art market

Eden Rock "Uncovers" Latest Art Exhibition

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

The year is coming to an end, and that means the art gallery at Eden Rock is filling up. As peak season hits down on St. Barths, the gallery becomes home to endless excitement, and it should be higher than in the past few years, as the art market bounces back from its late 2008 and early 2009 depths.

This year, the Eden Rock Gallery will be home to an exhibition called "Uncovered," running from December 22, 2010 through January 31, 2011. Hosted in partnership with the New York Academy of Art and curated by Eileen Guggenheim, Peter Drake and David Kratz, it will include 24 pieces by artists affiliated with the academy, with work by faculty and members of the Artists' Advisory Board of the Academy on the walls, too. Rosson Crow, Kurt Kauper, Natalie Frank, Alyssa Monks, Robert Feintuch, Julie Heffernan and Margaret Bowland are among the artists being featured.

Gallery: "Uncovered" at the Eden Rock Gallery

Gallery: Villa Rockstar, Eden Rock, St Barths

The Bar and Dining Area at Villa Rockstar, Eden Rock

The Private Pool at Villa Rockstar, Eden Rock

The Living Area at Villa Rockstar, Eden Rock

Tags: art, art exhibit, art exhibits, art galleries, Art Gallery, art market, art show, eden rock, st barths

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Big Warhol Sales Start Contemporary Auction Week In New York

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

It's looking like the week of Warhol. This week's contemporary art auctions in New York City started off with a bang on Monday night as Phillips de Pury & Company inaugurated its Park Avenue salesroom in grand style. The NY Times reports that the auction house was trying out a new program called "Carte Blanche" in which someone outside the auction house curates a sale. The first auction was done by Philippe Ségalot, a private dealer who once ran Christie's postwar and contemporary art department in New York. The 33 lots orchestrated by Ségalot brought in a total of $117 million, above its high estimate of $104.8 million. Over half of that went to Andy Warhol's "Men in Her Life," shown above, a 1962 painting featuring Elizabeth Taylor. The $63.3 million price easily topped the $50 million high end estimate and was the second highest ever paid for a Warhol (the first was the $71.7 million paid at Christie's in 2007 for "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)." But Andy Warhol's work wasn't through dazzling New York yet.

Tags: andy warhol, art market, auction house, phillips de pury, sothebys

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"Finding of Moses" Sells for Seven Times Estimate, Sets New Record

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's 19th-century painting, "The Finding Of Moses," had a pre-sale estimate of $3 million to $5 million. At Sotheby's 19th Century European Art Sale November 4, it sold for a remarkable $35,922,500 to an undisclosed bidder. Three people raised their bids consistently during a battle for ownership of this masterpiece that lasted nearly eight minutes. Once the bidding started, it rose quickly to more than $20 million in a battle between two clients on the phone. Then a new bidder in the room raised a paddle for a $23 million bid. After several more minutes, the painting was sold to one of the the original phone bidders. The whopping price sets a new record for the artist at auction. His previous record set for this same painting was $2.8 million in 1995.

The painting depicts the pharoah's daughter carried aloft by bare-chested slaves while her handmaidens hoist the baby Moses in his basket so that his new "mother" can gaze down at him. Although not too biblically correct, it's still a meticulously painted version of an Old Testament scene. Alma-Tadema possibly became infatuated with Egyptian themes on a visit to the British Museum in 1862 where the main attraction was the newly acquired Elgin Marbles.

Tags: art, art market, sothebys

Matisse Bronze Tops Christie's Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Last night, November 3, was Christie's turn to host an Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale. The night before, rival Sotheby's brought in $227.5 million. Christie's had a similarly strong evening with a total of $231.4 million. The 84-lot sale was 80 percent sold by lot and 88 percent sold by value.

Henri Matisse's monumental sculpture Nu de dos, 4 état (Back IV) was the night's top lot, setting a record for the artist at $48,8 million nicely above the top estimate of $35 million. This was the first time that a work from the artist's Back series has ever come to auction. Other leading lots included Alberto Giacometti's Femme de Venise V, conceived in 1956 and cast in 1958, which sold for $10.27 million, three works by Fernand Léger from Property from the Collection of Max Palevsky, including La Tasse de Thé, 1921, which realized $8.16 million and Egon Schiele's Mann und Frau (Umarmung), 1917, which sold for $7.36 million.

