Highlights of what we have: a new 30 x 30 Dalek, several 24karatgold on gesso Teo Gonzalez’s, Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky video New York is Now which is being featured at the Rubell Collection and the Scope VIP party (and video stills in C-Print to accompany) So come visit me in booth 74 and please bring me a bottle Smart Water if you can – sensory overload, dehydration and grandness!

Example of Dalek’s new acrylic on panel ………… This one is sold, the one I have is going to be a surprise!

Tags:American art market, Art Basel MIami Beach 2007, art market, auction market, Christie’s, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Contemporary Photography, Dalek, DJ Spooky art, International art market, Irvine Contemporary, Lauren Gentile, New Dalek work, Paul D Miller, Scope Irvine Contemporary, SCOPE Miami 2007 exhibitors, Sotheby’s, Specullector, Teo Gonzalez
Posted in American art market, Art Basel MIami Beach 2007, art market, auction market, Christie's, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Contemporary Photography, Dalek, DJ Spooky art, International art market, Irvine Contemporary, Lauren Gentile, New Dalek work, Paul D Miller, Scope Irvine Contemporary, SCOPE Miami 2007 exhibitors, Sotheby's, Specullector, Teo Gonzalez | 1 Comment »

Following the Sale of a Rembrandt

October 30, 2007

In today’s NYTimes was this article about a “Rembrandt” that sold at a regional auction house in the UK for $4.5 million even though it was catalogued as “by a follower of Rembrandt”. The article ends with “If the experts change their minds someday, Friday’s buyer will have had a bargain”…

Friday’s buyer isn’t an English Ira Spainerman, trust me, if the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam says its fake (which they did) it is.

But let me tell you the back-story, the one that takes place before the NYTimes picked it up, and I’ll do it like a Visa commercial.

A guy gets an insurance appraisal (₤2000). The appraiser finds this unusual work in this local home and gets excited (priceless). He sends some jpegs to Christie’s and Sotheby’s Old Master departments and they ask them to bring the work to London (₤50 parking and city driving tax). Upon inspection, one or both of the auction agents first checks the Art Loss Registry (₤100 each) to make sure it wasn’t stolen. It wasn’t so they take new images of the work – front, corners, details of hands and hair and verso and send transparencies to the associate they just got off the phone with at the Rijksmuseum (₤250). The Rijks, which is the employer of the leading scholars in Dutch painting, needs to see the work in person. The owner of the work is told by the auction house that someone will have to authenticate the work and that could be costly (₤2500), but that “they would be happy to subtract that fee from the seller’s commission after the sale…” (Estimated sale price if the Rembrandt were real ₤26 million).

2 Dutch board and plane and travel to London to inspect the work (₤500). It doesn’t meet their requirements and they go home, this time on Ryan Air (₤15). The appraiser advises the guy to go to a smaller regional auction house and have them sell the work so atleast he’ll make back the authentication fee and the appraiser will finally get an introductory commission (2% of sale price) from some auction house. The auction house decides to sell the work but since the leading authority already gave it the no, they decide to catalogue the work including the word “follower”. Now Reader, please see below for important information regarding what these below clauses mean in your auction catalogue:

a. “Attributed to” – work is of the period of the named artist and maybe the work of that artist, but not definitely so.

b. “Circle of” – work of the period closely associated with the artist or from his studio.

c. “School of’ – work by a pupil or follower of the artist, in his style.

d. “After” – in our opinion, a copy of the work of the artist.

e. “Signed” – has a signature which in our qualified opinion is the signature of the artist.

f. “Bears signature” – has signature which in our qualified opinion, might be the signature of the artist.

Story continues – On Friday, someone buys a painting from “the School of Rembrandt” for at a regional auction house ($4.5million).

Stats:

Local guy ($4.05 million after his 10% seller’s commission)

Appraisal ($90,000 for intro commission)

Auction house ($1.125 million – 675,000 from buyer and 450,000 from seller)

Buyer a.k.a. He who got the Bargain (-$5.175 million and an appraiser who is sure he needs his collection revalued…)

The End

A Follower of Rembrandt

The Young Rembrandt as Democrates the Laughing Philosopher

Oil on copper, 9.5 x 6.5 in.

