giacometti

Last month The Classicist broke the news that a rarely-seen Picasso was expected to fetch up to $90 million at Christie's landmark Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art, which took place yesterday in New York. Now the results are in and the painting, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust (above) dated 1932, from the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody, was sold for a staggering $106.5 million to an unidentified telephone bidder, breaking the previous world record for any work of art sold at auction (set back in February when a Giacometti sculpture brought in $104.3 million). Yesterday's sale achieved a stunning $335.5 million in total. The Evening Sale portion of the Brody Collection also became the highest total for a single-owner sale offered at Christies New York, surpassing the landmark sale of the Collection of Victor and Sally Ganz sale in 1997. The 27 lots from the Brody Collection achieved $224.2 million.

Marc Porter, Chairman of Christie's Americas, commented: "This was a stellar night for Christie's and for the art market. The sale was led by exceptional prices for works by Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti and Henri Matisse from the Brody Collection, one of the greatest private collections to come to market. In addition, we witnessed great depth of bidding and strong results for important works from other American and European collections, including additional paintings by Picasso and works by Giacometti and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. We are honored to have been entrusted with so many remarkable works this season, and we are delighted to have delivered such positive results, including three new world auction records for Picasso, Georges Braque, and Jean-François Raffaelli."

The Impressionist and Modern Art sales on May 4 and 5, 2010 are likely to confirm a continued climb in art auction pricing. We're now six months or so into the badly needed upswing, and there's plenty of room for optimism. Not only are the presale estimates and sales on the way up, but the number of pieces being resold quickly is on the rise, as well. This means that there's a high degree of liquidity in the art market: collectors can sell easily and without worry (as long as the inventory doesn't suck, in which case there's no hope, of course).

The increase in art market liquidity is due in part to the return of guaranteed minimum pricing, in which the auction houses assume some sales risk for attractive or desirable pieces that they feel can beat the numbers and attract buyers and sellers of other strong works. According to ArtPrice, there are "tens of millions of dollars for major works" committed via guaranteed minimum pricing, indicating that confidence is up.

It's the price guarantees that have led to the arrival of some strong pieces at the early may auctions this year, including pieces from the collections of Mrs Sidney Francis Brody, Raymond and Miriam Klein, Bernard Goldberg and Michael Crichton. Brody's works alone could fetch up to $150 million. The high estimate for Christie's is $300 million, a target that doesn't include the top lot, "Nude, Green Leaves" by Pablo Picasso, which as Jared Paul Stern revealed in a recent column is expected to bring in as much as $90 million. Other artists with eight-figure estimates include Henri Matisse, and Alberto Giacometti.

Don't just look for good news – also a expect a few records to b set. Sotheby's has high hopes for pieces by Salvador Dali and Auguste Rodin.

Last month, an auction stunned the world when a Giacometti sculpture, L'Homme Qui Marche I, sold for an incredible £65,001,250 ($104,327,006) at the Sotheby's London Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale . It was only estimated at £12-18 million but it managed to set a world record as the most expensive piece of art ever to sell at auction. Now the name of the buyer has been revealed and it's a name we've heard before. Billionaire Lily Safra has been named by Bloomberg News as the deep-pocketed art lover. If the name sounds familiar on this blog, it's probably in connection with another name, Villa Leopolda. Safra, the widow of banker Edmond Safra who died in a fire in his apartment in 1999, owns the world's most expensive house. Villa Leopolda in the Cote d'Azur, once had a reported price tag of $750 million and was nearly sold to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. She also owns an apartment at 820 Fifth Avenue in New York City as well as a place in the Belgravia area of London which is where the statue was delivered.

The Bloomberg article on the big reveal of the Giacometti buyer has an interesting quote from Philip Hoffman, chief executive of the London-based Fine Art Fund, who calls the big sale "a freak result" and says that the sculpture is not an investment piece and not likely to rise exponentially in value over the next ten years. The article indicates that she had tried to buy a different cast of this same sculpture through a dealer but that deal was never made so the art may have more value for Lily Safra than it would for another buyer.