As at Sotheby's the previous night, this sale too had an unsold Picasso. The 1921 "Maternite," was estimated to sell for as much as $10 million but failed to find a buyer.

Tags: art, art market, art results, christies, matisse, sculpture

Modigliani Painting Sets Record

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

While most of America was watching election results last night, a few were focused on the art market and specifically on the lady shown above, Modigliani's "La belle Romaine" which garnered a record-setting $68.9 million at Sotheby's in New York City. Sotheby's brought in a total of $227.5 million in the sale of Impressionist and modern art against pre-sale estimates of $195 million to $266 million. It was a nice jump over last year's $181 million sale and another sign of a potential art market recovery.

Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 portrait of a lovely, mostly undressed brunette sold to an anonymous telephone bidder. It was estimated to sell for as much as $40 million. The Wall Street Journal reports that the work's seller, Turkish banker Halit Cingillioglu, bought it for $16.8 million 11 years ago. Another Modigliani in the same sale, a 1917 portrait of the artist's lover, "Jeanne Hébuterne (in a Hat)," went for $19.1 million to a telephone bidder. Monet's "Water-lily Pond," also from 1917, sold for $24.7 million. Henri Matisse's 1942 "Dancer in a Chair, Checkerboard Floor" went for $20.8 million, over its $18 million high estimate.

Not every piece up for bid found a home, 15 of the sale's 61 pieces failed to sell. Matisse's 1934 lavender portrait, "Titine Trovato in Dress and Hat" was up for auction for the second time in two years but Sotheby's failed to sell the work yet again. Pablo Picasso's 1970 double portrait, "Man and Woman With a Bouquet" also went unsold. Matisse has another shot today when Christie's holds its major sale of Impressionist and modern art that includes Matisse's bronze "Back IV" sculpture which could bring as much as $35 million.

Tags: amedeo modigliani, art market, claude monet, Henri Matisse, impressionist art, matisse, modern art, modigliani, monetary policy, Pablo Picasso, sothebys

For Collectors from Sotheby's

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Sotheby's has a new application for the iPhone and iPad. Whether you're an experienced or new collector, relying on this auction house's app is one of the best ways to keep informed about the art market, but more importantly about artists and art trends. Go to the iTunes App store, dowload the free app and here's what you will get: the latest podcasts, a chance to browse catalogues for upcoming sales and view auction results. If you are interested in placing a bid, you can search upcoming lots, zoom in for a closer look, and leave an absentee bid. To access either Sotheby's new app or website, be sure to log in first.

The app can be particularly informative. Its main attraction right now is a video of the opening at Tate Modern for Frieze Week where Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's installation was featured. Visitors were invited to walk on 100 million individually made porcelain sunflower seeds. If you were puzzled by newspaper reports about this installation -- referencing traditional techniques with a contemporary message --the video makes it clear. The artist was referring to the time when Mao was considered the sun and the Chinese people were "sunflower seeds." (Incidentally, now visitors have to view the installation from a bridge as health officials worried that walking on the porcelain "seeds" created too much unhealthy dust.") Relying on a video like this one gives you a sense of what is happening at the biggest event in the UK art calendar and not just prices paid at auction.

Also, keep in mind there's a new addition to Sotheby's.com. BidNow is an online bidding service available for all auctions worldwide. You can access Sotheby's mobile site from almost any web-enabled handset, including the Blackberry, Android, iPhone, iPad among others.

Tags: ai weiwei, art catalogues, art market, bidding at auctions, ipad app, ipad apps, iphone apps, sothebys

ArtWeLove: A Great First Step for Aspiring Art Collectors

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

When I first started writing about the art market, in the white-hot auction climate of the summer of 2007, I had the chance to interview Prof. Michael Moses of NYU. Co-founder of the Mei-Moses Index used to gauge the direction of art prices, he's pretty much the de facto source for issues at the intersection of art and investing. I'll never forget the advice he offered to my readers: start with prints of your favorite pieces, and as you can afford to, replace them with the real thing.

This is the exact concept I saw in action when I stopped by the ArtWeLove booth at the Affordable Art Fair to visit company founder Laurence Lafforgue.

Art We Love focuses on making works by high-caliber artists available to entry-level collectors. The archival pigment prints offered by the company are limited-edition reproductions of museum-caliber pieces from well-known artists who have agreed to work with Lafforgue to make the art luxury attainable to a broader constituency.

