Archive for the ‘Sotheby’s’ Category
July 10, 2010
Ashley No Love Lost by Gregory Crewdson
Apologies for the radio silence from the Specullector blog. Friendly reminder to graduate students (you know who your are):
These posts are my opinions and I retain intellectual copyright. A blog is not considered an A source so I would highly suggest not using this content for your theses. If you still decide to, please quote it, some of your professors could have second careers as private investigators.
I am happy to leave the blog up as a public archive and if there are any questions, or if you would like my opinion on an art world situation, please reach out to me at lauren@irvinecontemporary.com
One last final prediction: lets not ignore what is brewing in LA – London galleries opening outposts, NY power dealers accepting museum directorships, blockbuster Getty acquisitions, large financial and personal investments from mega-collectors - building blocks for the future of a new American and global art node.
Tags:art information node, blockbuster Getty acquisitions, Gregory Crewdson, LA art world node, large financial and personal investments from mega-collectors, Lauren Gentile, London galleries opening, Los Angeles art future, museum directorships, new American and global art node, NY power dealers, Specullector
Posted in 14th Street Corridor, American art market, art fairs, art market, art market quotes, art reporting, art world terminology, collecting emerging art, collecting works on paper, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, global art market, History of art market, International art market, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, Sotheby's, Specullector, washington DC | 1 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 »
April 3, 2008
Best Fair: Volta
Best Booth: Fred London Ltd at Volta NY with Cathy de Monchaux‘s installation
Best Chelsea Gallery Show: Angelo Filomeno: Betrayed Witches at Gallery Lelong
Best Auction Deal: Jeremy Blake’s print, Liquid Villa in the April 2 Contemporary Sale Sotheby’s (only went for $6250 – the reserve)
Best Armory Show Deal: Johan Nobell’s work in the Andréhn-Schiptjenko booth
Most interesting work at the Whitney Biennial: Omer Fast: The Casting
Stupidest Thing I Said: asking Sweet P from Project Runway why she looked so familiar and if we went to the same gym
Cathy de Monchaux in her installation at Volta (thank you Mary Barone for the image)
Johan Nobell – The Pond, 2007. Oil on linen, 27 x 35 7/8 in.
Tags:Andrehn Schiptjenko Gallery, Armory Show, art fairs, art market, art reporting, Cathy de Monchaux, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Filomeno, Fred London Ltd, Gallery Lelong NY, Jeremy Blake, Johan Nobell art, Lauren Gentile, NY Armory, Omer Fast, Sotheby’s, Specullector, Sweet P Project Runway, Volta NY, Whitney Biennial 2008
Posted in Andrehn Schiptjenko Gallery, Armory Show, art fairs, art market, art reporting, Cathy de Monchaux, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Filomeno, Fred London Ltd, Gallery Lelong NY, Jeremy Blake, Johan Nobell art, Lauren Gentile, NY Armory, Omer Fast, Sotheby's, Specullector, Sweet P Project Runway, Volta NY, Whitney Biennial 2008 | 1 Comment »
November 30, 2007
I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while but holidays + Miami prep = no posting time.
I am sitting here adding centimeters to inches in inventory and converting our price lists into Pounds and Euros (not Rubels,Yen or HK$ – 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 »
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 »
October 16, 2007
So the results from the London auctions are in, discussions with my associates who visited Frieze were had, Richard Polsky published his official (and kinda cheesy) buy, sell, hold “art market guide 2007” and then a handsome financial advisor from Chicago sent me this article from yesterday’s WSJ.
After processing all of this – these are my thoughts:
The most important info from the WSJ article is at the bottom when Rubell, the alpha collector, claims that its not the credit crunch affecting him, its the exchange rate. That was the same thing I heard from those with dollars at Frieze.
Then the article went on to say that only 19% of the buyers at Sotheby’s Contemporary auction in London were American. That is low (12% Asian, Middle Eastern & 42% European), really low and very telling of the future. So is the fact that the Chinese Contemporary sales did so well.
I missed the art market’s passing from Paris to New York, but I think I will live to see its move to London.
As for Polsky’s art market guide published on ArtNet News, his advice resonated well with WSJ and the auction results. He stamped Doig, Hirst, Yuskavage with a SELL in his guide. But re: his Yuskavage commment, I didn’t get it, I thought the opposite was true.
Overall, I thought his advice was very conservative and was surprised that Warhol was a BUY – but maybe he is doomed to claim that forever (if you don’t get it, you should be ashamed, please click here)
So, are the young contemporary Western artists going to suffer from this financial uncertainty? We will have to wait until December for the next round of auctions and fairs to see.
