collectors

Christie's Gucci Collector Website Launches

Last fall we learned that Gucci collectors would soon have a new way to value and sell their objects. Christie's and Gucci have partnered on a new website, Gucci Collector, where people can upload vintage items and get an appraisal. Christie's and Gucci are both part of the luxury megagroup PPR. Christie's provides, at no charge, auction estimates for vintage Gucci. The website defines Gucci vintage products as those that are generally a less common piece and at least 20 years old (other limited edition pieces or ones that have a special provenance might also be considered). In order to file a request the Gucci owner needs to submit good color images of the pieces, information on dimensions and materials and copies of any documentation of the item. Christie's promises a response within 2-4 weeks.

For those with good Gucci pieces that might not fit Christie's exacting standards there are plenty of other options. There's the old standby, eBay.com but there you run into the potential for auctioning off your items cheek by jowl with some less-than-scrupulous auction holders. Another good option is Portero.com which deals in only luxury goods. You pay $25 per item listing plus 30 percent of final sale price. Items are shipped to Portero where they are evaluated for authenticity, condition and value before being listed for sale. Another option is local consignment shops which usually have a similar percentage deal (although the exact percentage can vary). The downside of consigning locally is that it could sit on a shelf for a while until the right person walks through the door.

Tags: christies, collectors, gucci

Hirst and Koons Plunged, Collectors Regrouping

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Two of the biggest names in the art boom – which ended unceremoniously over the summer of 2008 – have seen their works fall by half this year. Pieces by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, the hottest works under the gavel through the beginning of 2008, could take as much as 10 years for prices to recover.

With the art market in turmoil this year, the contemporary segment suffered, and art collectors steered clear of some of the riskier artists on the market, which included Koons and Hirst. Instead, they turned to Art Deco furniture and pieces from the Old Masters and China, which appeared prominently among the top 10 auction performers this year.

Hirst and Koons still outperformed the contemporary art sector, which fell 75percent overall, thanks in large part to the auction houses' abandoning of guaranteed minimum prices.

According to Artprice, the art auction market surged by a factor of 10 from 2003 to 2008, with its price index for works by Hirst up 996 percent for the 10-year period ending in September 2008, with his "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever" event.

So, now may be the time to snatch up Hirst and Koons. It may take a decade for these artists to see their prices recover, but they did pretty well over the past 10 years.

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Tags: art collecting, art collection, art collector, art market, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, ArtCollector, ArtMarket, collector, collectors, damien hirst, DamienHirst, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons

Asian Art Goes under the Gavel in London this Week

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Sotheby's and Christie's are heading east to seek their respective fortunes. The two auction houses are offering more than $26 million of Asian art this week in London. The lots themselves are attracting record numbers of buyers from mainland China, a section of the market that has shown signs of life this year. Chinese buyers were quite active in Hong Kong last month.

Nicholas Chow of Sotheby's told Bloomberg News, ""We've seen a really aggressive push from mainland Chinese collectors during the last season of sales" and that "they're buying things at the very highest level." An Imperial jade seal, for example, moved for GBP3.6 million on Tuesday, six times the high-end presale estimate.

On November 3, Christie's sold an aggregate GBP5.7 million, beating the presale estimate of GBP5.2 million. Of the 319 lots, a third didn't move. The top seller was an eighteenth century enamel model of a Buddhist shrine, which beat its presale range of GBP60,000 to GBP80,000 with a hammer sale of GBP229,250. Nine of the top 10 most expensive items went to buyers from Asia.

Collectors from mainland China are quite eager to repatriate art and other objects from their heritage, particularly the Qing and Ming dynasties ... a fact of which the auction houses are fully aware. Christie's sent 210 invitations to mainland Chinese for its 12th annual Asian Art in London event, which ends November 7, 2009. Sotheby's pursued a similar number of collectors. Bonhams has invited 30 new buyers from mainland China.

In October, the Sotheby's Hong Kong art auction was good for $170 million, with plenty of bidding and buying by mainland Chinese buyers.

