Canadian Fine Art - A Good Investment?

Kate Wallace of the Canadian Telegraph Journal has an interesting article on investing in Canadian fine art. Wallace claims as the US stock and housing market has tanked over the past several months with no real positive signs of a comeback, Canadian fine art appears to be holding if not increasing in value. She also makes the point that unlike a stock certificate, you can also enjoy the art. So, what I am telling you, professional personal property appraisers need to be aware of trends in collecting and what is currently popular and what areas having growth potential. From what Wallace reports, Canadian art certainly appears to have much potential, collectible appeal along with an enormous upside.

Wallace states The Canadian art market had been enjoying a particularly bullish run for about a year-and-a-half when the financial crisis hit, with 16 works going for more than $1 million at auction in the last year-and-a-half. The 2007-2008 season saw record sales in auction houses totalling $71 million, up about nine per cent from $65 million the previous year.

"It has grown a lot over the past 10 years," David Silcox, president of Sotheby's Canada and an expert in historic and contemporary Canadian art, said from Toronto recently. "There have been a lot of new collectors come in, there has been a lot of prosperity, a lot of people with money have gotten interested in the art."

Canada's big three auction houses - Heffel, Sotheby's and Joyner Waddington's - have been buoyed by sales of the blue chip Canadian artists that created the market in the first place. These include members of the Group of Seven, Emily Carr and David Milne, whom James Adams of the Globe and Mail collectively refers to as "the backbone of the high-end auction scene in Canada" since it emerged in the 1960s.

As Wallace mentions the demand for Canadian art has shown strong growth over the past 18 months. My answer to that, so have many of the US fine and decorative art markets. Most of the losses and downturn has occurred over the last quarter of the year. Wallace does not mention specific sales for the final quarter of 2008 which is when most of the losses in value occurred. Any Canadians readers or international art market followers with knowldege, please feel free to comment.

Wallace also mentions the Canadian Art Sales Index 2009 which lists 4,500 Canadian artists which have been sold in and outside of Canada between Aug 2007 and July 2008. With prices and awareness growing (see sales figures above), regardless if their were potential losses in the final quarter of 2008, Canadian fine art is another area appraisers need to be aware of, be at least superficially familiar with the basics and cultivate relationships experts and network to expand your connections. You never know when you might discover a truly desirable Canadian painting.

To read the full article by Kate Wallace, click HERE.

Everyone have a safe New Years Eve.

Skinner Collection Clerk Indicted for $724,000 Theft

Linda Block of Worcester Telegram is reporting a 72 year old auction clerk at Skinner has been indicted for the theft of $724,000.00. Joanne Shea is charged with allegedly making false entries into corporate books and the grand larceny theft. Shea had been employed at Skinners since 1993, and was recently fired. The "lapping" scheme was discovered after an internal audit of Shea's entries and transactions as an accounts receivable clerk.

Block of the Telegram states how the scheme worked. Shea received cash payments from customers for auction items, but rather than depositing the cash payments into the company’s accounts, authorities allege that Ms. Shea would keep the cash for herself. Investigators say that to cover the missing cash deposits, Ms. Shea covered the paid cash invoices she stole by applying incoming check payments of equivalent amounts on the company’s books. Upon receipt of these check payments, Ms. Shea allegedly deposited the payments into the company’s account, but would apply it to the “open,” or unpaid, cash payment she had stolen previously. According to authorities, Ms. Shea would then use subsequent check payments to cover the previously deposited but “open” check payments. Even when misallocating payments, authorities allege, Ms. Shea would provide accurate information to the company’s inventory system to ensure that paid customers received their items upon payment when she left their invoices as “open.” In addition to stealing cash payments, authorities allege that Ms. Shea took items that were up for auction without paying for them. Investigators say Ms. Shea had her own employee account with the company, and she could use this account to bid on, and purchase, auction items. Ms. Shea allegedly did not pay for many of the items, but rather used the money from payments made by customers to cover the outstanding, unpaid balances on her personal client account. Ms. Shea then “lapped” subsequent incoming checks to cover these misapplied payments, according to authorities.

To read the Telegraph article click HERE.

Deaccessioning Rules

As I mentioned in a previous post, the National Academy and deaccessioning is the gift that keeps giving. Although most of the conversation has been toward deaccessioning fine art, the same rules and tenets are in place for the decorative arts as well. These are topics all appraisers should be aware of, especially when working with museums and historical societies as clients.

Jori Finkel has an excellent piece in the NY Times about deaccessioing entitled "Whose Rules Are These Anyways". Finkle reviews some of the recent debates on deaccessioning and mentions some of the past museum attempts at deaccessioning such as Fisk University, Randolph College and the Thomas Jefferson University.

We have covered this topic in some detail here on the AW Blob, but as the economy continues to suffer, and museums and historical societies continue to see declines in visitors, fund raising and patronage, the ability to operate becomes more difficult. I wont say, that all other avenues have been covered before deaccessioning is considered, but it is a natural thought progression when there is a large collection, with many items never on public display. Tempting it is and much thoght and control is necessary.

