Christie's tried in New York with a 1983 piece by Jean-Michel Basquiat and didn't succeed. The auction house may have been too aggressive in estimating the 16-foot piece at $9 million. That's what's tough about the art market right now. There are signs of recovery, and it can be tempting to push for higher prices. Unfortunately, it's easy to get a bit excited. The painting had the highest estimate at the auction. The piece with the second highest presale estimate, a piece by Andy Warhol, met a similar fate.

The Basquiat piece, "Brother Sausage," was offered anonymously by a buyer later revealed by Bloomberg News to be Peter Brant, an art collector based in Connecticut. The piece may be a casualty of his divorce from model Stephanie Seymour. Well, it won't be financing post-marital discord and could remain a contested asset for a while.

Warhol's "Tunafish Disaster" was projected to move for up to $8 million and, like the Basquiat painting, didn't receive any bids. Art dealer Robert Mnuchin of L&M Arts was stuck taking it home.

Yet, some works beat the odds in an auction that raked in $74.2 million, within the presale range of $61.5 million to $88 million. Nonetheless, this was the lowest result we've seen from a Christie's New York contemporary art effort since May 2003 and down 81 percent from the top of the market two and a half years ago.

On Nov. 10 Christie's in New York will auction off an epic 15-ft. wide Jean-Michel Basquiat painting as part of its Post-War and Contemporary Art sale. The painting is expected to fetch up to $12 million. Brother Sausage (detail above), painted in 1983 and featured on the cover of Basquiat's catalogue raisonné, is a cartoon strip-like composition of six panels hinged together to form a narrative frieze of multiple drawings and Xeroxed overlays, each laden with themes of racial inequality and prejudice, wealth and corporate greed in a fame and consumer-obsessed American. Christie's notes the work is "steeped in Basquiat's signature style, raw energy and ingenious, loaded layering," exemplifying the artist at the pinnacle of his career. Also included in the auction are Andy Warhol's Tunafish Disaster, painted in 1963 and estimated at $6 - $8 million; and Jeff Koons' Large Vase of Flowers from 1991, estimated at $4 - $6 million.

[via JustLuxe]

"Flesh was the reason oil painting was invented," proclaimed Dutch-born painter Willem de Kooning in 1950. It's no secret the influence women had in his work or in his success. In the early 1950s de Kooning began experimenting with the female form and landscapes, until the two subjects became inseparable. His painting Woman I launched him into overnight stardom when it was exhibited in New York in 1953.

Bonhams New York is presenting a rare work from 1965 that stems out of this period, Woman in a Landscape, in their upcoming Contemporary and Modern Art Sale. The painting builds on his previous work, but also reveals later influences such as contemporary Hollywood stars and Mesopotamian fertility goddesses. While de Kooning's own inner demons are clearly present in this work, it remains one of his gentler, more romantic portraits of the female sex. The fully-executed painting is rare for this period of de Kooning's work, and is thought to be a study for his 1966-67 painting, The Visit, which is housed in the Tate collection.

Woman in a Landscape is estimated at $400,000-$600,000.

The public is invited for a pre-sale viewing and reception of all works in the sale:
Monday Nov 9th 6-8 PM
Bonhams
580 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Sale takes place November 10th at 12 PM.

For more information visit Bonhams.com/contemporary.

Five years ago, contemporary art collector Frieder Burda opened a museum right in the heart of Baden Baden, Germany. As one of the world's original resort towns, tradition tends to trumps trendiness in Baden Baden, and this museum, in a building designed by Richard Meier, and the modern and contemporary art exhibits on offer, definitely set tongues a-wagging in town. When I visited this past Spring, the Burda museum was in the midst of an atypical show of 18th century art, including seven giant tapestries. I'd assumed that regular museum goers might be upset about the turn away from contemporary art, but was assured by a local that response was more like relief.

Short-lived, I suppose, since the Burda museum returned to its modern and contemporary art mission. Still horizons have been stretched, five years have passed, and more than a million visitors have passed through the museum's door, Now until November 8th, the museum is exhibiting "Blue Rider" movement paintings, which were first exhibited in early 20th century Munich. (These paintings are usually at the Lenbachhaus in Munich, which is now under renovation. See a few of the works on display in the gallery below.) Next up, starting on November 21st, is an exhibit of the work of German artist Georg Baselitz. The artist himself is involved in the curation of the exhibit, which will be shared with Baden Baden's museum Staatliche Kunsthalle. The Burda will exhibit Baselitz paintings, the Staatliche Kunsthalle will exhibit Baseltiz's sculpture.