Tags: affordable art, affordable art fair, affordable artwork, art collecting, art collection, art collector, art exhibit, Art Exhibition, art exhibits, art fair, art market, art show, artist, Artists

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Tough Year for Takashi Murakami as Auction Revenue Plunges

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Contemporary art values got spanked following the financial crisis, and even though there were signs of hope in October and November 2009, it's been a long road to recovery. Some artists, in particular, were beaten particularly severely by the collapse of the contemporary art market.

Takashi Murakami, a fervent self-marketer as well as artist, sustained a decline in total auction revenue from $8 million for the July 2008 – June 2009 period to $3.4 million for the 12 months running from July 2009 – June 2010. ArtPrice reports that only 223 of his pieces were brought to auction during the year ending in June 2010, and only nine brought in more than €100,000. None hit the seven-figure mark.

Though the cash isn't rolling in, ArtPrice notes that Murakami "is back in the limelight thanks to his theatrical exhibition in the Château de Versailles which runs until 12 December 2010."

[photo by achimh via Flickr]

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Tags: art market, artist, Artists, artwork, contemporary art, financial crisis, murakami, Takashi Murakami

Getty Museum Pays Top Dollar For J.M.W. Turner Painting

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A J.M.W. Turner painting, "Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino" sold at auction on Wednesday for $45.1 million, setting a new record for the artist. At Sotheby's London six bidders pursued the painting driving the price well above pre-sale expectations. The price beat the old record set in April 2006 at Christie's in New York when an 1841 view of Venice, "Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio," sold for $35.9 million.

"Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino" was painted in 1839 and is his final painting of Rome, a culmination of all of the studies that he made during his two visits to the Italian capital. Before Wednesday's sale, the painting had only appeared on the open market once in the 171 years since it was painted. It was offered for sale by a descendant of the 5th Earl of Rosebery; the 5th Earl of Rosebery had bought the painting in 1878, while on honeymoon with his wife Hannah Rothschild. The painting was most recently displayed at the National Gallery of Scotland where it was on long-term loan. It will continue to have a museum life, the new owner is the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The painting was the top-selling lot in Sotheby's summer Evening Sale of Old Master & British Paintings, which had a total of £53,484,350 (pre-sale expectations were £33.8-49.6 million).

Tags: art, art market, Getty Center, Getty museum, j.m.w. turner, J.m.w.Turner, sothebys

Rubens Painting Sells To Raise Money For Princess Diana's Family Home

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A painting by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens listed for auction by the family of the late Princess Diana sold on Tuesday at Christie's for 9 million pounds ($13.68 million). The picture "A Commander being armed for Battle," was painted in 1613 or 1614. The bearded man had been identified by some as Emperor Charles V and carried an estimate of 8-12 million pounds ($12-18 million). The painting has been at the Spencer family home, Althorp for more than 200 years. Although it was originally described as being in the "school of Rubens" it has now been identified by noted scholars as being painted by the master himself.

The painting is part of a Spencer collection sell-off of approximately $30 million designed to help preserve the family home. Althorp is undergoing a major restoration and the trustees of the estate decided to sell artwork deemed not integral to the Spencer Collection. Diana's brother Earl Spencer also sold off "King David" by Baroque artist Il Guercino for 5.2 million pounds. Overall the auction raised 42.3 million pounds solidly mid-range against an estimate of 36.9-55.8 million pounds.

Tags: althorp, art market, auction-house, christies auction house, christies international, ChristiesAuction, ChristiesAuctionHouse, Earl Spencer, peter paul rubens, Princess Diana, rubens

Walk Away Monet, London Art Sale Sets Record Yet Disappoints

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Usually Monet's waterlilies paintings are hot sellers but Claude Monet's 1906 painting "Nympheas" failed to sell during an auction of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie's London on June 23, 2010. Monet's work was estimated at 30 million pounds to 40 million pounds ($44 million to $59 million) but bidding stalled out at 29 million pounds.

The sale brought in 153 million pounds ($227 million). The total set a new London auction record, beating a 147 million pound sale set by Soethby's in February, but fell short of estimates of 164-231 million pounds. The other top lot, a Blue Period portrait by Picasso put up for auction by Andrew Lloyd Webber's charity, sold for 34.8 million pounds. Although the sale wasn't as strong as hoped it still indicates that there is strength in the art market.

