Archive for the ‘investing in art’ Category
May 1, 2012
With private collections constantly evolving, collectors are always looking for innovative forums to discuss and market their desirable, high-quality works.
Though these artworks may no longer fit within the narrow focus of one collection, they may be a great acquisition for another.
During the summer months, June through September, Contemporary Wing will present OFF THE WALL, a series of collaborations which bring together serious collectors and the artwork they wish to exchange or acquire with other collectors who share a common passion.
If you have an exceptional work to propose, or a collecting sector you would like to expand, please contact info@contemporarywing.com.
Seeking:
Street Art
Works on Paper/Prints/Photography
Emerging Artists
Established Contemporary Artists
Works by African American Artists
19th Century/Old Masters
Design
Tags:19th Century/Old Masters, A Collector Forum, Contemporary Wing, Design, Emerging Artists, Established Contemporary Artists, Lauren Gentile, OFF THE WALL, Street Art, Works by African American Artists, Works on Paper/Prints/Photography
Posted in 14th Street Corridor, American art market, American Photography Market, Andy Warhol, art market, auction market, auction records, British art market, Chinese art market, Chinese contemporary art, collecting emerging art, collecting works on paper, contemporary art, Contemporary art prints, contemporary collectors, Contemporary Wing, DC, Dutch art market, global art market, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Italian art market, Lauren Gentile, Modern Photography, print editions, Specullector, submissions, Washington, washington DC, young collectors | Leave a Comment »
May 22, 2009
because of Facebook, my apologies.
Here is one of my recent favorites – I was totally obsessed with this case while living in London in ’05. Only in the UK would 2 guys load a Henry Moore sculpture onto a lorry and bring it to a chop-shop to sell to East Indians for the price of bronze.
May 19, 2009 (NY Times)
Missing Moore Sculpture May Have Been Sold For Scrap
By Dave Itzkoff
The Henry Moore Foundation The Henry Moore sculpture “Reclining Figure,” which was stolen from the artist’s estate in 2005.
The British police believe that they have solved the case of a Henry Moore sculpture that has been missing for four years, and now suspect that it was sold for scrap, The Guardian reported. In 2005, the two-ton bronze sculpture, “Reclining Figure,” was stolen from Moore’s estate in Hertfordshire, 30 miles north of London, and a flatbed truck and crane believed to have been used in the crime were quickly recovered. After more than three years of investigation, Jon Humphries, the detective chief inspector of the Hertfordshire police, said that evidence suggests the work was “cut up” on the night of the crime, “then taken to a location where it was irreparably damaged before it was shipped abroad.” He added, “In my mind we’ve managed to kill off the mystery as much as is possible.” The sculpture, valued at about $4.6 million, would have yielded about $2,300 in scrap metal, Detective Humphries said.
Tags:Dave Itzkoff, Henry Moore, Henry Moore Sculpture stolen, Lauren Gentile, Missing Moore Sculpture May Have Been Sold For Scrap, Reclining Figure, Specullector
Posted in Art theft, British art market, fine art conservation, International art market, investing in art, Lauren Gentile, Specullector | 1 Comment »
March 28, 2009
Sobering news about the leading to the the lesser.
Tags:Annie Leibovitz Bankrupt, economic downturn art market, Lauren Gentile, Lawrence Larry Salander arrested, Specullector
Posted in American Photography Market, Annie Leibovitz, art gallery lending, art inventory leveraging, Art theft, fine art funds, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Specullector | Leave a Comment »
March 7, 2009
It’s Saturday and I’m sure everyone has played out the usual art fair talk-tracks: “Hiiiiiiii, how are you?” “So, how are sales?” “Have you been affected, everything okay?” “Is it true you can roll a bowling ball down the aisles of your fair?” – here is something much more interesting to think/talk about:
An article I read this week gave me flashbacks to the 1980s. Remember the speculative run in the art market and the subsequent bust in the 1990s due to the downturn in the Japanese economy? Many would recall the apogee of these times was when one weekend Ryoei Saito bought Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait du Dr. Gachet for $82.5 million from Christie’s NY and Auguste Renoir’s Au Moulin de la Galette for $78.1 million from Sotheby’s NY and then he and his paper company went bankrupt and he was charged with criminal activities.
The van Gogh was seized by Japan’s Fuji Bank (even though Saito asked to be cremated with it) and resold for a fraction of the price. In the end, Japan’s banks had confiscated over $200 million dollars of art from Japanese businessmen putting it all into bank vaults and then going under themselves. Some Eurocentrics describe this time as the devouring of Western culture by Japanese speculators. In these days, I would describe it as familiar.
Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait du Dr. Gachet and Auguste Renoir’s Au Moulin de la Galette
So with that background in mind, I present the ArtDaily headline of the week: Chinese Bidder at Christie’s YSL Auction Refuses to Pay for Controversial Works of Art. With quote of the week from this bidder who committed over $40 million dollars to 2 sculptures in the auction: “I must stress I do not have the money to pay for this”.