A year from now, we'll look back on the art market 2009 as that last slither though the gutter before picking itself back up in 2010. But, we're not there yet: 2009 is in the rearview mirror, so it will remain our baseline for the next 12 months. When looking at the top performers at auction last year, there's a pretty consistent story – revenue declines ranged from 55 percent to 77 percent relative to 2008. Top 10 mainstays – such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Alberto Giacometti, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet – got thrashed. These conditions led to some changes, as well, with a Chinese artist making the top 10 for the first time. In fact, he pushed into the top three.

1. Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso is back on top, after giving up the #1 position in 2008. And, it took only $121 million in auction sales to get him there. From 1998 to 2008, total sales for Picasso gained 96 percent, before falling by 54 percent last year, with pricing off 15 percent. The number of sales pushing past the $1 million mark declined precipitously, from 39 in 2008 to only 15 last year, and his top sale was for "Mousquetaire a la pipe," which moved for $13 million on May 6, 2009, at Christie's. This year could be a bit tough for Picasso collectors, as Artprice believes certain paintings were still overpriced.

The Christie's and Sotheby's February contemporary art sales surged 255% year-over-year, thanks in large gain relative to the severely depressed baseline created by the financial crisis. Continuing a trend that began last November, with the $39 million sale of Andy Warhol's "200 One Dollar Bills," the art market's showing solid and healthy growth, not a return to the abject stupidity of 2007.

How can you tell the difference? Well, the fact that Alberto Giacometti's "L'homme qui marche I" set a new record at £58 million while Lucian Freud's much-hyped self-portrait with black eye failed to reach the low-end presale estimate, despite the fact that Sotheby's billed it as "the most important self-portrait by the artist ever to he appeared at auction." This represents a profound departure from the prices of $30 million or more that his work used to command.

At Christie's, Yves Klein was responsible for around quarter of the revenue that came in the door, though work by Andy Warhol, Peter Doig, Martin Kippenberger and Richard Prince crossed the £1 billion threshold.

The Art Market Confidence Index by Artprice indicates that art prices will increase over the next quarter.

All secrets eventually come out. At the recent London auctions, in which both Sotheby's and Christie's saw several lots set records, Russian collectors poured some money back into the art market, and Laurence Graff, chairman of Graff Diamonds, parted with a healthy dose of cash. It's this action that caused a combined tally of £258.9 million (including fees), more than double the result a year earlier.

The UK-based diamond dealer sunk £8.1 million into Pablo Picasso's "Tete de Femme (Jacqueline) at the Christie's auction, spending 100 percent more than the high-end presale estimate for the piece. According to Bloomberg News, Graff confirmed the acquisition by e-mail.

Russian billionaires got back into the game, as well, and they exercised better judgment than they did during the art boom, when prices for artists such as Damien Hirst were propelled to absurd levels.

The Impressionist sector has held on rather well, by comparison. "The market for Impressionist and modern art hasn't been as frothy and speculative as contemporary," said Guy Jennings, partner in the London-based dealership Theobald Jennings. "Last year, prices might have slipped five or 10 percent, but since then there's been some asset inflation. That might not be the case in six months' time if there's a double-dip recession."

The art market's biggest question turned out to have a $200 million answer at Sotheby's on Wednesday night. Led by Alberto Giacometti's "L'Homme Qui Marche I," which an anonymous bidder picked up for more than $104 million, the auction house realized a total take of $235.7 million on 31 sold lots. Nobody expected this outcome, not even the most optimistic art market spectators, let alone a committed pessimist like me. Of course, my first instinct is to suggest that we wait for the contemporary art sales next week, but it's hard to deny that this week's outcome is both promising and exciting.

The Giacometti set a new record for the artist, sailing past the $27.5 million picked up by "Grand femme debout II" at a Christie's sale in May 2008. In driving nearly half the auction's sales, this piece made it clear that the art market comeback is more than the wishful thinking of collectors who have spent more than a year and a half watching their pieces lose value. A year from now, we'll be looking at "Homme" as the symbol of the art market's recovery, much as we've come to see that final $85 million Francis Bacon sale in May 2008 as the peak before the decline.