Finkel states Lending urgency to the discussion are the travails of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which has one of the world’s best collections of contemporary art but whose endowment is said to have shriveled to $6 million from more than $40 million over the last nine years. Wouldn’t it be preferable, some people asked this month, to sell a Mark Rothko painting or a couple of Robert Rauschenberg’s legendary “combines” — the museum owns 11 — than to risk closing its doors? (Ultimately the museum announced a $30 million bailout by the billionaire Eli Broad on Tuesday that would preclude the sales of any artworks.) Yet defenders of the prohibition warn that such sales can irreparably damage a institution. “Selling an object is a knee-jerk act, and it undermines core principles of a museum,” said Michael Conforti, president of the directors’ association and director of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. “There are always other options.” The sale of artwork from a museum’s permanent collection, known as deaccessioning, is not illegal in the United States, provided that any terms accompanying the original donation of artwork are respected. In Europe, by contrast, many museums are state-financed and prevented by national law from deaccessioning. But under the code of ethics of the American Association of Museums, the proceeds should be “used only for the acquisition, preservation, protection or care of collections.” The code of the Association of Art Museum Directors is even stricter, specifying that funds should not be used “for purposes other than acquisitions of works of art for the collection.”

The debate continues, with valid and legitimate points for each side, and I believe that is was makes these decisions so difficult. Some can be a bit cavalier about deaccession with the view of collections being no more than basic chattel and it is much more than that., Yet the overall purpose and intent of the donor does need to be considered as does the viability of the institution.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.

A Buyers Market in Australia

To show the market slowdown is not specific to the US and UK markets, here is an excellent report from the Australian by Corrie Perkin on the state of galleries and auctions houses in Australia.

The article makes an interesting point in that Australian auctions were off 35% in 2008, from 2007, but that level was still above the 2006 levels. Perkin makes the conclusion that perhaps the 2007 market was overheated, and is now just starting to settle down. Well cool down, settle down it has, but is it a short term readjustment, or a longer term downturn. That is the real question.

Perkin states At their August winter auctions, Sotheby's, Bonhams and Goodman, and Deutscher and Hackett struggled to sell about 50 to 60 per cent of their consigned works, down from about 80 to 85 per cent in 2007.

Sales figures had also dropped, with the on-the-night total sales figure for each company about 30 per cent lower than pre-auction estimates. (Some paintings did sell in the days after the auctions, however.)

The art market boom was officially over. As the US and British financial meltdown started to affect the local economy, people stopped spending big money on paintings. After a decade of growth, the market was contracting and auctioneers, commercial gallery owners, artists and collectors were nervous.

Perkins continues The 2008 correction has seen many industry players revise forecasts, trim costs, slash 2009 marketing budgets and, in some cases, lay off staff. Dealers such as Savill who trade in pre-owned paintings are opting to buy rather than sell, and some brokers say it's much harder to generate interest among clients than it was a year ago.

Is the downturn just a temporary readjsutment, or is it perhaps much worse, a total consrtriction of the makret. That is why it will be interesting to observe the sales of fairs and auctions in early 2009, and determine if all levels of the market will remain slow as the last quareter of 2008 or if interest and demands starts to pick up.

Perkins mentions how in the early 1990's there was a rather large downturn in the market, and it evtually turned around. She also discusses how exciting many of the 2007 sales were, with standing room only showrooms of bidders and sense of excitment.

The article is very interesting to read. To read the full artilce in the Australian, click HERE.

Highlights of Sotheby's January Americana Sale

Sotheby’s 2009 auction season in New York will begin with the two-day sale of Important Americana. The exhibition opens January 17th, while the sale starts on January 23rd and continues through the 24th. I apologize for the length of this post, but there is a lot of information and property coming to market.

What I find interesting from an appraisers point of view is how wide and varied some of the pre sale estimate ranges are. Some are rather typical, such as 70,000/100,000 or 250,000/300,000 while other estimate ranges are rather large such as 80,000/160,000, 200,000/1,000,000 and 30,000/100,000. Although I have yet to see the full catalog, most of the wide ranging estimates are coming from the single owner Landon sale.

I believe this just goes to reinforce the uncertainty in the decorative arts market right now. The large auction houses have been talking about cutting estimates, but are they only cutting the low estimate and increasing the range between the low and high pre sale estimates. This can also impact how the sales results will be reported.

Last year, the Sotheby's American sales totaled $13.9 million against pre sale estimates of $10.8/22 million. Given all of the economic distress, it will be interesting to compare 2008 to 2009.

Chrisite' will also be holdings it Americana sale on January 23rd,with an important American silver sale and followed by American Decorative arts. Chrisite's London will also have an important decorative arts sale on January 22, including furniture and clocks. More as it comes available, and of course, results for both the Sotheby's and Christie's sales will be posted here on the AW Blog.

From a Sotheby's press release:

On January 23 and 24 Sotheby’s will begin the sale season with Important Americana, which includes furniture, folk art, silver, ceramics, and decorative arts, and will be led by The Important Captain Edward Allen Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Bombé Chest-on-Chest and A Rare and Important Molded Copper Fireman “Old Jake” Weathervane. The two-day sale will begin on Friday January 23 with a 2pm session offering silver, Chinese export porcelain and prints, and conclude on Saturday January 24 with a 2pm session of furniture, folk art and carpets. The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III will be offered at 10am on Saturday January 24. Works from the sale will be on exhibition at Sotheby’s New York galleries alongside The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III beginning January 17.

Friday January 23, 2pm
Leading off the Important Americana sale will be a Friday afternoon session of Chinese Export porcelain, prints, and silver. The Silver and Furniture Collection of the First Parish Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, will feature six lots of silver beakers highlighted by two pairs of beakers – The Deacon John Jacobs Silver Beakers by Jacob Hurd, Boston, 1728 (each pair est. $70/100,000*, separate release available). The earliest American colonial silver is highly valued by both scholars and collectors, yet exemplary pieces have rarely appeared at auction. Those pieces that do survive are typically preserved in the churches to which they were given. Also featured among the silver offerings will be an Important American Silver, Copper and Jewel-Set “Aztec” Bowl, Tiffany & Co., New York, Designed by Paulding Farnham (est. $250/300,000). Farnham, one of Tiffany & Co.’s most important designers, created six bowls inspired by Southwestern woven baskets.The present example, from 1905, is the last of this series, and probably the largest. A Bermuda Silver Tankard, Thomas Savage Sr., Boston and Bermuda, circa 1710 will also be included (est. $30/50,000). Bermuda silver is extremely rare, and does not frequently appear on the auction market.


