Dealers Pleased at 40th Art Basel

After some of the depressing news from the Reyburn/Bloomberg report I posted on today comparing auctions segments from last season to this season, there is a glimmer of hope. I have not reported or mentioned much on Art Basel this past week and as it is considered one of the best art fairs and most important art fairs we cant ignore it either. The Art Newspaper had a very good article stating the for the most part dealers at the fair were pleased with the results. The dealers brought some of their best inventory, and many did sell. The article does state those that did sell were willing to negotiate on price and terms.

The article states many of the dealers came into the fair with low expectations and were pleasantly surprised by the better than expect results. The article mentions that some dealers also believe the bottom has been hit, and demand is becoming stronger and the decline has been short lived.

A few excerpts from the article which include some very interesting comments from dealers (I especially like the last bullet point):

• Many of the 300 exhibitors came to the fair with low expectations and were surprised to find conditions less bleak than forecast. “I think the crisis is over in the art world,” said Basel-based dealer Miklos von Bartha (2.0/N5), who specialises in constructivist and non-figurative works.

• The consensus among collectors, curators and critics was that dealers had brought important works

• Collectors were eager to buy, but wary that prices were right.

• When dealers were able to adjust prices, sales took place. A Richard Prince “Joke” painting from a consignor was priced $1.3m and found no takers. A more realistic price for the work today is about $800,000 says New York dealer Per Skarstedt

• New York’s Galerie St Etienne (2.0/V3) also lowered prices. “We’ve rolled back prices to where we were in 2006,” said director Jane Kallir. “We essentially popped the bubble. This means we don’t have a crash—we have a correction

• Many art world denizens said the continued art buying had a psychological root, that die-hard collectors were still attracted to the sport, financial meltdown or not.

• The fair was really like in the old days: they came, they saw and they bought.”

To read the full Art News Paper article on Art Basel click HERE.