Martin Guitars

Sorry for another article from Forbes Life, but there was a short article that I felt might have interest for appraisers, especially those who deal with Antiques and Residential contents.  I am also traveling (in Chicago for an ISA board meeting, it is a bit cooler than Virginia) so I had to plan posts in advance. Many appraisers of musical instruments probably already know this, but whenever I see something with increasing values and collector demand, I like to post.

The article or post is on Martin Guitars. It is rather short so I am going to take the liberty to post the full article from Forbes Life The article states that pre World War II models can sell as high as $100,000.00. The new Martin D-28 is retailing for $7,599.00 (see image).  For the Antiques and Residential contents appraiser looking at the old guitar in the closet, be careful and do your due diligence.

Lorraine Cademartori of Forbes Life states:

Since 1833, the family-owned C.F. Martin & Co. has handcrafted some of the world's most entrancing stringed instruments. "They are the standard of excellence for flattop acoustic guitars in this country," says Stan Jay, president of Mandolin Brothers, an independent fretted-instrument retail and resale shop in Staten Island, New York. Martin pioneered the dreadnought design, characterized by a large, nearly rectangular body shape allowing for more vibration to move through the guitar (as opposed to the more traditional Spanish style, with its dramatically smaller waistline). The result: a more resonant sound. The company's pre–World War II creations are especially sought after--according to Jay, some high-end Martins from that era go for more than $100,000. Responding to the demand, the Nazareth, Pennsylvania–based Martin is taking orders for a 75th-anniversary limited edition of one of its most renowned dreadnoughts. Modeled on the D-28 guitar produced in 1934, the new version has an Adirondack spruce top with sides and back of solid Madagascar rosewood. (Sensitive to environmental concerns, the company long ago abandoned using the rare Brazilian rosewood in its stock models.) Each will be signed by company chairman and sixth-generation owner C.F. Martin IV and numbered in sequence. Available through Martin dealers; expect to wait six weeks for delivery. Martin will accept orders for the D-28 through the end of the year only. --Lorraine Cademartori

$7,599. www.martinguitar.com

American Travel Posters in Demand

Scott Brosseau has an interesting article in Forbes Life magazine on the collectiblity of American travel posters. Brosseau states that European travel posters of the 1930 have long been sought after by collectors, but now American issued poster are starting to gain strong momentum and popularity. A specialist from Swann Auction Galleries state in the article that prices for some poster have quadrupled over the past 8 years. The article is very good, with some good images as well as values. Part of the reason for the rapid increase in value is scarcity.  Where European travel posters where made in the hundreds, the US posters where of much smaller print runs. Nostalgia and national pride after 9/11 also has played a part of increased demand.

The record price for an American Travel poster was Edward M. Eggleston's Pennsylvania Railroad poster for Atlantic City, selling for $25,300 in 2004 (see imgae). The hard copy has more images and values than the online version, but the article text is the same.

Brosseau states

The notion of travel posters as art was long preposterous. After all, most were mass-produced for walls in train stations, airports, and travel agencies, which left the form with an inferiority complex. "Posters were considered cheap, common, not worthy of anybody's attention," says Lowry. Or as Sarah Stocking, of Sarah Stocking Fine Antique Posters in San Fran-cisco, puts it: "Low art is what some museums call us."

The revaluation of the travel-poster genre was part of the new appreciation for ephemera and graphic works produced for commercial or utilitarian ends that began in the 1970s. However, they didn't receive prominent attention from major auction houses until the late 1990s. That's when Swann and Christie's held the first dedicated travel-poster auctions. "We basically brought the market for travel posters to a higher level," says Lowry. "This bastard younger brother really had something to say."

Prices for American travel posters have been driven up by that bluest of blue-chip factors: scarcity. In some cases, European poster artists were extremely prolific. "A French artist might have done 100 or more posters," says Philip Williams of the eponymous gallery in New York's Tribeca district. "Many American artists did only a few." The interest in those American images, experts say, got a boost from such factors as the post-9/11 surge in national pride. They also note that the nostalgia behind other forms of collecting has found its way to posters.