The sixty-six lot section of Chinese Export porcelain will be led by A Chinese Export goose tureen and cover, circa 1770, with brilliantly painted plumage incorporating a band of peacock feathers (est. 100/150,000); an extensive Chinese Export blue 'Fitzhugh' pattern armorial dinner service of 239 pieces, circa 1800 (est. $30/50,000); and a previously unrecorded English armorial part service, each painted in the center with the arms of Tillard impaling West quarterly, which will be offered as three lots (estimates $5/7,000 and $6/8,000).


Saturday January 24, 10am

On the morning of January 24, 2009, Sotheby’s will offer a single-owner sale of The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III comprising furniture, paintings and decorative arts collected by Dr. and Mrs. Landon over several decades, beginning in the 1960s. Dr. and Mrs. Landon are celebrated Americana collectors who were twice included in Art & Antiques list of top collectors. Their collection has been profiled by numerous publications and was the subject of a 2005 exhibition at Dr. Landon’s alma mater, the University of Virginia Art Museum, entitled A Jeffersonian Ideal: Selections from the Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III Collection of American Fine and Decorative Arts. Highlights from the collection include: a Very Rare Federal Ornately Inlaid and Carved Cherrywood, Mahogany, and Maple Serpentine-Front Sideboard, Attributed to Nathan Lombard, Sutton, Massachusetts, circa 1795 (est.$80/160,000); The Francis P.Garvan Important Rococo Carved and Figured Walnut Scroll-Top High Chest of Drawers, the carving attributed to Nicholas Bernard, Philadelphia, circa 1755-1760 which was exhibited in the landmark 1929 Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition (est. $200,000/$1 million); and a Fine and Rare William and Mary Ebonized and Burl Walnut-Veneered Dressing Table, Massachusetts, circa 1715 (est. $30/100,000). (separate release available)

Saturday January 24, 2pm
Among the highlights of the furniture offerings, The Important Captain Edward Allen chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Bombé Chest-on-Chest, Probably Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1780, is estimated at $800,000/1.2 million. Bombé case furniture represents the most expensive type of furniture available in eastern Massachusetts during the 18th century and was extremely labor-intensive to produce, the lower bulge of the chest requiring larger mahogany planks. The piece retains a chalk inscription to the rear, “Edward Allen” – the name of a wealthy Salem merchant who is believed to have been the original owner. The chest descended in Allen’s family until the early 20th century, when it was gifted amongst other furnishings of a home on the North Shore of Massachusetts to the family of the present owner. It has never before been published, and until recently was entirely unknown to the American furniture community, having remained on the North Shore since it was made. Of the approximately sixty pieces of American bombé furniture known today, only seven chest-on-chests survive, with most remaining in public collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia. (separate release available)

An Important Chippendale Carved Cherrywood Tall Case Clock, with works by Christian Eby, Manheim, Pennsylvania, circa 1800 (est. $150/300,000) will also be featured in the Saturday afternoon session of Important Americana. The clock is one of the most elaborate tall-case clocks from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and has survived in a remarkable state of preservation; it retains its original finials, rosettes, tympanum carving, ogee feet and an old surface.

Also included from The Silver and Furniture Collection of the First Parish Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, will be An Important William and Mary Carved and Figured Maple Armchair, Ipswich or Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1720 (est. $50/100,000). Gifted to the First Parish Church, this important armchair relates directly to the largest group of caned seating furniture made in America, which is typically referred to as the “I” group because the majority of surviving examples have a punched “I” on the back stile of the chair. Property from the Estate of John William Boor, MD will feature select timepieces and Pennsylvania furniture led by a Very Fine and Rare Carved Walnut Chest-on-Chest, Signed by George Claypoole, Jr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1755 est.$80/120,000), with its original hardware as well as a Queen Anne Figured Walnut Tall-Case Clock with works by Benjamin Morris, New Britain, Pennsylvania, circa 1760 (est. $25/75,000) and a Queen Anne Walnut Tall-Case Clock with works by John Wood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1760 (est. $50/100,000).

Property from the Estate of Peter Terian will comprise American Classical furniture highlighted by an Important Neoclassical Ormolu-Mounted and Figured Mahogany Marble-Topped Pier Table, labeled and stamped by Charles-Honoré Lannuier, New York, circa 1818 (est. 80/120,000). The table, made during the second half of Lannuier’s career in the American Empire style, represents one of the maker’s signature forms, and features two cheval glass bilingual labels and four stamps. Also featured will be a Pair of Federal Carved and Figured Mahogany Barrel-Back Armchairs, attributed to Duncan Phyfe, New York, circa 1815 (est. $40/80,000).

USPAP 2010-2011 2nd Exposure Draft

USPAP recently released for comment the second exposure draft for USPAP 2010-2011. The exposure draft lists the changes, previous comments and rationale for any changes. Some is applicable to the personal property appraiser. If you want a heads up on changes for the 2010-2011 edition of USPAP, this second exposure draft is a good starting point.