Tags:American art market, Andy Warhol, art fairs, art market, art market quotes, art reporting, Artnet News, auction market, auction records, Chinese contemporary art, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, global art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, London, Richard Polsky, Sotheby’s, Specullector
Posted in American art market, Andy Warhol, art fairs, art market, art market quotes, art reporting, Artnet News, auction market, auction records, Chinese contemporary art, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, global art market, investing in art, investing in fine art, Lauren Gentile, London, Richard Polsky, Sotheby's, Specullector | Leave a Comment »
September 25, 2007
November 14 – Sotheby’s New York
Jeff Koons, Hanging Heart (Magenta and Gold), 1994-2006
Estimate: $15 to 20 million
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=21868
Tags:American art market, auction market, auction records, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Jeff Koons Hanging Heart, Lauren Gentile, Sotheby’s, Specullector
Posted in American art market, auction market, auction records, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Jeff Koons Hanging Heart, Lauren Gentile, Sotheby's, Specullector | Leave a Comment »
September 20, 2007
These are the regional events and auctions that will be determining my Fall season…
October 5th – 8 to midnight in DC
October 7th – Noon in Chicago
Wright20’s auction of the Marcel Breuer Wolfson Trailer House
October 11th – 7 to 9pm in NY
A D A M . S T E N N E T T
U S E . O N L Y . A S . D I R E C T E D
October 11 – November 10, 2007
3 1 G R A N D
143 Ludlow Street
New York, NY 10002
Adam Stennett
Harmful or Fatal if Swallowed, 2007
Video DVD; one framed video still
Dimensions variable
Ed. of 3 (and on a personal note – this is by another 31GRAND artist, Barnaby Whitfield and its my latest acquisition…
The Prestige, 2007, Pastel on paper, 28.5 x 36 in.)
Oct. 13th – 7pm in DC
Luster – Lee Jensens Brake Service
1333 14th Street, NW
and FYI, it’s also Philippa’s birthday so everyone should please bring her a gift for all she has done for DC’s art community…
Oct 20th – XinDC at BeBar in DC(thank you for letting me curate in August)Oct 27th – Kahn & Selesnick: Eisbergfreistadt opening at Irvine Contemporary in DC– 6-8pm
November 10th – 7 to Midnight. In DC
The 1869 Society of The Corcoran Gallery – Fall Fete
This is going to be the best party of the season, I guarantee. Come and spend the evening with Ansel, Annie, Me and my fabulous friends and associates who are acting as our hosts for the event: Holly Rich, Anne Surak, Karin Tanabe, Raul Zahir De Leon, Lauren Saks and Brian Corrigan.
November 17th – 7 to 10pm
4th Annual Transformer Silent Auction & Benefit Party
John Dreyfuss’ Studio at Halcyon House
3400 Prospect Street, NW Ticket information: www.transformergallery.org
December 5th – Sotheby’s New York
Sale of The Guennol Lioness -a carved figure of a lioness which was created approximately 5,000 years ago in the region of ancient Mesopotamia -it is estimated to sell for $14/18 million.
December 5-9th – in South Beach Art Basel Miami Beach We’re showing at SCOPEMiami – come and say hello!
December 10th Week – Sotheby’s New York
Sale of the Magna Carta from Ross Perot’s private collection (which has been housed at the at the National Archives in DC forever) wonder what happened to prompt this…
Tags:14th Street Corridor, 1869 Society, 31GRAND, Adam Stennett, American art market, Anne Surak, art fairs, art market, auction market, auction records, Barnaby Whitfield, BeBar, Brian Corrigan, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Corcoran, Eisbergfreistadt, Fall Fete 2007, Hirshhorn, Hirshorn Afterhours, Holly Rich, Irvine Contemporary, Kahn & Selesnick, Karin Tanabe, Lauren Gentile, Lauren Saks, Luster, Philippa Hughes, Project 4 Gallery, Raul Zahir De Leon, sale of the Guennol Lioness, Sale of the Magna Carta, SCOPE Miami 2007 exhibitors, Sotheby’s, Specullector, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Pink Line Project, Transformer Benefit 2007, Washington, washington DC, XinDC, young collectors
Posted in 14th Street Corridor, 1869 Society, 31GRAND, Adam Stennett, American art market, Anne Surak, art fairs, art market, auction market, auction records, Barnaby Whitfield, BeBar, Brian Corrigan, contemporary art, contemporary collectors, Corcoran, Eisbergfreistadt, Fall Fete 2007, Hirshhorn, Hirshorn Afterhours, Holly Rich, Irvine Contemporary, Kahn & Selesnick, Karin Tanabe, Lauren Gentile, Lauren Saks, Luster, Philippa Hughes, Project 4 Gallery, Raul Zahir De Leon, sale of the Guennol Lioness, Sale of the Magna Carta, SCOPE Miami 2007 exhibitors, Sotheby's, Specullector, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Pink Line Project, Transformer Benefit 2007, Washington, washington DC, XinDC, young collectors | 1 Comment »
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 »
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 19th 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 19th 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 »