Tags: art market, christies, monet, money, picasso, sothebys

Manet Self Portrait Sets New Record

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Sotheby's London sold an Edouard Manet self-portrait at auction for $33.1 million (22.4 pounds) on Tuesday setting a record for the artist at auction. The number was actually at the lower end of pre-sale expectations of 20-30 million pounds. The painting is one of only two self-portraits by the artist and the only one in private hands but only one bidder Franck Giraud, a private dealer based in New York made an offer. The NY Times reports that Steven A. Cohen, who runs SAC Capital Management, was the owner of the painting and had paid as much as $35 to $40 million for the painting nearly a decade earlier from art loving casino mogul Steve Wynn.

The overall total for the sale was $165.2 million at the lower end of the $148.4 million to $217.5 million and 16 of the 51 works did not sell. In the NY Times article, Richard L. Feigen, a New York dealer, said that part of the issue was that while it's a great picture, Manet just doesn't have the marquee appeal of artists like Picasso and Giacommetti. In a world that worships the modern, Manet's painterly rendition of himself as a dated dandy simply doesn't excite the masses. Cohen himself has moved on to modern art picking up a 1958 "Flag" painting by Jasper Johns for a reported $110 million.

Tags: art, art market, edouard manet, sothebys, steven a cohen

Art Basel Attracts Abramovich, Kilmer, Millions

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

The exclusive opening of Art Basel – for the most serious buyers – had the desired effect. The most famous art show in the world attracted the likes of art collector Roman Abramovich (however much it may be at the behest of his squeeze) and fetched some major sales, including $15 million for a sculpture by Pablo Picasso.

So, who joined Abramovich in scratching the art itch ... one that's been hard to scratch since the art market collapsed in 2008? Well, Val Kilmer, Peter Brant and Laurence Graff were among the elite.

Prices haven't returned to 2007 levels, noted art dealer Nicholas Maclean to Bloomberg News, but he added that the top stuff is selling well. This doesn't exactly defy common sense, of course. There are 303 galleries at Art Basel this year, and they're all hoping to ride this wave.

A Christie's International auction in Paris the day before Art Basel started set the tone for the affair. A sculpture by Amedeo Modigliani moved for $53 million, setting a record for the French auction market.

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Tags: amadeo modigliani, art auction, art auctions, art basel, art market, auction house, auction houses, christies, ChristiesAuctionHouse, laurence graff, modligiani, peter brant, roman abramovich, val kilmer

Art Market: Russian Billionaires Are Back

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The numbers may not have big, but it felt like 2007 all over again during "Russian Week" in London. Russian billionaires descended on the art auction houses and fought fiercely for prized lots. Compared to last year, auction sales nearly doubled, with the Russians spending $86 million to repatriate icons, paintings, porcelain and Faberge items. This follows $18.5 million in Russian art sales by Sotheby's and Christie's in New York back in April.

The most popular pieces were early 20th century modernist works, with the top lot Alexander Yakovlev's "Titi and Naranghe, Daughters of Chief Eki Bondo." It was good for £2.5 million, almost tripling its high-end presale estimate of £900,000.

Sotheby's was the top auction house of London's Russian Week, generating £22.3 million by selling approximately 70 percent of its 615 lots. The result falls within the presale range of £19.3 million to £28 million.

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Tags: art auction, art auctions, art market, auction house, auction houses, billionaire, billionaires, Christies, ChristiesAuction, ChristiesAuctionHouse, faberge, Faberge Eggs, london, russian art, RussianBillionaires, sotheby, sothebys

$11 Million Warhol & More in Christie's Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

An important Andy Warhol portrait of Liz Taylor painted in 1963 is expected to fetch up to $11 million at Christie's' landmark Post-War & Contemporary Art sale in London on June 30. The iconic Silver Liz (above), painted for Warhol's now famous show at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles in October 1963, could easily go for much more considering last month's world record sale of a Warhol self portrait and the eye-popping results of the Michael Crichton collection. Also on offer in the stunning sale: Jeff Koons' 1999 oil on canvas Loopy, estimated at about $3.5 million - $5 million; Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled, painted in in 1982, estimated at about $2.5 million - $3.5 million; Roy Lichtenstein's Woman Reading, painted in 1980, estimated at about $3 million - $4.5 million; Cy Twombly's Untitled (Gaeta), painted in 2004, estimated at $3 million - $4 million; and Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild, painted in 1986, estimated at $2.2 million - $3.5 million.

Gallery: Christie's Contemporary Art June 2010