ArtMarket® Insight - what's trending on the art market

Results of the Contemporary art sales: seriously off the boil [15 Feb 2009]

A week of sales in London Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips de Pury & Co tested the resilience of the contemporary art market which has been the most speculative and volatile compartment of the market over the last few years.

Pierre Bergé sale – the big event of the year [08 Feb 2009]

For at least six months, the sale of the Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent collection has been the focus of much media attention, described as the “sale of the century”. At a time when The Art Market Confidence Index (AMCI) is firmly in the red, the means allocated to the sale of some 691 lots are commensurate with the works being presented: exceptional.

New markets and the crisis [01 Feb 2009]

The most speculative and volatile markets over the last four years, emerging art markets have propelled a number of Chinese, Indian, Russian and Middle-Eastern contemporary artists into the global limelight with extraordinary speed. But with so many young artists fetching such big figures at auctions, some kind of meltdown was inevitable.

Impressionist and Modern Art auctions: quality over quantity [25 Jan 2009]

In an uncertain climate, the auctioneers Christie’s and Sotheby’s have decided to reduce the number of works on sale at their Impressionist and Modern art sales, and instead to emphasise quality. Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist & Modern Art this coming 3 February will offer a lean selection of 27 lots, a third of the works up for auction at last year’s sale on the same theme.

New York auctions open with Old Masters [18 Jan 2009]

The market is feverish, sellers are nervous, auctioneers are worried and yet…the purchase intentions recorded in our Art Market Confidence Index show a certain optimism ahead of the Old Masters sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s.<%/DESC%>At mid-January 2009, 70% of market players (all segments) declared themselves “ready to buy” in the Artprice AMCI.

Neo-impressionism – the science of colour [11 Jan 2009]

The neo-impressionist masterpieces on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan in New York can still be seen at the Palazzo Reale in Milan up to January 25 2009 in the exhibition Georges Pierre SEURAT, Paul SIGNAC and the Neo-impressionists.

Damien Hirst – Caught in the avalanche [04 Jan 2009]

The Damien HIRST sale at Sotheby’s on 15 and 16 September last was a brilliant and unprecedented event in the history of public auctions.<%/DESC%>Two days of frenzied bidding for 218 of Hirst’s new works generated no less than GBP 111.4 million and a new artist’s record when his Golden Calf fetched £ 9.2 million, thereby literally becoming the “worshipped icon” (golden calf) of the art adored by wealthy and fashionable collectors.

Impressionism – a benchmark in volatile markets [29 Dec 2008]

This autumn the correction of prices has been drastic. The most significant symptom of the crisis was the slowdown in auction sales: the rate of unsold works has more than doubled in one year, from 25% to 54% in October 2008.

Ron Arad – the art of design [22 Dec 2008]

The world of contemporary design is illuminated by a small number of bright stars whose popularity has an industrial production base, whose reputations have been confirmed by museums and whose prices are driven by galleries and auction rooms. Ron ARAD is indeed one of these design stars: from 20 November 2008 to 16 March 2009, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris is hosting a retrospective exhibition entitled No Discipline which will be transferred to the MOMA in New York (28 July to 19 October 2009) and then to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 2010.

Old Masters Art Market more demanding than ever [14 Dec 2008]

Compared with the rising stars of the contemporary art market from China, India and the Middle-East whose markets have been stimulated by speculative temptation, the market for works by Old Masters is much less volatile and therefore much less risky. However, it is not completely sheltered.

Christie’s and Sotheby’s in Hong-Kong: the state of play [07 Dec 2008]

In 2007, China redistributed the cards in becoming the third auction market globally. Beijing and Hong Kong have rapidly established themselves as new growth relays and the scene of some particularly aggressive investment over the past two years.

Mark Rothko [30 Nov 2008]

London’s Tate Modern is currently holding an exhibition of Mark Rothko’s later works through to 1st February 2009. The collection plunges the viewer into his deep “colorfields” – chromatic spaces for meditation.

Has photography proven crisis-proof? [23 Nov 2008]

Confronted with the crisis, the results achieved on the sale of the last photographs in the Jammes collection on 15 November at Christie’s were more measured than alarming. Prices on old negatives are proving resilient, with modern and contemporary photography being harder hit.