To read the full Forbes Life article, click HERE.

Related Use and Charitable Donations

A few days ago there was a good question and short discussion on charitable donations and the IRS Related Use rule on the ISA forum. I posted the following response with some examples form the Planned Giving Design Center which has some excellent articles and reference material on gifting and donations. I thought the content of the article on related use and charitable donations would be helpful for appraisers to review and to better understand the rule.

There is a difference between the value a donor can deduct based on the related use of the charity. As you will see from the following examples, there is a big difference in the allowable deduction. The FMV remains the same, but if not donated to the proper institution, then the initial cost basis is used. Many times when I have a charitable donation assignment I ask the client to get a statement from the charitable organization noting acceptance of the gift and if the gift meets with the institutions related use.

Step 4: Make Sure the Public Charity Meets the Related Use Rule

The related use rule applies to capital gains property that is tangible personal property (objects) contributed to a public charity. The related use rule requires that the use of the art object by the organization be related to the purpose or the function constituting the basis for the organization’s charitable exemption under Code Sec. 501.

This means that the donated object must be of a type normally retained and exhibited by that charitable organization, such as a museum or educational institution that normally has a collection of similar paintings, or silver, or sports memorabilia. All of the appreciated value of the donated art object will be lost as a charitable deduction if the related use rule is not satisfied.

Example

As an example, we will look at Mr. Donor Client’s donation and the tax deduction benefit he would receive if he made his donation to three different institutions. Mr. Client purchased a sculpture by an unknown artist for $1,000 15 years ago. It has appreciated over the years as the artist has gained notoriety. Mr. Client obtains a qualified appraisal by a qualified appraiser. The fair market value on January 1, 2008, the date of his donation, is appraised at $15,000.

Example Donation 1. Mr. Client donates the sculpture to a private charity. He will only be able to receive a deduction for his cost, $1,000.

Example Donation 2. Mr. Client donates the sculpture to a public charity (a charitable hospital), but the charity’s charitable exemption purpose is unrelated to his donated sculpture. He will only be able to receive a deduction for his cost, $1,000.

Example Donation 3. Mr. Client donates the sculpture to a public charity (an art museum with a collection of similar type sculptures), and the use of the sculpture by the organization is related to the purpose or the function constituting the basis for the organization’s charitable exemption. He will be able to receive a deduction for the full fair market value of the sculpture as of the date of donation, $15,000.

Click HERE to read the full Planned Giving Design Center article.

Art Sales Stronger But......

Claire Rosemberg writing for AFP after the success of both the Friez art fair in London and the FAIC in Paris claims progress there has been a partial revocery in contemporary art market sales, yet there is still a long distance to travel before the market is both back and stabilized. Many dealers and collectors beleive the worst is over, yet there is still strong opportunities for value at most market levels. Dealers continue to be willing to negoatiate sales terms and prices are market strength have not completely returned.  Some of that can be expected given the continued poor overall economic situation.

Next weeks Contemporary, Post War and Impressionist sales in New York should reveal if the recent positive market spirit continues, or if the market steps back.  I will be posting auction results as they become available on the AW Blog

Rosemberg writes

In the mid-2000s, contemporary art -- works by artists born after 1945 -- saw a boom that sent prices soaring 85 percent from 2002 to 2008, with 620 percent more works sold at over a million euros in the same period, according to artprice.com.

The party ended in last year's economic turmoil, driving prices down 27 percent as billionaires and banks fell off the map, and finance from museums, funds and corporations melted away.

"The worst months were between last November and April. It was a terrible period," Adam said.

"Things have picked up since the Art Basel fair in June. There are buyers, but prices are down a lot," she said.