Um, really Mr. Cai Mingchao? Really?! So I thought, here we go again, but now with China.
NO, it’s so much more interesting – issues of cultural rights and heritage, patrimony and national sentiment – you can read here and here.
And a quote I would like to end on from Chinese Government Rep. Zhao Qizheng regarding the situation: “[Cao's bid] was a lesson to the rest of the world, including the French”.
Now go party and discuss…
Tags:Armory Show NY 2009, Art Market bust 1990s, Auguste Renoir's Au Moulin de la Galette, Cai Mingchao, Christie's YSL Auction controversy, cultural rights and heritage, Japan bad economy art market, Lauren Gentile, patrimony and national sentiment, Ryoei Saito, speculative run art market, Specullector, Vincent van Gogh's Portrait du Dr. Gachet, Zhao Qizheng
Posted in Armory Show, art fairs, art market, art market quotes, auction market, auction records, China, Chinese art market, fine art funds, History of art market, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, NY Armory, Sotheby's, Specullector, Volta NY | 1 Comment »
September 25, 2008
The publishers of The International Art Markets: The essential guide for collectors and investors kindly sent me a copy to read and review. It has obviously taken me forever to do this because this book covers the markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, France Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Middles East, North Africa, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, North Korea (just kidding), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA and Venezuela. I guess since I already spent 70k at Sotheby’s Institute learning about all of this, I was the right person to ask
Edited by James Goodwin, with contributions by some of my old grad school professors and other associates, I have to admit that I was a little nervous to read and then publicly review. Especially since the chapters on the markets in Sub-Sahara Africa and Portugal are each twice as long as the one on the American market. And because the book cost $100 and there are advertisements for a diamond company on the first page … but I was pleasantly surprised, who knew the market in the Czech Republic was so interesting?
Each week I will write on a country above, starting tomorrow with Sub-Sahara Africa…
Tags:global art market, James Goodwin, Lauren Gentile, Specullector, The International Art Markets, The International Art Markets by James Goodwin
Posted in American art market, art book reviews, art market, art reporting, collecting emerging art, collecting works on paper, contemporary art, fine art funds, global art market, Hedge funds and art market, History of art market, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Specullector | 1 Comment »
September 25, 2008
To everyone frantically diversifying their portfolios – don’t put your money in timber, choose a different wood, like an oil on panel.
Tags:art investment, collapse of global finance, investing in timber, Lauren Gentile, Specullector
Posted in art inventory leveraging, art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Specullector | 1 Comment »
April 22, 2008
to buy your Artini tickets!
Don’t forget that Fall Fete tickets sold out last year creating a black market …
Did you know that in SE Asia (most notably Thailand & Burma) due to censorship and isolation paint, canvases and other art supplies must be bought on the black market … one would argue that this is probably a good indicator that these “emerging markets” aren’t quite ready to open up
Tags:1869 Society, art markets in Asia, Artini, contemporary art, Corcoran, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran School of Art, DC, Fall Fete 2007, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, SE Asia emerging art markets, Specullector, Thai art market, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, washington DC
Posted in 1869 Society, Artini, contemporary art, Corcoran, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran School of Art, DC, Fall Fete 2007, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Specullector, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, washington DC | Leave a Comment »
February 29, 2008
That’s an oxymoron.
I was reading Hoogrrl and below that awesome picture of the Dissident Display boys and me on a fried egg, is a comment:
- John D. said…
- I like the idea of collecting up-and-coming, or already-sort-of-there artists. I do some of that myself, and like you [Hoogrrl], I think about the future market value of the work. To that end, are you aware of any readily accessible auctions or other secondary markets where such works are bought and sold, hopefully for more than the was previously paid for them?
There is not a secondary market for emerging artists. Galleries and dealers try their hardest to prevent this from happening; it can ruin the career of a young artist. Most invoices include a clause that entitles the gallery first right of refusal if the collector decides to resell the object. Some people, who are not serious collectors and think they’re being a clever specullector, will buy and then try to quickly flip the work in an auction or other public domain. Doing this will get you blacklisted and the gallery, dealer and artist will never sell to you again (and trust me, we find out).
It takes time to develop a young artist’s career and committed galleries do this by developing different structures; for example, the price structure is dependent on published reviews in respected media (Art in America, Art Forum), the right curator including them in a group or museum show, a taste-maker collecting the work, etc. So by exposing the artists early on in their career to a secondary market makes all of the above difficult to achieve. Look at what Saatchi did to Sandro Chia … (obviously there is a huge scale difference in that comparison but it’s an interview everyone should have read if they haven’t already).
Back down to our scale, nobody wants to see a young artist they collect, their newest acquisition, in some random regional auction in New Jersey.
My suggestion, buy what you like and enjoy it. Spend time getting to know the artists you collect. By buying their work, you are providing them with a paycheck and supporting their career (1). Begin a relationship with the gallery who represents the artist, they in turn will develop a relationship with you and offer perks such as a price courtesy or a private viewing of new work (3). Soon you will meet others who also share your passion for work by that artist and they won’t sell too early in NJ either (10).