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art collector, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtCollector, asian art, AsianArt, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, bonhams, bonhams auction, BonhamsAuction, china, christies, collectibles, collection, collector, collectors, hong kong, HongKong, jade, london, ming, qing, sothebys

Yvon Lambert Gallery Fundraiser Favors the Lucky

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Charity

Art may not be selling as it did a year and a half ago, but hopefully even strapped collectors will open their wallets for a good cause. The Yvon Lambert Gallery in Paris has pulled together work from 1,000 artists to be sold at a fundraiser to combat the spread of AIDS. Among the artists participating are heavy hitters, such as Olafur Eliasson, Jonathan Monk, Christian Marday, Rafael Lozano-Hammer, Sophie Calle and Jo Baer.

But, there are two aspects of the event that make it unique.

First, prices will be standardized. Every piece offered in the two-day sale will be set at €100 (except sculpture, which will be €300). Also, collectors won't know whose work they'll receive until they pay up. The lucky could wind up with amazing pieces worth far more than they paid ... extending the good feeling that comes with supporting a worthy charity.

[Photo of Olafur Eliasson's New York waterfall by epicharmus via Flickr]

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Tags: art, art collecters, art collecting, art gallery, ArtCollecters, ArtCollecting, ArtGallery, artist, artwork, charity, christian marclay, ChristianMarclay, collectors, fundraiser, fundraising, olafur eliasson, OlafurEliasson, sculpture

Collecting Art on a Budget

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

At a recent benefit for the renowned Dumbo Arts Center in Brooklyn, Amy Goldrich (right, at the benefit) gave a talk on "Collecting Art on a Budget." Her talk was mainly for collectors who are just starting out, but art collectors at all levels are tightening their belts this year, so we thought we'd share some of her tips with you.

1. Go to benefit auctions.
Benefit auctions give you an opportunity to support a space, which is an easy way of supporting a lot of artists at once. Benefits, where artists have typically donated their work, tend to show "art you wouldn't see, because they're not so heavily curated."

2. Think potential.
You can find a piece at a benefit by a relatively unknown artist, pick it up for practically nothing, and end up very lucky. "Five years from now, that person could have a hot career" says Goldrich.

3. Bid on less "flashy" work.
To avoid a bidding war, don't just avoid the big name artists; "bid on a less flashy piece." As long as you love the piece and would want to have it in your home, you can't go wrong.

4. Meet the artists.
At benefits, you often get a chance to meet the artists whose work is being sold. If you develop a relationship with a young artist whose work you'd like to follow, they are likely to let you know where they're showing and what they're making -- or you can even commission a piece.

5. Call yourself a collector.
To an artist whose piece you might want to buy, you are a collector. To an organization who benefits from your purchase, you are a collector. "The difference between a collector and someone who buys art is a kind of pathology," says Goldrich. "There's a psychological need that drives [a collector]." You don't have to have five Monets in your basement to be considered a collector; there are no rules. Once you define yourself as a collector, your own instincts will help you.

Amy Goldrich is a New York attorney who specializes in Art, Commercial, and Entertainment Law. On the side, she has collected art for ten years.

Tags: amy goldrich, AmyGoldrich, art, art auctions, benefit auctions, collecting, collectors

$23,000 Wooden Japanese Sculptures

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Collectors of all kinds are known the world over for spending exorbitant amounts of money on objects that get the majority of their worth from the sentimental value they hold with their owners. Japanese folklore is no exception, and a company in Japan is hoping to cash in on some collector love by offering hand-carved wooden sculptures of the famous mythical monsters Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. The creations are each extremely detailed and impressive, as well as quite pricey. The smaller Godzilla and Mothra versions are priced at $3,000 each, but the real star of the show is the three-headed King Ghidorah -- he stands 8 1/2 feet tall and costs a cool $23,000.

Could make for an interesting statement in your entryway, perhaps? (ha!)

Via Bornrich

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Tags: collectors, godzilla, japan, japanese, king ghidora, KingGhidora, mothra, mythical, sculpture

Piaget Collector's Trunk

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

One thing I've learned after spending time with serious watch collectors is that their obsession is only limited by their wallets or what their spouses might let them get away with. For serious Piaget aficionados there is the Piaget Collector's Trunk created by luxury trunk maker Pinel & Pinel. It is made of poplar wood covered with cowhide with palladium-electroplated brass with mirror-polished finish. It holds 51 watches and there is a movement integrated into the center window to wind automatic watches. It comes with a travel case that holds three watches. "Essential collector's tools" and a remote control to switch the lights inside on and off are also included. It is available in 20 different colors of leather for both the inside and the outside and can be personalized with an engraved plate. Custom trunks take three months to create.