Topics and contents include:

Proposed edits to the DEFINITION of “Signature”

Proposed edits to the DEFINITION of “Jurisdictional Exception”

Proposed edits to the ETHICS RULE

Proposed edits to the COMPETENCY RULE

Proposed edits to the JURISDICTIONAL EXCEPTION RULE

Proposed edits to STANDARD 3, Appraisal Review, Development and Reporting


To read the full exposrue draft (33 pages), click HERE.

Palm Beach Consignment Shops are Active

Jose Lamiet of the Palm Beach Post reports consignment shops in the Palm Beach area have seen a rise in consignments. The headline, sums it up nicely Palm Beach consignment shops see influx of goods as rich tighten belts. Much of the blame is being placed on the Madoff Ponzi investment scheme. The article relates more to designer clothing and accessories consignments rather than the fine or decorative arts, but you can certainly connect the dots as to why the fine art and decorative art markets are also struggling due to economic issues, higher consignment levels and thus, an oversupply.

The article points out how some consignment shops have seen consignments nearly double over the past few weeks. Lamiet states "On Antique Row in West Palm Beach, meanwhile, the Chris Ellis Collection consignment shop is getting so much fine furniture and art that it's expanding."

Perhaps there are some good deals for collectors, but from an appraisers market value perspective, values will probably continue to decline due to the over supply.

The article states that many collectors are selling and consigning items, even at great discounts from the original purchase price, yet the article makes no mention of how sales of the consigned items are. That, very important part of the equation is missing.

Click HERE to read the full article.

Tech Tip: Bulk Rename Utility

The freeware Bulk Rename Utility can rename multiple files with the click of a button. When I download images into files, many times I want to change the names, say from a number to a clients names with numbers etc. Other times I have a lot of individual client files in a computer folder, and it would be easier to review if there were more commonality among the file names. There are some programs that will do this, but many can be confusing.

Bulk Rename Utility is easy to use, and has many options available, and its free. All process are performed from the main screen, so there is a lot of content and options, but by only using a few of the main features, the program works very well. The website has a tutorial, FAQ's, features explanations,screen shots and a support forum.

From the Website:

Some of the features provided by Bulk Rename Utility include:

Rename files, folders or both

Remove, add or change text in the file names

Perform text substitution

Change the case of file names

Remove characters or words

Remove digits or symbols

Append or prepend text to file names

Append dates in many formats

Append the parent folder's name

Auto-number files with flexible rules

Automatically preview the new names

Sort the file details by any column

Group configurations into "favorites"

"Bulk Rename Here" Windows Explorer extension

Directory recursion - process sub-directories too!

Regular Expressions support

Rename files from an input text-file list

Create an "Undo" batch file

Log activity to a log file

Change file and folder date/timestamps (created, modified, accessed)

Change file/folder attributes (hidden, read-only, archived)

All settings retained between sessions

32-bit or 64-bit

Rename photos using EXIF metadata (i.e. "Date Picture Taken", "Resolution" and other information embedded in all JPG photo files)

Rename MP3 files using ID3 tags (a.k.a. MP3 ID3 tag renaming).

Command line support ***

Bulk Rename Utility is totally free!

To visit the website of Bulk Rename Utility, click HERE.

Art Moments of 2008

Here is a good post as we wind up 2008 and look forward to 2009. Colin Gleadell of the Telegraph UK lists in chronological order the "Ten Art Moments of 2008". It is rather short and I really shouldn't post all of it, but many readers wont click through to read all 10, and it is insightful so I will. As you may guess, it starts on a high note and well, you know the current situation.

1 Against a backdrop of extreme financial volatility, the year opens with Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams and Phillips de Pury & Co all announcing record sales for 2007 $13.4 billion between them, up by an average 50 per cent on 2006. How long can this last?

2 In March, Sotheby's sells a painting by Congo the chimpanzee for £1,650 pounds - in a sale of Modern British art.

3 In May a Francis Bacon triptych became the most expensive contemporary art work ever at auction when it sold to Roman Abramovich for 86 million dollars at Sotheby's in New York.

4 Lucian Freud became the most expensive living artist at auction when his Benefits Supervisor Sleeping sold for $33 million at Christie's New York. A response to my blog on the Telegraph website asked why the artist could not afford a better sofa.

5 In September, Leeds dealers, the Tomasso Brothers, reveal the discovery of the year after proving that a bronze sculpture, which was estimated at just 800 pounds in a French auction room, is by the Renaissance artist Giambologna worth 33.8 million pounds.

6 Auctioneer John Nicholson in Surrey offers 235 paintings by Pietro Psaier, said to be an associate of Andy Warhol. Doubts whether Psaier ever existed create a media storm, but buyers are unperturbed paying up to £10,000 for some works.

7 On September 15th, the day on which US bank Lehmann Brothers went bankrupt, Damien Hirst held a near sell-out, 111 million pound auction of his own work at Sotheby's in London. Undoubtedly the sale of the year. Two months later Hirst concedes his prices are too expensive and should come down.

8 Biggest failure of the year: in November a self-portrait by Francis Bacon is unsold in New York in November with a 40 million dollar to 60 million dollar estimate.

9 In November, Prince Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky picks up bargain of the year at Christie's Russian art sale in London when a drawing, estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 pounds is knocked down to him for just 13 pounds.

10 At the Art Basel Miami Beach fair this month, dealers estimate prices for contemporary art could fall back to 2002/3 levels. Eminent art critic, Jerry Salz, says 50 to 100 galleries in New York could close. Maybe there were too many anyway.

Art Info's Top Art Stories of 2008

Art Info has a few 2008 in review articles on their website. The one I find most interesting although rather serious is the 2008 stories of the year.