Earlier this month, a monumental work by the world's currently top-grossing artist Damien Hirst scooped a record at auction in Asia but fell short of its estimate.

Another of the globe's best-selling contemporary artists, Jean-Michel Basquiat, also recently slid 40 percent.

Betting on the appeal of novelty to counter the overriding gloom, London's avant-garde Frieze fair this year launched a new section titled Frame, where 29 galleries less than six years old showcased emerging talent from lesser-known territories.

To read the full AFP article, click HERE.

Peter the Great Minature - On Sale at Sotheby's Nov 2nd Russian Art Auction

The Associated Press ran a short article on a very rare Russian Peter the Great miniature which is going under the hammer at the Sotheby's Russian sale in NYC on November 2.  The Associated press blast was short, so I will post the complete release.

The minaure is described in the Sotheby's catalog as "an oval miniature of Peter the Great dressed in armor with a blue, ermine-edged cape and wearing the sash of the Order of St. Andrew the First Called, enclosed in a diamond-set frame, hinged and hanging from an Imperial crown enameled royal blue and set with numerous diamonds; the reverse with a gold oval plaque engraved with a triple-crowned, Imperial double-headed eagle (the eagle and orb retaining some of the original enameled decoration), the back of the diamonds' settings' enameled in white with red and black ornament."  It measures 3.5 inches high, and is estimated to sell between $80,000.00 and $120,000.00.

As the article states, much was unknown about the miniature until the family hired an appraiser. The miniature was purchased from a London dealer in 1951.

Associated Press - October 28, 2009 5:54 AM ET

NEW YORK (AP) - A miniature portrait of Peter the Great in a diamond-encrusted frame will be auctioned in New York City. Its importance was discovered only recently by the Arizona family that had owned it for decades.

Experts believe as few as 10 of the portraits were bestowed by the czar on subjects who provided exceptional service. Until the latest discovery, only five were known to still exist, including three in museums.

Sotheby's says the estate of the original owner, George Roberts, discovered its history when it was appraised this summer. Roberts purchased it in 1951 from a London dealer.

The rare Russian treasure will be offered Monday. Its pre-sale estimate is $80,000 to $120,000.

Williamsburg eMuseum Now Online

Fellow appraiser Kathi Jablonsky sent me this press release on the announcment of the new eMuseum on the Williamsburg website at www.history.org.  The direct linke to the eMuseum is http://emuseum.history.org/code/emuseum.asp

The eMuseum currenty has over 3,200 items, images and descriptions with more being added daily. The site has good images and strong descriptions, some with excellent details such as history, materials and provenance. If you recall, the Louvre recently increased its electronic offerings by expanding its website to include most of its full collection instead of select exhibits. This is good news for researches and pre visit inspections.  I hope it works to increased attendance and not reduce it.

The press release states:

New eMuseum feeds history hunger and antiques appetites
Williamsburg , Virginia -- 27 October 2009

The history-hungry and antiques aficionados can now browse online the collections of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The collections database with images, descriptions and object histories is now available through eMuseum on Colonial Williamsburg’s Web site.

“The eMuseum application is our latest effort to make the collections broadly accessible to scholars, historians, collectors and the general public,” said Ronald L. Hurst, Colonial Williamsburg’s Carlisle H. Humelsine Chief Curator and vice president for collections, conservation and museums. “In addition to the objects currently on view in the foundation’s museums and historic buildings, eMuseum makes available those portions of our collections that are too fragile or light-sensitive for frequent exhibition.”

Colonial Williamsburg’s eMuseum incorporates standard database search techniques to access records for objects in the collections. Users can browse the collections by object maker, material, date or type, among other categories. More than 3,200 objects are available now with more being added monthly until all objects in the collections are accessible through eMuseum.