The Frieze Art Fair previews in less than a week, and London's art market players are looking to make a splash. While it's unlikely that the prestigious and well-attended event will single-handedly undo 12 months of carnage, hopes are high that it will be a turning point. Frieze is the largest art fair in Europe that's dedicated to the contemporary space.

The preview will be held on October 14, 2009, and 165 galleries will be courting the wealthy collectors expected to be in attendance – up from 151 galleries in 2008. Twenty-eight art galleries left from last year, so Frieze had to find a considerable number of new participants to make up the difference and then come out ahead.

The fair is coming on the heels of a year in which auction sales are down 70 percent to 80 percent and prices for works by many major artists are down by half.

In one of the grandest gestures the market has seen since the slump began, Gerard Faggionato, a dealer from London, will be putting Francis Bacon's "Study from the Human Body after Muybridge" up for sale at a price of $9 million. This isn't exactly what Bacon's work used to fetch, but it's still a steep price in a depressed market. Faggionato represents Bacon's estate, which is the seller.

The painting shown at right, Bacon's ' Study for the Portrait of Michel Leiris ' is being shown as part of the exhibition 'Caravaggio and Bacon' at the Borghese museum in Rome.

Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips de Pury have released their estimates for the October auctions, and late summer signs of confidence have disappeared. Contemporary art forecasts for next month's auctions are down 81 percent from October 2008 – which was the first series of auctions conducted following the financial crisis.

The three auction houses expect to rake in around $33 million during London's Frieze Art Fair, according to Bloomberg News. Last year's low-end estimate (not accounting for currency fluctuations) was five times greater than this year's low-ball number. And, last year, the houses were offering minimum price guarantees to sellers, a practice that has since been suspended.

Frustrating the situation for auction houses further is the fact that many collectors are turning to private sales rather than auctions, as they hope to retain a greater degree of control over the outcome of the transaction. If the buyer doesn't agree to a sufficiently high price, the seller at least walks away with his piece.

The coming of the Frieze Art Fair includes contemporary art auctions by Christie's and Sotheby's which will be held on the same day. The former will send 25 lots under the gavel on October 16, 2009, with a low estimate of ₤6.8 million. This is a profound drop from 2008's 47 lots (six guaranteed) and a low estimate of ₤57.8 million. The only promising sign earlier this year was an increase in sold rates, with Christie's moving 88 percent of its lots in June and Sotheby's selling 92.5 percent.

Gap founders Donald and Doris Fisher have finally found a home for their art collection. The pair spent years trying to build their own museum in San Francisco's Presidio but dropped those plans after facing major opposition from residents and city officials. Instead the large collection of contemporary art will have a home at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

It's a huge get for the museum, the collection is a 1,100-piece assortment of works by 185 contemporary artists with many fine pieces from Alexander Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Chuck Close and Andy Warhol and could be worth nearly $1 billion. Donald Fisher released a written statement that said in part: "San Francisco is where we raised our family and opened our first Gap store, and we want to give back to the city we love by sharing the art that means so much to us."

The museum is already in the planning phase for a major expansion and the Fisher Collection will be on display in a new wing. Works from the collection will be shown with the museum's existing holdings in modern and contemporary art. The works will go into an art trust and the pieces will be on loan to the museum for 25 years. The first peek at the art will come next summer when some of the works are shown as part of the museum's 75th anniversary celebration.

Auction house Phillips de Pury & Co. tends to lean heavily toward the contemporary world, which is a lot like loading up your portfolio with small foreign stocks – it's extremely volatile. Before summer ended in 2008, this was a pretty good move, as contemporary art was skyrocketing at auction, and Phillips de Pury was there to take advantage of it. Since then, however, it's been harsh. At the May 14 and 15 contemporary sale in New York this year, the house pulled in only $10 million (compared to $62.8 million a year earlier).

To navigate the severe auction market, Phillips de Pury has decided to stick with the ultra-contemporary market, but it's restructuring, mixing contemporary art, photography and design – all of which are usually listed and sold separately.