Eight lots failed to sell at the Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern evening sale, but this hardly matters when considered against the auction's overall performance. Presale expectations were beat by more than 100 percent, thanks in large part to the fact that 17 of the lots sold for more than £1 million each. Three lots crossed the £10 million threshold. Works by Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne, Gustav Klimt and Camille Pissarro easily pushed into seven-figure territory.

Wow, when I wrote about the upcoming auction of the Giacometti sculpture, L'Homme Qui Marche I, last month I had no idea that someone would go crazy for the bronze cast sculpture. But the results are crazy indeed. This sculpture, which was once part of the corporate collection of Germany's Dresdner Bank and acquired by Commerzbank when it took over Dresdner Bank last year, sold for an incredible £65,001,250 ($104,327,006) at the Sotheby's London Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale . It was only estimated at £12-18 million but it managed to set a world record as the most expensive piece of art ever to sell at auction breaking a record set way back in 2004 by Picasso's Garçon à la Pipe, 1905, which sold for $104.1 million.

The sale is good news for Commerzbank and selected German museums which will also benefit from the sale. The sculpture was executed in 1960 and cast in bronze in a numbered edition of 6 plus 4 artist's proofs. This one was cast in 1961 and is inscribed Alberto Giacometti and numbered 2/6 and with the foundry mark Susse Fondeur Paris. It seem Giacometti is in vogue lately. Last year his "L'Homme Qui Chavire" made the list of top pieces sold in 2009 in the ninth position with a price of $19.4 million.

Art Info reports that there was heated bidding both by phone and in person. While some thought the Giacometti might beat estimates no one imagined it would go for quite so much money. No information on the winning bidder has been revealed.

Corporate art collections are falling right and left and some pricey pieces are hitting the market. Next month, Sotheby's London will auction off a Giacometti sculpture, L'Homme Qui Marche, that was once part of the corporate collection of Germany's Dresdner Bank. Commerzbank acquired the piece when it took over Dresdner Bank last year.

The sculpture is estimated at £12-18 million and is part of the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on February 3. Wealth Bulletin reports that proceeds from the sale will benefit both Commerzbank and selected German museums. Other works formerly in the collection of Dresdner Bank will be placed on permanent loan with museums in Frankfurt, Dresden and Berlin.

The sculpture was executed in 1960 and cast in bronze in a numbered edition of 6 plus 4 artist's proofs. This one was cast in 1961 and is inscribed Alberto Giacometti and numbered 2/6 and with the foundry mark Susse Fondeur Paris. Giacometti's "L'Homme Qui Chavire" made the list of top pieces sold in 2009 in the ninth position with a price of $19.4 million.

The art market was already in decline when the global financial system was sent into mayhem in September 2008, but the financial nightmare accelerated the drop. This past year has been pretty miserable for artists, galleries, dealers and collectors (who have seen their buying power dry up), but that doesn't mean there hasn't been anything to celebrate.

Several prominent pieces hit fantastic heights at auction this year. Some of the names will look familiar, including Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse and Alberto Giacometti. Old Masters and Asia are represented as well, as they have generally done best in resisting the forces of the art market recession.

Below, take a look at the top 10 pieces at auction in 2009.

Surrealist, modern and postwar pieces will go under the gavel next week at the Christie's Impressioniste et Moderne auction in Paris. More than 140 lots will be offered on December 1, 2009, with presale estimates ranging from $6 million to $9 million. Among the artists represented in the auction, which consists of the Lefebvre-Foinet collection, are Alberto Giacometti, Max Ernst, Henri Matisse and Zao Wou-Ki. The collection was amassed over five generations, with the latest in the family making the decision to sell.

A portrait of Maurice Lefebvre by Giacometti could fetch between $1 million and $1.5 million, but other lots are more attainable. "Lyrical Explosion C," by Alberto Magnelli, is expected to sell for $210,000 to $270,000, and Sonia Delaunay's "Colored Rhythms No. 615" could go for up to $160,000. Playing on the success of the market for Chinese art, Zao Wou-Ki's "5.11.64" could move for as much as $600,000.

Paris has done pretty well through the art market slump, especially when the auctions deviate at least somewhat from the norm. Though there aren't any guarantees, let's keep an eye on this one. It could be the touch of fresh air we need.