Tags:$4.5 million Rembrandt, art market, art market quotes, auction catalogue definitions, auction market, auction records, Christie’s, Dutch art market, Lauren Gentile, Rembrandt, Sotheby’s, Specullector, The Young Rembrandt as Democrates the Laughing Philosop
Posted in $4.5 million Rembrandt, art market, art market quotes, auction catalogue definitions, auction market, auction records, Christie's, Dutch art market, Lauren Gentile, Rembrandt, Sotheby's, Specullector, The Young Rembrandt as Democrates the Laughing Philosop | Leave a Comment »

Chinese Government Backs Boom

October 23, 2007

This ran last week and then got buried by fluff. Charlie Finch gets political and it’s a very interested read.

Tags:Artnet News, auction market, Charlie Finch, China, China Dollars, Chinese art market, Chinese contemporary art, Christie’s, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Lauren Gentile, Specullector
Posted in Artnet News, auction market, Charlie Finch, China, China Dollars, Chinese art market, Chinese contemporary art, Christie's, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Lauren Gentile, Specullector | Leave a Comment »

Chinese Contemporary’s Achilles Heel

July 28, 2007

After disappointing sales for Bonham’s in Hong Kong, the auctions held by Poly International Auction Company in Beijing has impressed even the duopoly of Sotheby’s and Christies. The FT article Into the Void by Natasha Degen reported that Poly’s last auction was a success with the 80% Chinese and 10% Western patrons bidding on the highest quality works seen together in the auction market.

The art market has curiously become important in China which experts argue is due to the absence of an established museum infrastructure. Chinese museums do not have high curatorial standards and rarely exhibit contemporary art. “Right now there’s a void, so the galleries and the auction companies have naturally filled that void,” said Beijing dealer Meg Maggio. “It’s like we’re missing the third point on the triangle.”

American collector of Chinese Contemporary and owner of 210 works said the shortage of important exhibitions in China, and in the West, was Chinese contemporary art’s “Achilles heel.” “There’s not a good conceptual understanding of what the art’s all about,” says Logan. “Everybody can quote the prices but there’s not a real thorough understanding of why this art is important and where it fits into the total scheme of things.”

Beijing has been developing to correct this void of knowledge which is affecting new collectors, wanting to own Chinese Contemporary. The Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art is opening this fall, the Central Academy of Art’s Museum of Contemporary Art is under construction, there is also the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and The Poly Group is restructuring their art museum of antiquities to include Contemporary Art.

Predictions are that the new museums and serious contemporary art spaces will divert attention away from the auctions, or private/commercial sector, to curators and critics for validation.

Wu Guanzhong, Ancient City of Jiaohe (1981)

Sold to a Singaporean Chinese for a record ¥37 million or $4.9 million at Poly

Tags:art market, art market quotes, auction market, auction records, China, Chinese art market, Chinese contemporary art, Christie’s, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Poly International Auction, Specullector, Wu Guanzhong’s “Ancient City of Jiaohe”
Posted in art market, art market quotes, auction market, auction records, China, Chinese art market, Chinese contemporary art, Christie's, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Poly International Auction, Specullector, Wu Guanzhong’s “Ancient City of Jiaohe” | Leave a Comment »

Bought for $325 – Sold for ₤16.5 million

July 13, 2007

Most Raphael’s hang in major museums and rarely come to auction, but NY dealer Ira Spanierman, who bought an “Italian School” painting from a Sotheby Parke Bernet sale in 1968, found himself a miracle. The work, by Raffaello Sanzio – called Raphael was bought for $325 and yesterday evening, resold at Christie’s Old Master sale in London for ₤16.5 million or $33.2 million.

Spanierman said the 1968 sale was low-level and hung salon style (from floor to ceiling), but he noticed the quality of a hand and fur collar in an otherwise filthy painting. Paintings that are restored prior to an auction sale are less attractive to dealers. Dealers are looking to clean, rediscover and exhibit. The success rate of this has decreased dramatically with fewer sleepers on the market.

He then said that his restorer found a label on the back that said it had been exhibited as a Raphael. Most labels verso are very helpful, but those that claim a work was by a known master are often incorrect and misleading.

He then contacted scholars to authenticate the work. These scholars are usually, if living, the author of the artist’s catalogue raisonnne or a kin of the artist. It is very expensive to have a work authenticated – the more valuable the artist, the more costly the inspection.

Unlike David Rockefeller, who was on hand to see the sale of his Rothko, Spainerman decided not to go to the sale. Most sellers like to sit in the back center of the sale gallery so they can have a better look at who is bidding in the seating in front of them.