Contemporary art loses its shine [17 Nov 2008]

The market for contemporary art, the most speculative segment of the art market (+108% since 2003), has not withstood the shocks of the current financial turmoil. The results of the prestigious November sales in New York organised by Sotheby’s and Christie’s on 11 and 12 November are most discouraging.

Buyers much more cautious at New York sales [09 Nov 2008]

The financial crisis is taking its toll on the art world. The prestigious and high-profile Modern and Impressionist Art sales in New York were very disappointing. Moreover they suggest very difficult times ahead. The results recorded by Sotheby’s and Christie’s from 3 to 6 November 2008 are way below the auctioneers’ expectations proving that even the ultra top-end of the market is now impacted by the crisis.

The crisis spreads to the art market [02 Nov 2008]

The impact of the financial crisis on the art market – traditionally perceived as a financial safe haven – is now clearly confirmed. A market downturn is no longer a theoretical scenario… it is a reality. Since the beginning of September, the art market has contracted for the first time since 1990.

Contemporary Korean Art [23 Oct 2008]

On the one hand, Korean art is being driven by changes within the country that started 20 years ago with the Olympic Games in Seoul and the first fully democratic elections, and on the other hand, by the remarkable success of contemporary Chinese and Indian artists.While Asian auction houses, such as Borobudur Singapore and Seoul Auction Center, are driving the market there, the global majors, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, recently integrated Korean art into their Contemporary Asian Art sales. Korea also has its own art fair, the KIAF, whose seventh edition ended in September.

Artprice and the Fiac have published an exclusive report on the 2007/2008 contemporary art market, in partnership with Axa Art [20 Oct 2008]

For the 35th edition of the Fiac (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain) and in partnership with Axa Art, Artprice, Fiac’s press partner, published an exclusive reference report on the contemporary art market worldwide.This book delivers key information to understand what is at stake on the international art market. It will be distributed to the media and to all the visitors coming to the Grand Palais and the Carré du Louvre from 23 to 26 Oct. 2008.<%/DESC%>

The 180-page study printed in English and French is a guide for the art market as seen through the prism of auction in 72 different countries. It includes analyses such as Structural change: towards a new world order; The art market in the new economic reality; Sculpture: an “in vogue” medium; The Chinese wave still flooding the market; India, the new Himalaya of the market; Affordable contemporary art; The best first appearances at auction in 2007; The heavyweights of the contemporary art auction market; Galleries insight with exclusive interviews; a top 500 of contemporary artists; a report on the market of Design; International contemporary art fairs and galleries: an exclusive overview by sociologist Alain Quemin.

FIAC 2008 [13 Oct 2008]

From 20 to 27 October, Paris will enjoy its annual period of intense proximity to the world of Contemporary Art with a series of events, public sales and exhibitions not the least of which being the 35th edition of the FIAC (International Contemporary Art Fair) from 23/26 October at the Grand Palais, the Cour Carrée (next to the Centre Pompidou) and in the Jardins des Tuileries.

German Expressionism – aggression with a brush [05 Oct 2008]

The price index for German expressionist masters has been particularly dynamic over the past 2 years.Underpinning this price progression: a rarefaction of the offer; some exceptional works coming to market and plenty of recent exhibitions.For example, Emil Nolde is currently being honoured with a retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris – until 19 January 2009.

The Campana Brothers [29 Sep 2008]

The Brazilian brothers, Fernando and Humberto Campana, born respectively in 1961 and 1953, have injected new life into contemporary design and today their work features in dedicated exhibitions around the world : in the United States, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. In 1998, The New York MOMA hosted Project 66: Campana/Ingo Maurer. The following year (1999) the brothers were the subject of a first retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in Bahia (Brazil) and they were awarded the Georges Nelson Design Interiors prize by the American magazine Interiors. After the dawn of the new millennium, their fame accelerated and their design acquired a veritable international reputation with pieces being integrated into the permanent collections of a number of museums, including the MOMA. From among their most successful creations, their best auctions have been generated by the doll chairs with the evocative name Sushi.