The top stories include:

1. Damien Hirst - Art Info discusses when the Hirst sale was finished with extraordinary results it was the talk of the art world, along with discussions on how popular contemporary artists could now bypass the gallery system. Then the financial crisis hit, and the Hirst sale relevance was greatly reduced. (Although not in the Art Info article, my favorite description of Hirst pieces/art was animal parts in formaldehyde.)
2. The Bailout on the LA Museum of Contemporary Art by billionaire Eli Broad and the near merger between the MOCA and the LA County Museum of Art. These certainly are difficult times for museums and extraordinary measures are being considered. I believe as the financial situation continues, more and more museums and smaller historical societies will have financial problems, and all do not have billionaire benefactors who can come to the rescue.
   
3. The growth and importance of China both financially and culturally, but now that the Olympics are over and the athletes and hype have left, what will remain
4. Changes of administration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim
5. The UK trying to keep it Titians. (Results on the funding raising progress should be known soon)
6. There is also an honorable mention story about a crucified frog, and Italian politician and the Pope. You will have to read this one on your own.
   

To read the full Art Info article on the best art stories of 2008, click HERE.

Merry Christmas from the Appraiser Worskhsops

Is that a Thomas Kinkade Christmas scene?

Ho, Ho, Ho! You know, I spent a lot of time picking out just the right Christmas image to send from the AW Blog.

Just a little bit of holiday appraisal humor. Its Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Todd and Jane at the Appraiser Workshops.

Celebrity and Fashion Photography

Andrew Thorncraft of the Financial Times reports on photography collecting. Mentioning a recent sale held at Christie's, NY, calling it the most "superficially glamorous auction of the year." The FT article relates that fashion and celebrity photography is a growing genre for collectors and is quietly replacing early photography collecting in popularity. Over the last 20 years as the earliest examples of quality photographs become increasingly rare, collectors and collecting tastes have begun to change.

The article states how fashion and celebrity photography has become increaslingly popular, although it was not always considered a true art form. Thorncraft states Prices have fallen in the past few months but fashion remains the collecting phenomenon of the photographic market in the last two decades. When Hamiltons, the London gallery, opened in 1984 to promote fashion photography it was regarded as a vulgar upstart, but its timing was spot on: today it is the UK's leading dealer in the field.

Thorncraft reports that over the past decade or two fashion and celebrity photography collecting became more serious, Prices rose steadily as fresh collectors, usually newly enriched men in their 30s and 40s, saw photographs as the perfect, accessible, art form with which to decorate their loft apartments and minimalist homes. Entering the market was comparatively cheap. In the early 1980s, "Henrietta", perhaps the most famous image from Helmut Newton's life-size "Big Nudes" series, was being offered at Hamiltons for $5,000; this year it was changing hands for $800,000. Even more valuable is "Sie Kommen", Newton's celebrated montage for Vogue of top models posed naked and dressed, which has sold privately for $2m.

As appraisers we look at trends and what is popular and collectible in the market place. The Financial Times articles points out that there is a change in photography collecting, from the 19th century and early 20th century images to more contemporary images of celebrities and fashion photography. Throncraft states in his last paragraph For some, fashion photography is a distraction. "It is a worry when prices rise so precipitously. It becomes a fad rather than a real recognition of the importance of the objects," says Chris Mahoney of Sotheby's, which prefers to take a more scholarly approach.

There is still a ways to go for fashion and celebrity photography to be fully accepted by many connoisseurs and collectors. Yet, from an appraiser's perspective, given the recent sales and prices, contemporary and modern photography certainly is a certainly a serious area of collecting and needs to be recognized as such.

Although like most other fine and decorative art markets, the prices have recently fallen due to the overall economic concerns.

I highly recommend all readers of the AW Blog take the time to read the FT article. Click HERE to read. Also, there will be an excellent article on photography by Denise Levy in the 2009 edition of the Journal for Advanced Appraisal Studies, due in March of 2009.

Christie's to Reorganize

According to Scott Reyburn of Bloomberg, Christie's auction house plans on reorganizing in January. What that actually means remains to be seen, but we know Sotheby's was cutting jobs and reducing salaries, and both auction houses were talking of stopping or minimizing guarantees and were lowering estimates by at least 10%. Much of this has been covered in the AW Blog and other sources over the past several weeks. The blame, again, is the current world financial crisis.

The very interesting comment within the article is the rumor or speculation that billionaire Christie's owner Francois Pinault was entertaining thoughts of selling the auction house. Pinault's company bought Chrisite's in 1998 for $1.2 billion. The other interesting comment is that Phillips, recently purchased and cash infused in part by Russian luxury goods retailer Mercury group is in the process of expanding.

The recent auctions of quality property, but with less hype and fanfare of the modern and contemporary sales have also been struggling with lower sales vlaues and higher buy in rates.

Reyburn reports Christie’s Dec. 12 sale of 20th-century British art, the mainstay of U.K. private art collecting, ended with 57 percent of the lots successful. The below-estimate total of 4.1 million pounds with fees was less than half the 9.4 million pounds achieved at the equivalent auction last year. Then, 81 percent of the lots were sold.

“The auctioneers are nervous. You can see it in their faces,” Offer Waterman, who deals in 20th-century British art, said in a telephone interview.

“Anything second-rate is falling away dramatically,” said London-based Waterman. “Trade buying has wilted. The good things are still selling, but people don’t want to risk good things at an auction if 50 percent is going to fail.”

Sotheby’s Dec. 9 auctions of marine paintings and Victorian & Edwardian art could only find buyers for 39 percent and 49 percent of the material.