The Colonial Williamsburg collections encompass more than 60,000 examples of fine, decorative, mechanical, and folk art. Included are American, British and Continental ceramics, glass, furniture, textiles, costumes, tools, firearms, numismatics, metals, prints, maps, paintings and drawings from the late 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as outstanding examples of 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century American folk art. Many of these objects are used to furnish the buildings in Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area — where they provide guests with a better understa

Christie's in the Insurance Business

Kaya Burgess of the London Times is reporting that Christie's will soon be overing insurance policies to collectrors.  Burgess reports that Christie's along with an insurance broker and underwriter will promote and sell insurance for homes, cars, fine and decorative art collections, and possessions in a single policy.  The main focus of the art protection will be for moving and storage insurance. Chrisite's is partnering with Chubb and Heath Lambert to design policies and specifically coverage for high value clients and customers.

Christie's is now involved in auctions, galleries, private sales, appraising, education, art storage, financing and now insurance. I probably missed a few areas as well.  You have to admit Christie's is very proactive in expanding their business model and leveraging their high value clientele.

Burgess reports

Adam Prideaux, an art insurance broker at Heath Lambert, said that private collectors and galleries were all having to shop around in the current climate to secure comprehensive cover for their collections.

He said: “Throughout 2009, since the economic downturn, there have been considerable problems for the art insurance market due to pressures on capacity against the exceptional prices of certain works.”

A spokeswoman for Christie’s said that cover would be tailored to the “sophisticated collector” hoping to avoid paying multiple premiums with different renewal dates for their cars, homes and art collections.

Christie’s Insurance Services will be added to the company’s existing valuation service and will offer risk management advice to help collectors safeguard the value of their collections as art prices diminish.

Global auction and private sales at Christie’s totalled £2.8 billion in 2008, and sales for the first half of 2009 reached £1.2 billion.

Large art fairs have this year been facing increasing insurance premiums and analysts at Heath Lambert have warned that fairs such as Maastricht and Basel will be in jeopardy if they cannot find affordable cover for their expensive collections.

The Christie’s policies will initially be available only to private clients and not to trade partners, and Christie’s will be approaching clients in London and those in Europe who are serviced from London.

To read the full London Times article, click HERE.

Ritchies Auctioneers of Toronto Declares Bankruptcy

Fellow appraisers Stephen Sweeting, ASA is reporting on the Appraisers Post that troubled Canadian auction house Ritchies has declared bankruptcy. In his post, Sweeting has links to Canadian papers which are carrying the news, as well as reporting on some of the background events and turmoil over the past few months. I have reported in the past on some of the trouble Ritchies was encountering on the AW Blog, including a dispute over ownership (click HERE to read the previous post). Ritchies had a relationship which soured with Sotheby's but has also set record prices for Canadian art in the past.

Sweeting reports

Ritchies' business troubles first manifested themselves to the wider public when Sotheby’s Canada ended a multi-year auction services agreement with the firm due to the non-payment of consignors.

Ritchies was a quirky regional firm that tended to cater to the lower and mid-level art and antiques market in the Greater Toronto area. But every now and then the small firm scored some real successes that pushed them onto the national and even the international stage. The sale of a remarkable Francois Boucher pastel drawing for a record-breaking half a million dollars was one such foray onto the international stage. And their most recent association with Sotheby’s catapulted the firm into Canada’s top-tier fine art auction market. It was in the Ritchies salesroom that Sotheby’s sold Paul Kane’s Scene In The Northwest- Portrait for CAD $5.1 million including buyer’s premium in 2002. This record price for a Canadian painting sold at auction still stands today.

To read the full post by on the Appraisers Post with links for further background, click HERE.

Bank Art

Jeffrey Goldfarb and Laure Silva Lughlin in the NY Times write about the vast collections of art held by many banks throughout the world. Some of which have been bailed out by governments including the US Government and taxpayer. Some of the bank art collection sizes are staggering, the article states that Deutsche Bank has a collection of nearly 60,000 items, UBS close to 40,000 and Chase about 30,000. Some banks are allowing more public exhibitions and sharing, but it appears rather small in comparison to the size of the collections.