Today's the day we'll see if it works. In London, Phillips de Pury is conducting the auction Now: Art of the 21st century. It consists of 291 mixed lots, with everything from photos to furniture. All pieces were created after 2000. There will be a wide spectrum of talent reflected in the lots, as well, with unknowns and high-profile artists like Tom Price and Candida Hoffer coming under the gavel.

Phillips de Pury has a reputation for being a bit more flexible than Sotheby's and Christie's, so breaking with tradition could help the house beat the bust and get back to the business of actually selling art at better than fire-sale prices.

Do you like contemporary art? A new study suggests that's because you've developed an emotional connection to it. If you prefer older pieces, on the other hand, your response is intellectual. The findings, published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, from the University of Rome was based on 137 people who attended to local museums in Rome: the Braschi, which is home to pieces created through the middle of the nineteenth century, and the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. Essentially, how you feel about a piece is based largely on when it was created.

Both groups – the emotive and intellectual – stated that their reason for going to the museums was "an interest in the artists" and the opportunity to "see the artworks in the original." But, those opting for the National Gallery frequently responded that they enjoyed "the pleasure they feel during their visit," while those going to the Braschi cited a "desire for cultural enrichment."

Is it as simple as "modern art is to be enjoyed and the classics are to be appreciated?" It sure seems that way, as the response by those hitting the Braschi seem to equate it to taking the stairs rather than an elevator – it feels good because it's good for you. That said, there's no doubt that intellectual stimulation feels fantastic, so oversimplifying the reaction as some form of self-betterment is probably a tad unfair, especially since participants in both groups had high scores for "openness to new experience." The modern art lovers, though, did tend to lean toward "sensation-seeking."

The demographic breakdown is pretty interesting, as well. Most of the participants were women, and all generally had similar levels of education. But, those preferring the National Gallery were 10 years younger, on average, than those gravitating toward the classics.

[Photo by Steve Ferdman, Bauzen Studios]

The Art Price Global Index suggests that the art market started to turn at the middle of the year, but it's going to take the autumn art season to confirm whether this is a false positive or the start of a new trend. Maybe the slight improvements in economic conditions are leading to more art market confidence (and spending), or perhaps they're just sick to death of being in a slump.

Art prices increased by 4.97 percent at the end of the second quarter, according to the Art Price Global Index. This comes after the index fell a total of 30 percent from the start of 2008. The collective will of art collectors, dealers and auctioneers probably won't be enough to change the art world, but it could happen at the same time. The Art Market Confidence Index gained 20 points during the second quarter, supporting the notion that we're all ready for this to be over.

It was still a tough quarter for Post-War and Contemporary artwork, which saw prices drop nine percent and four percent, respectively. But, the rest of the art market has fared better, thanks in large part to the increase in the number of affordable works brought under the gavel. So far this year, 79 percent of pieces sold for less than €5,000, up from 73 percent in 2008. Paintings and multiples declined, as well, by 31 percent and 41 percent, respectively, since 2008. With 4 percent and 5 percent price drops in the second quarter of 2009, their prices have returned to 2004 levels.

But, the summer's pretty quiet for the art market. We won't be able to confirm a recovery until the fall auction season begins. Then, we'll know if wallets are ready to be opened and stay that way for a while.

Combined, Sotheby's and Christie's moved £39 million ($63.25 million) in art from the Old Masters & 19th Century category at the beginning of July. Though it's still nothing compared to the levels reached the year before, it was good enough to top the Contemporary Art auction performances at those houses the month before. Collectors, together, cast a £1 million vote for age over beauty, a stunning development in an art market that has become accustomed to emphasizing the value of twentieth century pieces.

The rise in older works is akin to a flight to quality in financial markets, as the rarer, more reliable pieces have substantial track records and are less likely to fall victim to changes in taste. Speculation isn't as rampant in the Old Masters as it is for contemporary works: the market is a known quantity, with room for very few "discoveries," while there are still many twentieth century artists among us ... some of whom are even deigning to create their own paintings.

The success of the Old Masters category last month is due in part to the availability of inventory. Sotheby's was fortunate enough to be chosen for the Barbara Piasecka Johnson collection, which brought in more than £5 million. Christie's saw three new records set, though the house didn't keep pace with rival Sotheby's, despite sending more lots under the gavel.