Damien Hirst / Jeff Koons – Artists and managers [22 Sep 2008]

The two most well-known and expensive contemporary artists alive today have other talents in common. They both enjoy exceptionally high media profiles, both elicit controversy, both set their respective auction records in 2008… and both know how to communicate. They also both seem to be “financially aware”.September 2008 sees both on centre stage with just five days between the two. The American Jeff Koons, the most expensive living artist at auction today, is currently rubbing shoulders with French royal history having inaugurated his exhibition at the Palace of Versailles (10/09/2008 to 14/12/2008) while the English artist Damien Hirst has caused a mini sensation by selling directly through Sotheby’s…

American Pop Art – the bubble is leaking air… [21 Sep 2008]

The general price index for American Pop Art – the epicentre of art market speculation since the beginning of the decade – is showing signs of waning. Although Andy Warhol is the third most expensive post-war artist, along with Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko, auction sales of his works since the start of 2008 have been less successful… Could this be a first sign of market saturation?

India, the new Himalaya of the market? [15 Sep 2008]

Behind China, the other significant emerging force on the international art market is India. In the mid 1990s, India’s strong economic growth produced a new generation of patrons and sponsors willing to invest in the art of their fellow-countrymen. Today, the demand is global and fast-growing, substantially fuelled by the speculative incentive to earn attractive gains on quick turnarounds. The works produced by the new stars of Indian art are exchanged in auction houses in Hong-Kong and Dubai, London and New-York, New Delhi and Paris. After China, India looks like a new Eldorado for collectors / buyers attracted to the speculative potential.

Surrealism – a record year [08 Sep 2008]

Surrealist art works are posting record prices. Stimulated by the sale of the Breton collection in April 2003 (Calmels-Cohen, Paris) and then by the André Lefevre collection in December 2007 (Aguttes, Paris), prices in the segment are reaching new peaks, having progressed another 21% over the first 9 months of this year. Over 10 years, the movement’s price index has gained 214%.

Jeff Koons [01 Sep 2008]

The Palace of Versailles will soon (September 10) be staging a 3-month exhibition of the works of the American “master of kitsch”, Jeff Koons. Some works will even be installed in the very heart if the royal apartments. Aside from the aesthetic clash and the associated controversy, the exhibition represents an opportunity for France to host the work of the highest paid living contemporary artist in the world today.

Damien Hirst, star of the September sales! [24 Aug 2008]

Discovered by the advertising magnate and collector Charles Saatchi, the leading icon of the British scene knows the market rules off by heart. He is a strategist in art marketing and is getting himself talked about again by organising an exclusive sale at Sotheby’s.

Art market shift – London ahead of New York [17 Aug 2008]

The growing interest shown by emerging markets (China, the United Arab Emirates, India…) and good performances from traditional markets resulted in spectacular figures for the first half of 2008. This has silenced the sceptics who were still expecting economic woes to have a knock-on effect on auctions.The first Half of 2008 at auctions has so far countered gloomy and alarmist prophecies of a recession with sales of EUR 3.8bn (more or less equivalent to the EUR 3.7bn for the same period of 2007) and 504 bids over a million euros compared to 517 as of July 1st 2007. The art market has repeated the record performance reached in 2007 without beating it.

Richard Avedon – The eye without lashes [10 Aug 2008]

He was one of the most sought-after 20th century photographers: he worked for Harper’s Bazaar for twenty years, spent twenty-five designing cover pages for Vogue, and twelve for The New Yorker and captured the reality of events and people of his time without a trace of sentimentality. From the glamorous world of fashion to the austerity of the struggling, lower middle classes of the American West, he devoted his talent to capturing flashes of truth.He was a photographer who embodied renunciation, working from No, replacing colour with black and white and sharpening the focus on his models with neutral backgrounds.

Iranian art boom – 2006-2008: “progress report” [04 Aug 2008]

In two years, Dubai has clearly affirmed itself on the global art market with the first edition of Art Dubai in 2007 – inviting some 30 galleries from around the globe – and with the establishment of both Christie’s (2006) and Bonhams (2008) in the city. Since their arrival, the two action houses have been selling works by modern and contemporary artists from Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon and Iran and they have succeeded in fostering growing demand as well as significant price inflation. The Dubai prices represented his record.