At least some banks take care of their treasures. JPMorgan, whose collection was started a half-century ago by David Rockefeller at Chase Manhattan, has a well-regarded curator. But many banks don’t even know what’s boxed up in the basement, having inherited artwork in takeovers.

Some do make an effort to share their artistic wealth. Monte dei Paschi di Siena of Italy invites the public to see some of its impressive collection, which stretches back to the Renaissance. The Swiss bank UBS lets the Tate Museum of Britain select from its collection. But these efforts don’t often come to much. The Tate currently has only three of UBS’s pieces on display.

As a result of the financial crisis, the attitude may be changing. Royal Bank of Scotland has begun plans to show its vast and long-cloistered stash of art, including works by L. S. Lowry and David Hockney, to the public.

Royal Bank of Scotland has actually shown shrewder discretion in art than banking. In the largely disastrous acquisition of ABN Amro, R.B.S. allowed the Dutch bank to pass its 16,000-piece collection to a foundation while retaining access to it.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.

Michelangelo, or Not

Miranda Siegel of the New York magazine recently published an interesting article on the debate over if a sculpture entitled The Young Archer is by Michelangelo. The sculpture was authenticated for the Met by NYU's Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt as an early work by the master himself. Many rival experts disagreed with the authentication. As appraisers we have seen this sort of authentication dispute on a regular basis. Especially with many non expert owners claiming the works in their collection are authentic. I have found many are, and well, many are not.

I find it very interesting to see scholars and connoisseurs review works.  Here we have a situation where one mentions how one mentions an aspect as true to Michelangelo's work and another completely discounts the argument. Unfortunately, if two appraisers were to value the sculpture, either as a Michelangelo or not, two different values would probably be returned as well. It is a short and excellent article and reveals very pointedly how subjective a field authentication can be.

Siegle gives a very nice pro and con review from experts of why or why not the sculpture is or is not a true Michelangelo. The article lists 6 areas, I will post the first two. Follow the link below for the full article and the remaining pro/con points.

1. The Hair
Pro: “I saw passages in the carving of the hair that only Michelangelo does,” Brandt says. “He would begin by carving out … an undifferentiated cap of marble, and out of that he distinguishes the curls.”

Con: “This is kind of an impressionistic way of making hair,” wrote the late Columbia historian James Beck. “Even the hair of the David, which is very intellectualized, grows out of the head. It’s not applied to the head.”

2. The Face
Pro: Brandt likens it to that of a Michelangelo in Britain’s National Gallery, and Met curator James Draper says the “blunt athletic profile” echoes his Battle of the Centaurs.

Con: The Archer’s bland expression seems inconsistent with Michelangelo, says the University of Pennsylvania’s Leo Steinberg, who adds, “The right cheek and jaw seem planed down.”

To read the full article, click HERE.

Hedge Fund Owner Sells Stake in Sotheby's

The NY Times Art Beat is reporting that hedge fund tycoon and art collector Stephen Cohen has sold his stake in international auction house Sotheby's.  At one point in time according to the article Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors owned 6% of Sotheby's. Art Beat is reporting that according to SEC filings, the fund had sold its holdings in Sothbey's by the end of June. As the Sotheby's share price chart reveals, after shares fell back in July they have been on a very nice rally.  It appears Mr. Cohen sold too early as the current price is around $18.00.

Keep in mind that Cohen probably paid less than $10.00 while accumulating his 6% and selling in the area of $14.00 per share.  Given the volume, still a very nice short term profit.. 

The NY Times Art Beat reports

A spokesman for SAC Capital, Jonathan Gasthalter, declined to comment on why SAC sold the stock. Whatever the reason, it was likely at a profit. The fund acquired its Sotheby’s stake between September and April, a period in which the auction house’s stock was battered by the financial crisis and a shrinking art market. The share price was below $10 for much of that period, down from a high of $61.40 at the end of the boom. This spring, the stock rebounded somewhat –­ it was $14.48 a share on June 30­, so SAC’s sale of its roughly four million shares was likely to have netted several million dollars.