A medieval castle is going to become a 'House of Bling' in a new contemporary art exhibit. An exhibition at Tattershall Castle, a 15th Century Medieval castle in Lincolnshire, England is part of a new relationship between the Arts Council England and the National Trust aimed at promoting contemporary art in historic properties. The name 'House of Bling' does honor to the fact that the castle was built between 1434 - 46 by Ralph Cromwell, Lord Treasurer to Henry VI as a visible symbol of his wealth, a form of real estate bling.

Artists Sarah Price, Geraldine Pilgrim, Catherine Bertola, Linda Florence, and KMA (Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler) will create new art works inspired by the building and each artist will work in a specific area of the monument and grounds including a large scale work cut into the lawn in front of Tattershall's castle done by Linda Florence. Catherine Bertola's offering will be a site-specific work that uses images of weaving and spinning from folk fairy tales and will result in golden cobwebs hung in the castle. Geraldine Pilgrim will create a work that will use packing cases and crates to explore imagery associated with towers and keeps. The work from KMA will be inspired by the castle cellars and will take the form of a film and audio narrative that combines fact and fiction. Sarah Price will create a secret wild garden on the castle grounds to invoke the time when the castle was abandoned and overgrown. The exhibition will take place at Tattershall Castle from August 8 – 23.

[via Art Daily]

June auction revenues were off 70 percent in London this year, due in large part to job cuts and an unwillingness to guarantee lots. Even the occasional sign of hope had to be taken with a grain of salt, as lower expectations tended to magnify this year's results falsely.

Together, Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips de Pury pulled in $269.4 million in this summer's sales – off 70 percent from a year ago. In addition to the mechanical drivers of lost jobs and guarantees, the auction houses haven't had an easy time bringing high-profile, high-value pieces to market. Every event in London this summer unloaded at least two-thirds of its inventory, and success rates rose to above 88 percent at the Sotheby's and Christie's events this past June, but lingering in the background is the notion that 2009, at this point, is nothing like 2008.

To some, the current art slump is reminiscent of the early 1990s, in which a bubble in Impressionist art pricing precipitated a general decline, and nobody could get a realistic sense of a piece's value. The market took several years to recover, but it has since passed the levels of nearly 20 years ago. The Impressionists are down 68 percent this year, roughly in line with global trends, with the contemporary market off approximately 73 percent. New York fared no better than London, with contemporary sales at Sotheby's down 75 percent and Christies off 72 percent.

If you can't make it to "Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this month you can still enjoy the great painter's works courtesy of art book imprint Skira Rizzoli. Francis Bacon, a comprehensive study of the seminal 20th-century painter (and oligarch favorite) "provides a radical reassessment of his major achievements and his enduring importance for the twenty-first century."

Bacon developed a way of portraying the human body that was unique in the history of painting - "usually in isolation, at moments of extreme tension or even pain, his figures distorted as if in a fantastical nightmare," as the authors note. In addition to 250 full-color plates, the book also reveals Bacon's inspirations, including magazine tear sheets, photographs, and imagery from films. The book, which will be published later this month, is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.

Less than two years ago, a huge shiny sculpture by Jeff Koons, Hanging Heart by Jeff Koons went for $23.4 million at auction. Now the kitschy artist has another monumental piece up for sale, a giant rendition of a candy egg which will be auctioned off at the May 12 evening sale of Contemporary Art at Sotheby's New York. The massive egg is made of high-chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating and is one of four differently colored versions. It is estimated to sell for $6 to $8 million. For a sense of the scale of the piece, watch the video of Sotheby's principal auctioneer Tobias Meyer talking about it. Meyer speaks about Koons's love of the egg shape and its meaning of creativity, fertility and positivity. It might be tempting to dismiss Koons's outsized and cartoonish creations but Meyer remarks that it is actually quite a challenge to create something that looks like shiny aluminum wrapper from steel and chromium and that the two types of finishes, the crumpled look and the high gloss bow present their own challenges. Some contemporary art provokes thought or controversy but with Koons you generally get a sort of glee, a sense of the ridiculousness of the world. Viewing one of his large sculptures from his Celebration series is like revisiting your own childhood through a funhouse mirror.

[Thanks, Lana]