And why didn’t the dealer he sell privately? “Dealers used to run the art business, and now I have to say, with a few exceptions, the auction houses run the business. They have the widest audience.”

Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael
(Urbino 1483-1520 Rome)
Portrait of Lorenzo de’Medici (1492-1519), Duke of Urbino
oil on canvas
Estimate £10,000,000-15,000,000 (₤16.5 million)

Tags:Christie’s, investing in art, investing in fine art, Ira Spainerman, Lauren Gentile, Portrait of Lorenzo de’Medici, Raphael, Sotheby’s, Specullector
Posted in Christie's, investing in art, investing in fine art, Ira Spainerman, Lauren Gentile, Portrait of Lorenzo de'Medici, Raphael, Sotheby's, Specullector | 1 Comment »

Contemporary Photography Market (and some ties to DC)

May 26, 2007

The acceptance of photography as a fine art medium has a history extending back to the 1920s, but the market for contemporary photography among collectors and museums really gained establishment in the late 1990s. Photography, in all of its techniques and genres, is now considered to be one of the most important mediums for contemporary art, and one with great potential for increases in value. The future of photography in the art market is certain, and many artists are now graduating from the top art schools with a career focus on photography.

Contemporary Photography Market Ties to Washington, DC
Harry H. Lunn Jr., (1933-1998) Organizer of Paris Photo and photo dealer who was a pioneering force in the contemporary photography market. After a career as an intelligence operative, until he was outed in 1967, began dealing photography in the early ’70s in Washington, D.C. He handled everything from Berenice Abbott’s Eugene Atget archive to Robert Mapplethorpe’s “X Portfolio.”

Pre-1997 to present: Trends have included size increases in prints – high-gloss, wall-sized prints have replaced delicate prints in tiny frames. Frame and glass have been replaced by printing on blocked canvas and color photography has taken priority over black and white (Curator John Szarkowski aided this validation – Szarkowski-curated William Eggleston show at MoMA in 1976 and in England the early work of Gilbert & George). “Discovering” a ready-made has been replaced by careful staging (Cindy Sherman and Gregory Crewdson) and lighting of picture. Finely-printed limited-edition books of prints have become highly-collectible. These books have high production values, short print run and they are never reprinted.

1996: Paris Photo, the most important contemporary photography fair in the world, running in mid-November, launched.

1999: The Photography Market begins. The Marie-Thérèse and André Jammes sale of 19^th Century French photographs (was supposed to be the Inaugural sale for Sotheby’s France) moved to London, fetched £7,430,693 or $14,682,472 (includes BP) 2002: The Marie-Thérèse and André Jammes second sale of 19^th Century French photographs were sold at Sotheby’s
France fetching €6.2 million or $8,325,885 (includes BP) 2003: Gursky hits a rough patch, but rebounds in 2004 with a price index increase of 19%

2004: Drought – there were no exceptional public sales. Some, such as Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth or Bernd & Hilla Becher, saw their price indexes depreciate by between 24% and 44% that year – the number of photographs sold at auction has never been as low as it was in 2004 – 7,000 photographs went under the hammer last year compared with nearly 9,200 in 2000.

2005: Rebound for Vintage/Primitive – October, 12 2005 the portfolios of Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952): The North American Indian fetched $1.2 million at Christie´s (twice the high estimate). Records set in Contemporary Photography- November 8, 2005, Richard Prince, His Cowboy, a symbol of the Marlboro advertising campaigns, fetched $1.1 million at Christie’s Contemporary sale. May 2006, Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent, went for $2 million at Sotheby’s New York. In New York, at seven sales over the 6-12 October period, Sotheby’s, Christie´s and Phillips generated a combined turnover of $28.9 million, an unprecedented figure in the photography segment (with 80% sold to Americans)

2006: February 14, 2006, sales at Sotheby’s New York help the Vintage/Primitive Photography market. Edward Steichen, The Pond, Moonlight, $2.6 million, 2 Alfred Stieglitz prints: Georgia O´Keeffe (hands) and Georgia O´Keeffe (nude) sold $1.3 million & 1.2 million respectively.

2007: Single owners (Weston, Horst & Elfering) start selling – Sotheby’s realized $15.9 million in its three sales; Christie’s, $16.7 million in five sales; and Phillips $10.4 million in two sales and a very healthy second fair AIPAD [the April 12-15 annual show of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers]

Financier starts photo fund:Mehmet Dalman, the star of the German Commerzbank who in just three years as managing board member raised turnover from $25 million to $1.56 billion, now has his fund of 20th- and 21st-century photography. He has hired the
London dealer Zelda Cheatle to curate and build the collection, minimum investment is likely to be about $1 million.