[Photo via Christie's]

A big auction with major pieces actually beat the top-end estimate – when's the last time you heard that? Wednesday night at Sotheby's, the Impressionist sale brought in $181.8 million, thrashing the high estimate of $163 million and almost tripling the Christie's auction from November 3, 2009. It's also around three times the last equivalent sale by Sotheby's, which was back in May.

The Sotheby's auction was packed with notoriety. Conde Nast's top dog, S. I. Newhouse Jr., sent some work under the gavel, as did Louis Reijtenbagh. Artwork by Giacometti, Picasso and Renoir was sold. Sixty-six lots were offered, with only 10 failing to sell.

New York art dealer Helly Nahmad told Bloomberg News, "The art market is back," but that may be premature. Bidders were chasing the high-quality pieces, and it is tempting to believe that what auctioneer Tobias Meyer calls "a year of abstinence" is over. The fact that the Sotheby's auction was so much greater than that at Christie's, though, makes me want to see a few more sales before calling it a trend.

While many of the art auction houses are dreading the fall season, Sotheby's has a few lots to celebrate. Art advisors can't keep their mouths shut, it seems, and following a luncheon for them, word got out that the house has picked up pieces by Alberto Giacometti and Andy Warhol next month.

Most collectors have been hanging onto their art, unwilling to sell their pieces in an unfavorable economic climate. Instead, they're hoping for a recovery and will likely unload the good stuff when they can get top dollar – or at least something better than fire-sale prices. So, it's pretty astounding that Sotheby's was able to nab such high-powered pieces when the rest of the world is scraping for decent. If it was looking for a differentiator this season, it got one.

The sculpture by Giacometti, "L'homme qui chavire," will go under the gavel on November 4, 2009 and is estimated at $8 million to $12 million. A similar piece by the same artist sold at Christie's New York in May 2007 for $18.5 million, after having been estimated at $6.5 million to $8.5 million. But, that was 2007 ... a different time, for sure.

The seller is publishing business stud S.I. Newhouse, Jr., who is thought to have acquired the piece in a private transaction. Maybe the Conde Nast superstar should have unloaded it sooner and sunk the cash into the magazines he had to close.

Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff has been sentenced but many of his investors are still looking to recoup some of their money. There may be a potential bit of money coming their way from J. Ezra Merkin, a New York financier who put his clients' money in Madoff's hands. Merkin, a noted art collector, is selling a collection of Mark Rothko paintings and Alberto Giacometti sculptures for $310 million. The painting shown at right is not one of Merkin's Rothkos but shows the style of painting that Merkin will be parting with. He was one of the leading collectors of Rothko works and even bought works directly from the Rothko family in 2004 for $91 million.

THe deal was announced by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who had put a freeze on Merkin's assets. The Wall Street Journal says that around $192 million of the proceeds might make it into the hands of defrauded investors. The rest of the money will go toward paying liens on the art, sales commissions, fees and taxes. According to documents sourced by the WSJ, PaceWildenstein LLC, the gallery that acted as a sales representative for the family, has a $42 million lien on behalf of the Rothko family regarding those paintings bought in 2004 and it is possible that now they will buy those paintings back.

The WSJ article seems to indicate that the price for the collection is high given the recent art market slump. The painting shown at right "White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)" which was sold by David Rockefeller in 2007 brought in $72.8 million at a Sotheby's auction but other Rothkos have sold for less and in recent months several Rothkos have failed to sell at all.

The big spring art sales in New York are still a couple of months away but the stories related to big lots are starting to appear. Fans of the spare bronzes of Alberto Giacometti may want to save their pennies for the stripped down kitty shown above. Alberto Giacometti's Le Chat is one of eight bronze cats cast in 1951. It will be auctioned by Sotheby's on May 5.

The NY Times reports that a Giacometti cat sculpture hasn't been offered at public auction in over 30 years. The last one sold for $130,000 at Sotheby's in New York in 1975. Sotheby's estimates that its cat, which has been in the hands of a European collector since the 1960s, could bring $16 million to $22 million.