Art Market News in Brief!

Every fortnight, Artprice provides a short round up of art market news.

Frieze Art Fair

Before the FIAC opens in Paris, London’s Frieze art fair (17-20 October 2013, Regent’s Park) kicks off the major contemporary art fair season, and marks the real return of the high end contemporary market in Europe. Frieze is not limited to the ultra-contemporary. It is notably consolidating its Frieze Masters section, parading iconic 20th century names such as Lucio Fontana, Pierre Soulages, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud: the most eagerly-awaited, and the highest-rated. But Frieze Masters is not confined to famous heavyweights; it is opening out the field and digging up a few telling names from the past for a fresh look – like the American artist Nancy Spero (of whom only 69 works have been to auction), and the Brazilian artist Lygia Clarck, who landed her first bid of over a million in May this year (Contra Relevo (Objeto N. 7) (1959) sold for 1.85 million, i.e. $2.225 million with the buyer’s premium, 23 May 2013 at Phillips New York). The stars of contemporary art are obviously there in force, including Jeff Koons with a spectacular Sacred Heart (Blue/Magenta) (1994-2007), exhibited at the Gagosian Gallery stand. This gleaming sculpture is part of Koons’ Celebration series: the very series that has notched up no fewer than four hammer results of between $15 million and $30 million (between 2007 and 2012).
On the fringes of the Frieze, the auction houses Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s are making the most of all the international collectors present to launch prestige sales of post-war and contemporary art. There is thus an impressive auction line-up between 16 and 19 October, where buyers can go from an evening sale with Phillips (16 October, with works estimated from £40,000 to £4 million) to the auction house’s more affordable sale the next day (with lots between £3,000 and £350,000), then to a date with Sotheby’s in the evening (17 October: lots estimated between £15,000 and £3 million) and again the following day (18 October, works starting at an estimated £800), ending with a high-end sale by Christie’s (works on offer at between £20,000 and £3 million).

12 November: $200 million expected in three taps of the hammer

12 November 2013 looks set to enter the annals of Christie’s, which is offering three exceptional works at spectacular price levels – and with good reason: Rothko’s iconic work is heralded as the most important since the sale of Orange, Red, Yellow, a 1961 painting from the Pincus collection, which garnered $77.5 million last year after a high estimate of $45 million (over $86.8 million with the buyer’s premium – a record for Rothko – on 8 May 2012, Christie’s New York). The work Untitled (No. 11) being sold by Christie’s this time, with an estimate range of $25-35 million, is earlier (1957) and not as large (201.9 x 177.2 cm compared with the 236.2 cm x 206.4 cm of Orange, Red, Yellow). Competition should be just as fierce because Rothko’s major paintings are keenly sought-after all over the world (Europe, the US, Russia, China and the Middle East).

Another key lot is Andy Warhol’s 1962 bottle of Coca-Cola (176.2 x 137.2 cm). The epoch and the subject make this painting the ultimate symbol of Pop art. It is estimated at between $40 and 60 million… Coca-Cola could thus very well change the composition of the Top 3 Warhol hammer prices.
The third flagship piece, the largest and the only one capable of pushing Warhol into second place at this sale, is a triptych by Francis Bacon measuring nearly two metres by one metre fifty. On the market for the first time ever, this exceptional piece painted in 1969 was exhibited at the Grand Palais and the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf in 1971-1972. The estimate has not been made public, but his previous record was $77 million for a 1976 triptych, sold in 2008 at Sotheby’s (Triptych, $86.28 million with the buyer’s premium, 14 May 2008, New York).

The FIAC celebrates 40 years

After Frieze London, the 40th Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain opens in Paris, and runs from 24 to 27 October at the Grand Palais. Over 3,000 artists are expected, featured by more than 180 exhibitors from 25 countries (73% of the exhibitors are European, and there are 33 American galleries). These include emerging countries, with five galleries from Brazil and three from Mexico, which will be rubbing shoulders with the most prestigious: Gagosian, Marian Goodman, Karsten Greve, Yvon Lambert, Lelong, Kamel Mennour, Galerie Perrotin, Almine Rech, Thaddaeus Ropac and White Cube.
A few solo shows cover half a century of creativity, from Serge Poliakoff at Applicat-Prazan to Ai Weiwei at Neugerriemschneide. The FIAC is also continuing to expand away from base to the Tuileries and the Jardin des Plantes (Didier Faustino, James Lee Byars, Erik Dietman, Claire Morgan, etc.), together with Barry Flanagan at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Tadashi Kawamata in the Place Vendôme, and Jean Dubuffet’s Welcome Parade at the Petit Palais./p>

And to complete this packed programme, there are six FIAC fringe fairs with a more future-focused approach: Slick Art Fair (24-27 October, under the Alexandre III bridge, Port des Champs-Elysées), Cutlog and its artists’ film festival (24-27 October, Atelier Richelieu), Show off (21-23 October, Espace Cardin), YIA Art Fair (24-27 October, various venues), Art Elysées (24-28 October, Champs-Elysées) and Design Elysées (18-22 October).