Andreas Gursky
99 Cent II (diptych), 2001
£1,700,000 (£1,771,653 BP) or $2,311,782 ($3,500,177 BP)
Sotheby’s
London – Feb. 7 2007

Richard Prince Untitled (Cowboy), 1989
$1,248,000 (BP)Christie’s
New York – Nov. 8 2005

Tags:American art market, American Photography Market, art market, auction market, auction records, Christie’s, contemporary art, Contemporary Photography, Harry H. Lunn, History of art market, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Modern Photography, Primitive Photography, Sotheby’s, Specullector, The Photography Market, Vintage Photography, washington DC
Posted in American art market, American Photography Market, art market, auction market, auction records, Christie's, contemporary art, Contemporary Photography, Harry H. Lunn, History of art market, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Modern Photography, Primitive Photography, Sotheby's, Specullector, The Photography Market, Vintage Photography, washington DC | 1 Comment »

The Warhol Heads East

May 16, 2007

More Spring sales news – Andy Warhol’s Green Car Crash sold for $71.7 million at Christie’s yesterday. As the price shot up, the bidding turned to two telephone bidders. Although buyers identities are never released by the auction houses, Ken Yeh, deputy chairman for Christie’s Asia was on the telephone line that edged out the competion. Thus I speculate that Yeh was bidding on behalf of Joseph Lau, a collector from Hong Kong who has previously purchased a 1972 Warhol portrait of Mao for $17.3 million. Purchased in November from Christie’s, the Mao portrait claimed the highest record of sale for Warhol at the time of sale.

Yesterday’s sale of Green Car Crash nearly surpassed the record for a contemporary work sold at auction, but fell just shy of the Rothko sold Tuesday for $72.8 million.

Originally seen in a 1963 Newsweek, Warhol’s Green Car Crash is a rare photograph that depicts a newly crashed car and its driver impaled by a telephone pole. Christie’s originally estimated that the piece would sell for between $25 million and $35 million.

Tags:Andy Warhol, art market, auction market, auction records, Christie’s, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, International art market, Sotheby’s, Specullector
Posted in Andy Warhol, art market, auction market, auction records, Christie's, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, International art market, Sotheby's, Specullector | Leave a Comment »

Records Set in New York – $1 Million is the new $100,000

May 15, 2007

The May 15th Contemporary Art auction at Sotheby’s New York totaled $254.9 million and set a new record for any single sale of a contemporary work. The top lots were:

Mark Rothko’s White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose), 1950

Estimate: $40 million Sold: $65 million ($72,840,000 including Buyer’s Premium)

The 91-year-old consignor, David Rockefeller, watched the bidding from the Sotheby’s skybox (he had bought the painting for $10,000 from dealer Sidney Janis in 1961). The auctioneer began the bidding at $33 million, quickly running the price up in million-dollar increments as three phone bidders battled and is was reported by the NYTimes to have been bought by a “mysterious bearded man”.

Francis Bacon’s Study after Pope Innocent X, 1962

Estimate: In excess of $30 million Sold: $52,680,000 (including Buyer’s Premium)

An important work form the artist’s emblematic “Pope” series, Study after Pope Innocent X sold to a phone bidder prompting some applause from the crowd.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled graffiti painting, 1981

Estimate: $8 million Sold: $14,680,000 (including Buyer’s Premium)

The work sold to an anonymous U.S. dealer.

On an interesting note, three Jackson Pollock paintings were bought-in (did not sell). Two of the works had guarantees (the auction house guarantees that they will sell, even if the auction house had to purchase them) and the third held an ownership interest by Sotheby’s itself. Could this be due to the discovery of 32 never-before-seen paintings purportedly created by Pollock that have sent a scandal through the art authenticating world?

Tonight are Christie’s Contemporary Art auctions and all are excited to see what Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car 1) by Andy Warhol will fetch with a $25 – 35 million estimate…

Stay tuned!

Tags:art market, auction market, auction records, Christie’s, contemporary collectors, Lauren Gentile, Sotheby’s, Specullector
Posted in art market, auction market, auction records, Christie's, contemporary collectors, Lauren Gentile, Sotheby's, Specullector | Leave a Comment »

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