Opening of the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain

Scott Reyburn of Bloomberg is reporting on the opening of Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain, or FIAC, in Paris and the largest French art fair has been positive.  Dealers are reporting the sales are taking a little more time to consummate as the assure buyers the time is right to buy.  The mood seems positive. According to Reyburn a Piet Mondrian is reserved for between $30-40 million (see image) and a Picasso at $24 million. Reyburn was also reporting that some collectors who were wishing to sell were looking to dealers to arrange private sales. These positive results come on the heels of the London Frieze Art Fair which was also considered a strong, or at least strong for the current economic climate.

Reyburn reports

Some owners of high-value works of art are looking to make private sales through dealers, rather than risk offering works at public auction, where prices and failures are recorded on databases. The 2-foot-8-inch high Picasso, titled “Femme ecrivant,” had been consigned to FIAC by a U.S.-based collector and was being presented by the Chicago- and New York-based Richard Gray Gallery.

“Twenty million-dollar deals don’t happen in a few minutes,” gallery director Paul Gray said. The potential buyer’s reserve on the 1934 canvas of Picasso’s mistress Marie- Therese Walter came during the first few hours of FIAC’s VIP preview on Oct. 21. Gray is one of 10 international dealers exhibiting 24 museum-quality works in the new “Modern Project” section of the fair, held under the cast-iron and glass dome of the Grand Palais.

Demand Declines

FIAC follows Frieze in the U.K., where dealers last week reported more sales than last year. Demand for art has fallen since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in September 2008. Auction sales of contemporary art have shrunk up to 80 percent, and prices dropped by more than 50 percent in some cases, the London-based research company ArtTactic said in a report last month.

Gray’s gallery is also offering at the “Modern Project” a 1929 Alexander Calder wire sculpture, “Portrait of Eduard Penkala,” that has been in another U.S. collection for 20 years.

“This work wouldn’t have appeared for sale if it hadn’t been for this exhibition at FIAC,” said Gray in an interview. “It should give the auction houses something to think about.”

To read the full article, click HERE.

Globalization and Cultural Property

Michael Kimmelman of the NY Times has an interesting article on globalization, diplomacy and cultural artifacts. As countries continue to develop and recognize the importance of their history and cultural property, we are witnessing more diplomatic issues and contested situation in connection with previously acquired artifacts.  These disputes are typically arising between  the "developed" countries with some form of ownership or possession of the artifacts and those developing, emerging and third world countries claiming rightful ownership. Some of the disputed artifacts may have been legally obtained or perhaps illegally obtained and stolen over a century ago. The million dollar question is what is the fair and equitable thing to do. Recently Nazi art has been the main area of dispute, but international ownership disputes of cultural property are expanding and are being noticed by the press more, more activity in courts, in diplomatic state rooms and in politics.

Egypt is now demanding the rightful ownership of a 3500 year old bust of Queen Nefertiti. Egypt claims the bust was stolen.

Kimmelman states in his article

Globalization, it turns out, has only intensified, not diminished, cultural differences among nations. The forces of nationalism love to exploit culture because it’s symbolic, economically potent and couches identity politics in a legal context that tends to pit David against Goliath.

Mr. Hawass also recently fired a shot at France, demanding the Louvre return five fresco fragments it purchased in 2000 and 2003 from a gallery and at auction. They belonged to a 3,200-year-old tomb near Luxor and had been in storage at the museum. Egypt had made the demand before, but this time suspended the Louvre’s long-term excavation at Saqqara, near Cairo, and said it would stop collaborating on Louvre exhibitions.

France got the message. It promised to send the fragments back tout de suite.