Gallery: Pinel & Pinel Luxury Trunk Collaborations

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Tags: collections, collectors, piaget, pinel, timepieces, trunk, watches

Gold Coin Sells For $5 Million

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

The news last week of a $10 gold coin that sold for $5 million is particularly interesting because the date on the coin is not the date it was minted. The Eagle coin is stamped 1804 but was created in 1834 at the Philadelphia Mint for Andrew Jackson as a diplomatic gift. This coin has some pretty fast appreciation, it sold for $1 million in 2003 and then for $2.47 million in 2005. There are just four of them out in the world.

I wonder what is it about coins that makes the prices rise. In part it is because they are a tangible record of history but I suspect the real reason is something else. As David Albanese, the president of Albanese Rare Coins, the dealer of the coin, reported both the buyer and seller are "northeastern United States entrepreneurs who have been collecting coins since they were young boys." I think this is why some coins sell for such high prices. Many other collecting hobbies take root after one is established in the world, wine, art, jewelry and watches, the love of those often develop later in life. But so many young boys and girls are given coins as gifts, thereby establishing a lifelong love of numismatics.

[Thanks, Lana]

[Thanks, lana]

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Tags: coin collecting, coins, collecting, collectors, gold, gold coin, GoldCoin, numismatics

Using DNA To Protect Your Valuables

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Services, Wine, Art

CSI for your wine cellar? Well, sort of. Wine Spectator reports that Applied DNA Sciences has created a DNA-based system, called SigNature that embeds a customized botanical DNA segment into the ink on a wine bottle cork or a label. The SigNature could not be removed and therefore acts as an encrypted identification system that could help identify bottles belonging to a collector if they are stolen. It could also help verify the authenticity of bottles that are later sold at auction. The service costs about $16 per bottle to prepare and apply a marker for a 5,000- to 10,000-bottle collection, including authentication certificate and scanner but the price drops for producers who want to brand a whole vintage. The SigNature has a variety of applications including the protection of artwork by embedding a DNA signature in a certificate, receipt or sticker.

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Tags: art, collections, collectors, dna, valuables, wine

Santa On A Rocking Horse

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

It's a little bit late to start shopping for Christmas decorations for Monday, but this Santa On Rocking Horse is a beautiful decorative item with the look of an heirloom toy. Designed and handmade by artist Karen Didion, Santa is 25-in. high and is dressed in a plush outfit trimmed with real fur. This isn't the sort of thing that you want to give a child to play with, but it is something that you could get them as an "heirloom for future generations." Price: $1,600.

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Tags: christmas, collectible, collectors, didion, santa, toy, toys

US Mints 24K Gold Coin

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

The US Mint is aiming to target both collectors and investors with their newest release: a 24-karat gold coin. It contains one ounce of 99.99% pure gold and is cast as a tribute to the popular buffalo-head nickel that was in circulation during the 1930s. The coin will be minted as a $50 piece, though it will be worth, and sold, for more. Two versions of the coin will be available: a bullion coin for investors, which will be sold to authorized buyers for coin shops, banks and other financial institutions, and a proof coin, aimed at collections. The proof coin has a higher quality strike and finer finish, both of which will add to the physical appeal of the coin over simply the gold it is made of. 300,000 proof coins will be made and sold at an initial price of $875 per coin.

Interested buyers can purchase the proof coins beginning Thursday by going to the US Mint's website.

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Tags: 24-karat, coin, coins, collectors, gold, investment, investors, mint

Frida Kahlo Painting To Be Sold At Sotheby's

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

This striking painting is instantly recognizable as a Frida Kahlo. Roots, a self-portrait done in 1943 will be sold at Sotheby's New York on May 24 as part of their sale of Latin American art. It is oil on metal and has never before appeared on the public market. The painting was done after Kahlo remarried her Diego Rivera and is one of her few full-length self-portraits. The painting is expected to sell for $5 to $7 million. The painting will most likely set a record for Kahlo's work and could set a record for work by a female artist. I wonder if Madonna, a noted Kahlo collector, will be bidding on this one.

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Tags: art, artists, artwork, collectors, frida kahlo, FridaKahlo, sothebys