These are all benefits of collecting emerging art and there are at least 14 new friends to be made in the above interactions!
But if you need to resell before “it’s time” (mid-career or established, think years) go to the gallery you bought the work from. They will either buy it back or use one of their many outlets to sell it for you – it’s the best way to keep your respect and all those friends I promised you.
Tags:14th Street Corridor, art market, art market quotes, collecting emerging art, contemporary art, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Philippa Hughes, Specullector, The Art Newspaper
Posted in 14th Street Corridor, art market, art market quotes, collecting emerging art, contemporary art, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Philippa Hughes, Specullector, The Art Newspaper | 3 Comments »
January 30, 2008
On January 28th, Artprice.com, a pretty reliable, yet clunky price database primarily used for European artists, has devised a way to measure the art “Players’ confidence” with their new Art Market Confidence Index (AMCI), live.
What’s become one of my favorite things is when a group or individual attempts to use an assessment created for financial services to gauge the art market. There are characteristics intrinsic to the art market which make this impossible (quickly: information asymmetry, absence of mark-to-market prices, no price standardization or transparency, costs, conflicts of interest, the fact that the art market is the largest unregulated money market, etc…).
So back to AMCI. All you have to do is go to their website and answer these 4 simple questions:
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According to you, would now be the appropriate time to buy art works?
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YES
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NO
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INDIFFERENT
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Is your financial situation better or worse than it was 3 months ago?
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BETTER
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WORSE
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STABLE
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In the next 3 months, will you expect the economic climate to be:
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FAVORABLE
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UNFAVORABLE
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IDENTICAL
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What do you expect art prices will be in the next 3 months:
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RISE
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FALL
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STABLE
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You are then taken to this screen (link takes you into my account so you don’t have to share your info with ArtPrice or use LAUREN@IRVINECONTEMPORARY.COM and password – LAUREN) to see the live graph.
Looks like the Consumer Confidence Index doesn’t it? Generalized, and vague – self-fulling rather than foretelling. This indicator is not revealing. I just hope it will not influence behavior.
(confidence has decreased from -5.8 to -8.6 in the time it took me to write this)
Tags:AMCI, art market, Art Market Confidence Indicator, art price databases, ArtPrice Art Market Indicator, auction market, auction records, Failure and the Future, fine art funds, Hedge funders fine art, Hedge funds and art market, hedge funds art, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Price.com, Specullector, The Rationale of Art Funds: Success
Posted in AMCI, art market, Art Market Confidence Indicator, art price databases, ArtPrice Art Market Indicator, auction market, auction records, Failure and the Future, fine art funds, Hedge funders fine art, Hedge funds and art market, hedge funds art, International art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Price.com, Specullector, The Rationale of Art Funds: Success | Leave a Comment »
January 18, 2008
Immediately after the death/sucide of Jeremy Blake was announced there was a spike in readers brought to the blog by search terms such as “buy jeremy blake”, “buy blake prints”, “jeremy blake prices” etc.
At cocktail parties I’ve heard from amateur specullectors that an artists’ death is the easiest way for their art collections to appreciate. While basic Keynesian theory supports that, it’s not always the case. Thus, the following information may be disappointing to some, but I promise it is true and common practice:
Jeremy Blake, whose suicide last summer was all but incomprehensible to the career-obsessed art world, has had his beautifully mounted retrospective homage at Kinz, Tillou and Feigen Gallery [his dealers] … Fans may be slightly daunted however by the fact Blake did not often sign his digital prints, they have no edition number and, choicest of all, there are no actual, vulgar prices given for any works. Instead you have to leave your name and contacts and wait to see if you are deemed suitable. It’s an elegant system that keeps collectors on tenterhooks.
Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You by Adrian Dannatt – The Art Newspaper, Jan 08, p. 36
Luckily there is still a way to enjoy Blake’s work where right of entry does not rely on pedigree or contacts. Check out Wild Choir: Cinematic Portraits by Jeremy Blake at the Corcoran Gallery of Art through March 2nd.
Jeremy Blake, Working still from Glitterbest, 2006, digital video and sound (Courtesy Kinz, Tillou + Feigen, New York)
Tags:Adrian Dannatt, American art market, blake prints, buy jeremy blake, contemporary art, Contemporary art prints, contemporary collectors, Corcoran, Corcoran Gallery of Art, eremy blake prices, investing in art, investing in fine art, Jeremy Blake, Jeremy Blake missing, Kinz, Lauren Gentile, New York, Specullector, The Art Newspaper, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Theresa Duncan, Tillou + Feigen
Posted in Adrian Dannatt, American art market, blake prints, buy jeremy blake, contemporary art, Contemporary art prints, contemporary collectors, Corcoran, Corcoran Gallery of Art, eremy blake prices, investing in art, investing in fine art, Jeremy Blake, Jeremy Blake missing, Kinz, Lauren Gentile, New York, Specullector, The Art Newspaper, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Theresa Duncan, Tillou + Feigen | Leave a Comment »