It didn’t go unnoticed in Paris, Berlin or Cairo that Mr. Hawass pressed his case about Nefertiti and suspended the excavations by the Louvre just after his country’s culture minister, Farouk Hosny, bitterly lost a bid to become director general of the United Nations’ cultural agency, Unesco. The post went late last month to a Bulgarian diplomat instead. Mr. Hosny would have been the first Arab to land the job, and Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak, had banked a not insignificant amount of his own prestige on the minister’s getting it.

But Jewish groups and prominent French and German intellectuals (not the Israeli government, though) campaigned against Mr. Hosny. When asked in Egypt’s Parliament last year about the presence of Israeli books in Alexandria’s library, Mr. Hosny said: “Let’s burn these books. If there are any, I will burn them myself before you.” That prompted Elie Wiesel, Claude Lanzmann and Bernard-Henri Lévy in Le Monde to urge that he not be selected, also quoting Mr. Hosny as saying in 2001, “Israeli culture is an inhuman culture” based on theft.

Kimmelman continues

Laws are laws, of course, and looting can’t be tolerated, although when decades or centuries have passed, laws have changed, populations shifted, empires come and gone, legal arguments can be dubious. But the larger truth is that all patrimony arguments ultimately live or die in the morally murky realm of global relations, meaning that modern governments like Egypt’s and Iraq’s may win sympathy today by counting on Western guilt about colonialism when asking for the return of art from ancient sites within their current borders. At the same time there’s no international clamor for Russia to return storerooms of treasures it stole from Germany at the end of the war, or, for that matter, for Sweden to fork over the spoils of a war 350 years ago with Denmark. It’s about emotion, not airtight logic and consistent policy.

To read the NY Times article, click HERE.

Results: Sotheby's 19th Century European Art Sale

Sotheby's held its large New York 19th Century European Art Sale on October 22nd.  While many of the reviews and before that anticipation of the sale have been less than optimistic.  The results are not real strong, but Sotheby's does, of course, try to place a positive spin on the results.

The sale included 138 lots, with 74  selling, for a 54.3 sell through rate.  It is hare to put a good spin on that figure.  The sale totaled $9.92 million including buyers premiums. The top ten lots accounted for over $6.5 million of the total sales.  Only one painting sold for above $1 million, being Frederick Lord Leighton's, Venus Disrobing for the Bath and was a record for the artist at auction. It was estimated at $1.2 - $1.5 million and sold for $1.87 million including buyers premium (see image).

There has been some criticism that the quality of the lots of this sale where not up to standard and perhaps some should not have been offered in this important NY European art auction. Although the consensus among many is the sale quality was not of the highest caliber, the results were also consistent with sales that have not offered the best quality art, which at best is mediocre. You will note from the Sotheby's statement below there is no mention of the poor percentage of art sold at this sale. The focus was on the relatively few items which performed well.

Sotheby's spokesman Polly Sartori, Director of 19th Century European Paintings, said of the sale.

We were very pleased with the prices achieved today, and especially happy to see two works from a Distinguished Private Collection claim the top two prices of the sale and set new auction records. Frederick, Lord Leighton’s Venus Disrobing for the Bath was an extraordinary painting, and surpassed the previous record price for the artist set almost twenty years ago in 1990. Edward Hughes’ Dream Idyll was a one-of-a-kind picture that rarely appears on the market, and no fewer than ten bidders from around the world competed for it, driving the price well above the previous artist record. Our sale today confirmed once again that our clients seek out the most valuable works produced by the 19th century’s most important European artists.

New on the Appraisers Post

I recently sent an update to the 30 contributors to the Personal Property Appraisers Post stating how the new site with its excellent content and regular postings is starting to draw attention.  The site was recently mentioned in the new International Society of Appraisers newsletter, ISA Quarterly, and was also announced in a recent broadcast email from the ASA personal property chair.  Artfact has both the Appraiser Workshops Blog and the Appraisers workshops listed on their partners page as well. I have received positive feedback on the Appraisers Post from leadership of ASA, ISA, NAA, AOA, and NAA. I soon hope AAA will see the importance of the site and also notify and promote the site to their members. That is not to mention the numerous appraisers who also have made very positive comments both on the site and to me directly.