Two days later, Bonhams held a 56-lot auction of Impressionist and modern art in London that it forecast to fetch more than 3 million pounds. Only 23 percent of the works sold, raising a total of more than 600,000 pounds ($928,000) with fees.

“The failure rates are very high,” said London-based dealer David Mason. “If you have something to sell at the moment, you have a problem.”

The last sentence and quote by London based dealer David Mason is rather telling about the art and auction markets at this point in time. With all of the talks of job losses, salary cuts, lower estimates and no guarantees, the current outlook or rather the short term outlook for 2009 does not appear overly promising. Too many auction houses and dealers seem to be bracing themselves for continued negative effects of the world financial markets. The common mantra is, if it is not the ultimate and absolutely best, the value has been diminished.

In another report, Bukowskis auction house, the Nordic region’s largest, will slash almost a third of its workforce to cut costs after the art market stalled, Dagens Industri reported, citing part-owner and board member Filip Engelbert. Again, the culprit is the art market caused by economic turmoil.

To read the full Bloomberg article click HERE.

Even More on Deaccessioning and the National Academy

Sorry to bombard you with even more on deaccessioning and the saga of the National Academy. Unfortunately it is the gift that keeps giving, and this NY Times article is just too good to pass up. Although we should not make light of the current situation at the National Academy, it is operating and functioning under dire circumstances (although many are self inflicted).

Robin Pogrebin of the NY Times just published more information on the status and situation of the National Academy and the impact and expected impact of the censure by the Association of Art Museum Directors.

Pogrebin states the institution was recently branded a pariah by the Association of Art Museum Directors. That group views such stopgap measures as a breach of basic principles, stipulating that museums can sell art only to finance new acquisitions.

The association urged its members to cut off all loans to the academy and forgo any collaborations.

To the academy’s leadership, such censure was not only an indignity but also a shove for an institution on a financial precipice. The academy has been running a deficit for five years, and this year’s shortfall is estimated at around $1 million. It has a $4 million annual operating budget.

The academy has been borrowing heavily from its $10 million endowment — $3 million of which is restricted — to pay the bills and has had difficulty paying the museum guards and the heating bill. Its very mission is in disarray, and several board members have resigned over the last six months to protest the institution’s direction — or what some say is a lack thereof.

A recent proposal to sell the academy’s Beaux Arts museum building on Fifth Avenue and two additional buildings on East 89th Street, and to relocate, was supported by the academy’s 20-member board, known as the council. But the move was rejected by the institution’s professional artist members, known as academicians.

The article also has a fair amount of finger pointing, with advisory board members saying the general membership of academicians do not have a grasp on the dire situation the academy faces. The advisory board is placing blame at the feet of the 337 academicians who control the academy and are artists, not museum managers, financial planners and marketing experts. But if you read the article, it certainly makes you wonder how such poor management and lack of foresight could have happened. So who is to blame, museum management, the 337 member academicians......I am going to venture a guess, but I would assume both have had a hand in developing and perpetuating the situation.

Marcy Molinaro in her comments I posted earlier today mentions the National Academy had issues 40 years ago.

An excellent read for everyone, but a very sad, sad story about one of the premier and historic fine art institutions. To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.

More on Deaccessioning

Fellow appraiser and museum professional Marcy Molinaro wrote a very thoughtful and insightful comment on my blog post on the National Academy deaccesssioning. As you know, when I get good comments, I like to post them for all AW Blog readers, and Marcy is very passionate in her comments and analysis. Deaccessioning is very difficult and personal topic to many within the museum industry. The current fiscal situation and poor past management have left museums with the daunting task of finding additional funding to operate. Deaccessioning is typically done in order to acquire new and potentially more relevant art, not for operating expenses. Are times, perceptions and attitudes changing? In any event, it is a great topic for discussion and debate, whether we agree with many of the varied compnents of deaccessioning or not. Send your thoughts and comments.

Marcy Molinaro states:

What doesn’t seem to come out in these instances is the multiple other sides of these stories. Deaccessioning can be good for an institution needing to clean house of those objects that no longer fit the mission or purpose of the institution such as the recent sales of furniture from APVA and Carlyle House in the November at Green Valley Auctions. New interpretation or provenance research may indicate that those pieces were never intended to be in the house, not typical of the period interpreted or family’s patterns of collecting, or in one case, the deaccessioning of the property itself. Deaccessioning is not even a word in the dictionary or the museum’s vocabulary (see my article in Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies).

This practice is not done lightly but accomplished only after years of careful examination by museum staff, consultation with attorneys, donors, and the community, and finally, the blessing of the board of trustees. This is followed by the careful selection of where the pieces should be marketed and then, what to do with the funds which are typically deposited into collections accounts per a Collection Policy. Lately, some of the revenues of these deaccessioned objects are finding their way into the general operating accounts. Yes, the world is in bad financial times but typically, these bad financial times are more critical for not-for-profits as they come about by poor museum management dating back decades in most cases. More importantly, poor board management of most not-for-profits is the root of bad financial times for museums. It would be easier if we could deaccession boards or poor museum administrative leadership instead of artifacts!

The NAD is a perfect example of decades of poor leadership and management by bad directors as well as trustees. As far back as the 70s, when I became aware of it, I heard many horror stories from within those walls. When public institutions need help, rather than finding alternative ways of solving their issues, it’s too easy for trustees and some directors to look to its storage area for solutions. It seems lately, that the public trust is allowing them to do so.

