Miami Art Fairs
|
Certainly this year's Miami extravaganza (4-7 December) offers another embarras de richesses. More than 240 leading galleries (over 800 apply) from 30 countries will be offering work by over 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. There will be paintings, works on paper, sculptures, installations, photography, editions and videos, as well as some 40,000 visitors. Aside from the galleries, Art Nova offers a showcase for 58 galleries to present work fresh from artists' studios around the globe. Art Supernova, in contrast, invites 20 galleries to present new works by their artists in an experimental group show format.
read more..
To take in so much art in so short a time is by turns thrilling, numbing and totally mystifying. And that's not to mention the schmooze storm of parties, business meetings, open houses and other private events orchestrated to charm the collector class.
read more..
|
Old Masters sales holding firm in the downturn
|
Old Masters provided some solace for the London auction rooms last week, posting the solid totals and some eye-catching prices to suggest this most established of markets will ride the downturn better than its modern counterparts.
read more..
|
The Fine Art of Surviving the Crash in Auction Prices
|
The art market's crash -- for that is what it is -- threatens to remake the art world. In the past few weeks, auctioneers,
dealers, artists and collectors have changed strategies and policies, and it's likely that future changes will be even more sweeping.
Indeed, since nearly $747 million of art did change hands at the auctions (a total that would have been considered robust just five years ago), what was in demand? Paintings that sold well were by veteran artists with a small following of extremely passionate collectors in search of works that rarely come up for auction: Edvard Munch, Joseph Cornell and Kazimir Malevich, by and large, defied the slump. Blue-chip, mid-career artists about to have major shows or who have major patrons also are faring well, at auction and in private sales.
read more..
|
Parts of the market are strong
|
While parts of the art market remain healthy, the global financial turmoil that has decimated portfolios and pummeled emerging markets is having another impact that some see as positive: The gravity-defying prices of recent years are being adjusted.
read more..
|
Art That Beats The S&P
|
Whether the art market's future will be like the last 10 years or the last 50 is, of course, impossible to predict. For persons wanting exposure to the broad
market without having to buy art, a new instrument was created in November: futures contracts based on the 2008 closing value of our All Art Index.
read more..
|
|
DEAR FRIENDS,
This is an advantageous time to buy magnificent and important artworks at reduced prices. 2009 will present fantastic opportunities for the art collector and investor. You can expect to see important artworks in two or three years at much higher prices, if at all. As time passes more and more artworks by Modern masters are being snatched up by museums and family foundations, never to be seen on the market again. Below we have prepared a summary of the season's market performance to have a better understanding of today's volatile art market. We at DBFA wish you, your family, and friends Happy Holidays and are looking forward to a bright and profitable New Year.
All the best,
David Benrimon
|
LEON BENRIMON
We would like to congratulate Leon Benrimon for finishing his Master's of Arts Degree at Christie's Education, New York. His thesis examined the "critical and commercial success for Amedeo Modigliani and Chaim Soutine." Look for the opening of Leon's new emerging contemporary art gallery on the Lower East Side, Benrimon Contemporary. Leon received an important graduate honor from Christie's, the coveted "Leadership and Team Building" Award. As Leon has done through his professional career, he will be continuing to procure provocative new artists and curate shows. We will be sure to announce the opening of Benrimon Contemporary and to invite everyone a fabulous opening in the near future.
|
ART MARKET TODAY
During the first 10 months of 2008, the two top categories for investment growth were Old Masters and 19th Century (with a gain of a little over 10%) and Impressionists & Modern (a little under 10%). For a brief review of the spectacular results of the Old Masters Auction in London in December see the first article to the left.
The weakest category was Americana, with an initial loss of over 10% at mid-year and a current loss of over 30%. Post War & Contemporary Art, which had been the art of choice for the young, hedge fund and venture capitalist crowd cooled with the slowdown of these financial industries. Contemporary Art has seen an exponential growth in the last 25 years, but produced a slightly negative return for the first half of 2008 that has since become a loss of at least 10%.
|
MIAMI ART FAIRS
At this year's VIP preview at Art Basel Miami Beach, there was no collectors' rush. Despite lower asking prices--30% less at some booths--and a greater willingness by dealers to negotiate, many buyers put works on reserve, requesting hours, days and even weeks to think about buying. Art buying had returned to a deliberative process unlike previous years where Art Basel and other fairs were reminiscent of Black Friday sales, where people grab whatever they can upon entrance. But the art market is far from all doom and gloom. For more analysis on Art Basel see the two articles to the left from Apollo Magazine and the New York Times.
|
NOVEMBER AUCTION CYCLE
Many expected the New York Fall Auctions to suffer with the recent collapse of Bear Sterns and the ominous mortgage write-downs by the major banking and financial institutions, but the art market still proved to be quite resilient. David Benrimon had predicted that prices would drop 20 to 30% and that auction houses would sell artwork below the low estimates because sellers needed liquidity. The numbers from the auctions speak for themselves, but they vindicate David's predictions.
During the major auction period Sotheby's reported taking in a total of $411.5 million, significantly under its low estimate of $688.4 million, and selling a mere 448 lots out of 866. Christie's reported auctions totaling $374.5 million, well below its $686.7 million low estimate. It sold 630 items out of 990. There were some significant artworks that commanded phenomenal sums such as the $60 million record set for the 1916 modernist work entitled Suprematist Composition by Kazimir Malevich or the $34 million spent on Vampire by the Norwegian master Edvard Munch.
How much were unrealistic expectations to blame for November's poor results? While the auction houses were keen to lower estimates and reserves on many works, some sellers would not budge from their reserves and surely no one with a guaranteed sum was willing to lower their guarantee. Many of the collectors who did not budge from the estimates set earlier in the year saw their artworks pass.
Big ticket items by the likes of Mark Rothko, Lucian Freud, and Francis Bacon all failed to meet their low estimates in the tens of millions and passed
creating a hush in the auction room. While they were masterpieces that in boom years would have commanded the fantastic sums that their estimates required, there are only a small handful of collectors willing to spend dozens of millions given the current state of the world economy. Furthermore, big-ticket items left unsold lowered the total sales results significantly and cost the auction houses because of the guarantees made on them.
|
NEW ACQUISITIONS
Among many new recent acquisitions please see 3 important and beautiful new artworks:
Rene Magritte (1989-1967)
L'Empire des Lumières, 1947
Gouache on Paper
11 5/8 x 9 ¼ in. (29.5 x 23.50 cm)
Signed upper left
Georges Braque (1882-1963)
Nature Morte à la Corbeille de Fruits, 1927
Oil on panel
21 1/8 x 36 ¾ in. (54 x 93 cm)
Joan Miro (1893-1983)
Femme et Oiseau Devant le Soleil, 1942
Pastel and brush and India Ink on paper laid down on board
42 5/8 x 28 3/8 in. (108 x 72 cm.)
|
|