Unfortunately, we can’t always get the blessings from those who gave the institutions these treasures to deaccession—who speaks for them? Hopefully, well trained, museum professionals do so. Deed of Gifts and various policies and procedures were put in place to protect the artifact from mismanagement, to give the donor the piece of mind that their gift will be cared for in perpetuity. Museums have a right, an obligation to be good stewards of the pieces given to them in public trust. While policies and procedures can and should be reviewed periodically to keep up with AAM’s and AASLH’s ethics for collections care, careful future scrutinizing of potential accessions should become the rule of thumb so that museums do not become known as antique stores or fine art galleries where the public can “shop” rather than a safe haven for the past.

Military and Industrial Antiques

Wendy Moonan of the NY Times writes an article on a new New York City gallery specializing in military and industrial antiques. Ever have that hard to find comp on a rocket powered ejection seat, or fan blades from a Rolls Royce turbo jet engine, well there are places out there selling them.

Moonan writes this is what it sells: a set of three-foot-long binoculars with 150-millimeter Nikon lenses made for a Japanese battleship in World War II, later recovered by American troops; titanium compressor fan blades from a Rolls-Royce turbojet engine from the 1960s repurposed as a giant mirror frame; a rocket-powered ejection seat from a 1950s British RoyalAir Force Canberra nuclear bomber. These are the “industrial antiques” at the Nicholas Brawer gallery at 28 East 72nd Street, which opened last month.

Mr. Brawer is an American art historian trained at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and the author of “British Campaign Furniture: Elegance Under Canvas, 1740-1914” (Harry N. Abrams). His stock of shiny mechanical contraptions and military hardware also includes brass luggage racks from old first-class British train carriages, 1930s silver cocktail shakers (one with a shrapnel shell base) and miniature English mahogany yachts designed to sail on ponds.

In addition to the Nicholas Brawer Gallery, Moonan also notes Web sites like MantiquesModern.com or ClevelandArt.com, and Michael Trapp as other sources for industrial antiques.

Click HERE to read the full article

Determining Auction Estimates

Carol Vogel of the NY Times recently published an article on the difficulties auction houses have in determining fair auction estimates. She states the auction house wants to be fair in the estimations, not pricing so low that it is not representational of fair value for the seller, and not so high that it scares off potential buyers. Appraiser face this issue every day. Although we are dis-interested third parties and not trying to please any group with a valuation, the final value conclusion can be complex and difficult to make, and based upon multiple factors, selecting the proper market and analyzing market trends. With value conclusions only being an appraisers researched opinion, it of course be should be fully documented and explained so the reader of the report understands how the final value was determined. Auction houses, in determining estimates, do and should have a level of care in determining estimates. Yet depending upon the scope of work, the level of care for an appraisal is typically far higher.

Vogel states George Wachter, a co-head of Sotheby’s old-master paintings department worldwide, faced this challenge in September when he was asked to sell a pair of 1637 portraits by the Dutch artist Frans Hals at the Jan. 29 sale in New York. He held off agreeing on an estimate with the owner until he saw the results of the old-master auctions in London in November and could better gauge what the euro-dollar exchange rate would be.

He placed firm estimates on the paintings only this month, just before sending the sale catalog to the printer: $8 million to $12 million for the male portrait, and $7 million to $9 million for the female. He based the numbers on recent Hals prices — for example the $9.5 million paid at Sotheby’s in London in 2007 for “Portrait of Samuel Ampzing,” from 1663 — and on the knowledge that great works by important masters are becoming harder to find.

I was excited when I found the article and title, thinking it would have excellent appraisal related material with some good detail. The article relates more on the history of the painting, and never really details how Wachter determined the values other than the short paragraph above. Of course we as appraisers know there is more to proper valuation than a quick look at a recent comp, and in this case exchange rates. But, at least some of thought process on valuation is getting out to the public. Although it could and should be much higher, revealing there is more to appraising and valuation than guess work, off the cuff numbers and basic connoisseurship.

To read the NY Times article, click HERE.

A Reveiw of the Modern and Contemporary Art Season

Carol Vogel of the NY Times has a very good article reviewing the past Modern and Contemporary art sales from the major auction houses and fairs. Vogel claims most art experts were aware there would be a correction due to the financial causalities starting in September. The experts were caught off guard on how severe and deep modern and contemporary art values would be impacted.

Vogel states Surveying the casualties — artwork that would have fetched high prices a year ago but went unsold in November — is a crucial exercise for both auction house experts and art dealers.

“Everyone is trying to understand the lay of the land,” said Guy Bennett, a co-head of Christie’s Impressionist and modern art department. “There has been an adjustment of about 25 to 35 percent in all fields.”

The field of Impressionist and modern art has historically been less volatile than that of contemporary art, since newer work tends to appeal to the younger, nouveau riche collector and is therefore more subject to trends and speculators. Scores of contemporary paintings, drawings and sculptures went unsold last month as American hedge-fund managers and the new rich from Russia and the Middle East fled the market. The manner in which people buy art is changing too.

Unlike years past, in which collectors at art fairs or auctions had a split second to decide if they wanted something because scores of other people were ready to snap it up, buyers can now take their time. They also have the luxury of ignoring auction house estimates or dealers’ prices and offering whatever they want.

The last paragraph sounds an awful lot like the housing market of just a couple years ago. Shopping for house consisted of an offer above the asking price, being pre approved for loans, fax in the offer and the broker and seller would select the best deal. A lot has changed over the past several years in the housing market.

Much has also changed in the fine arts over the past several months. To read the NY Times article, click HERE.

Sotheby's Video Series

Were you aware that since 2006 Sotheby's has had video information on sales along with specialist opinions on the website. It is a bit difficult to find through the tabs and menus, actually I wasn't able to do so. Although at times they seem to cycle through on the home page. Therefore, if you are interested, click HERE to go directly to the Private View video series. Another easier method to find the videos on the Sotheby's website is to Google Sotheby's and Private View or videos. I don't understand why they make the videos hard to locate on the site.

Topics include:

• Contemporary Art
• Latin American Art
• Impressionist and Modern Art
• Wine
• Jewelry
• Krosnick collection by Nakashima
• Photographs
• Furniture
• Chinese Export Porcelain
  

There are about 20 videos, many of course dealing with contemporary and modern art where the big dollars are. But there is a little something for everyone.

da Vinci Drawings discovered at the Louvre?

Reuters is reporting on three drawings found on the back of a Leonardo da Vinci painting which is in the Louvre. The article is short, so I will just cut and paste.

PARIS (Reuters) - A curator at the Louvre Museum in Paris has stumbled upon some unknown drawings on the back of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci that look like they might be by the Italian master himself, the Louvre said on Thursday.

The extraordinary find was made by chance, when Louvre staff unhooked Leonardo's "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" from the museum wall as part of a broad programme of study and restoration of paintings by Leonardo, including the "Mona Lisa."

"When the work, which is painted on wood, was unhooked, a curator noticed two barely visible drawings on the back of the painting, showing a horse's head and half a skull," the museum said.

It was such an astonishing discovery that other Louvre staff present at the time could not believe it and initially said the marks on the wood must be stains.

"The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne" was painted in the early 1500s and no one had previously noticed the drawings -- at least not to the knowledge of the Louvre.

After the initial find, the museum conducted detailed tests on the back of the painting. Photographs taken with an infrared camera revealed that there were not two but three drawings. The third one is of a Child Jesus playing with a lamb.

"This is an exceptional discovery because drawings on the back of paintings are very rare and no example by Leonardo was previously known," the Louvre said.

It said the drawings recalled some of Leonardo's known works and suggested that the child and lamb could have been sketches for the painting on the other side of the piece of wood.

"The style of the drawings recalls the style of Leonardo, but research is ongoing to clarify their authorship," it said.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon, editing by Nita Bhalla

African American Art

Susan Adams of Forbes magazine just published an article on African American art. The article is partially based on discussions with BET founder and collector Robert Johnson. The article discusses the growth in popularity and acceptance of African American art. In the past many museums were hesitant to embrace African American art and the major collectors where . That short sightedness now appears to be changing with new and increasing interest from collectors and museums. Some auction houses are now well aware of the greater demand and are creating specialty departments. The article also documents some prices and the appreciation in values of African-American art.

Adams states Now white collectors and institutions are discovering these long overlooked works.

"What's happened in the last five years is a paradigm shift," observes Steven L. Jones, 61, an African-American dealer in Philadelphia. "This means that the best work is going up exponentially in value."

Last year Swann Auction Galleries in New York became the first auction house to create a department of African-American art and in February sold a 1944 modernist oil by Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas for $600,000.

Adams continues, Prices continue to climb for quality pieces, even while other collecting categories founder.

Manhattan dealer Michael Rosenfeld says business is strong; he made three six-figure sales during two weeks of stock market turmoil in November. The highest prices for artwork by African-Americans come in the still overheated contemporary art market, where Andy Warhol protégé Jean-Michel Basquiat is the reigning star, with a 2007 auction record of $14.6 million.

As appraisers we need to be aware of the growing interest and values of African American art. Appraisers need the basic knowledge to evaluate the properties and markets, network and develop connections with auction specialists, dealers, and fellow appraisal experts in order to professionally and properly value this growing segment of the art world..

To read the Forbes article by Susan Adams, click HERE.

Americana Week in January

Maine Antique Digest has a very good article by Lita Solis-Cohen about Americana Week in New York during mid to late January. Lita previews the shows, auctions and gallery exhibits that will be starting around the middle of January. According to the article, Bonhams will also be holding its first Americana Week auction in New York as well. The events, exhibits, shows, and sales all seem to be growing. It has always been a destination event for lovers of Americana and the decorative arts, and with all that is planned, it certainly has the appearance and possibility of being a specular event.

Solis-Cohen states For the first time, Bonhams will sell American furniture in New York City in January. On Thursday, January 22 at 1 p.m., 200 lots of 18th- and 19th-century furniture will cross the block at the Bonhams Madison Avenue salesroom. A New York Federal sofa, attributed to Duncan Phyfe or one of his contemporaries, is estimated at $100,000/200,000. A cherry tall-case clock inscribed by its maker, Squire Millerd of Warwick, Rhode Island, who served as a captain in the Revolutionary War, is estimated at $40,000/60,000. A Pennsylvania walnut schrank is estimated at $40,000/60,000. A painted Berks County, Pennsylvania, dower chest, dated 1804, carries a $50,000/70,000 estimate. The sale includes a Boston wing chair (est. $30,000/50,000), a Philadelphia walnut dressing table with scalloped skirt and trifid feet (est. $20,000/40,000), and a Philadelphia flat-top high chest (est. $25,000/55,000).

Of course Sotheby's and Christies will be holding numerous sales, numerous shows and presentations including the 55th New York Winter Antiques Show.

American week in NY is often considered a barometer of the market, and a precursor to the health of the antique and decorative arts field. Given the slowness of many fine art markets, documented depreciation in the middle market, and some uneasiness at the upper end, it will certainly be an interesting Americana week to observe.

To read the Maine Antiques Digest article, click HERE. The AW Blog will have more information about the sales, property and values as we get closer to the events.