The site currently has a great collection of articles and I would like to point a few of the recent ones out.

• David LeBeau, MFA, ASA AM just posted an excellent article on 19th Century, An Age of Revivals 180-1901

• Value....or Was that Value? by Tom Helms, ISA AM

• Aesop's Mirror Review - by Jennifer Lacker, a pre release review of the upcoming book Aesop's Mirror by Alice Huggins
  

• USPAP Teleconference with Brian Kathenes, ISA CAPP and Leon Castner, ISA CAPP

• Pioneer of Modern Design: Christopher Dresser (1834-1904), by Soodie Beasley

• A $500.00 discount offer on the Premium Subscription to Artfact

• Just How Rare is Rare, an article by Englishman Paul Shutler posted by Francine Proulx, MS, ASA, ISA AM

• Marketing Your Appraisal Practice by Brian Kathenes, ISA CAPP

• More in the series by Jerry Sampson on building an appraisal library

If you are not visiting the Appraisers Post on a regular basis you are missing a lot of interesting and thoughtful articles and comments about the personal property appraisal profession.  I encourage you to visit the site often at www.appraiserspost.com, or click HERE. If you are interested in being a contributor to the site along with the other professional appraisers, please click HERE to email me.

Art Toronto

The Toronto Star has a preview of The Toronto International Art Fair which opens on Friday the 23. The art fair is being held in the Metro Toronto Convention Center. The fair is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a show dedicated to Canadian art, with the theme being "Heartland".

The Star reports the will be represented by over 100 galleries from over a dozen nations with over 5,000 pieces on exhibit and for sale. The expects to draw 18,000 people to the Convention center. Last year, the show is said to have sold nearly $15 million of art.

The Star states

The Toronto International Art Fair celebrates its 10th anniversary Friday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with "Heartland," its decisive nod to Canadian art, artists and galleries.

But the flagship exhibition at Art Toronto 2009 aims to be more than just the right nationalist notion at just the right pre-Winter Olympic moment.

For Alberta-based curator Jeffrey Spalding, the all-Canuck showcase goes some way to reconfigure TIAF as an international showcase of Canadian art and not merely an art mart for snappy one-stop shopping. "Heartland's" lineup – including such established newer stars as Shary Boyle and iconic historical figures such as Greg Curnoe – would be any curator's artistic A-list for an international showcase of Canadian art.

"People are busy these days," Spalding says. "The fair is an enormous opportunity for them to come in and drink in a lot of ideas."

But hold on there. TIAF should be about selling art, right? Didn't the fair let gallery owners know a while back that its visitors/buyers were generally a well-heeled bunch whose average household income is "in excess of $100,000?"

To read the full Toronto Star article, click HERE.

Update II: Stolen Warhols

The Los Angeles Times has an update on the recently stolen series of Andy Warhol athlete silk screens.  As you may recall, we the AW Blog last updated this story the owner of the silk screens, Richard Weisman of Los Angeles recently canceled his insurance policy and the $1 million reward he offered the art was stolen.

Weisman infers in the article that he believes the LA police should spend more time looking for the thieves and the art instead of looking at him and his motivations.  He also stated he canceled his insuracne because he did not wish the insurance company to pry into his private life.

Richard L. Weisman, the noted art collector who made news recently when he decided to forgo a multimillion-dollar insurance policy for stolen art, had some critical words for the LAPD detectives investigating his case.

“Maybe if they would do their job … and spent some time looking for the art instead of being accusatory of the person who had it stolen, they might actually find it,” Weisman said in an interview last weekend.

The art world was set abuzz in early September with word that a series of original works by Pop Art icon Andy Warhol had been stolen from the walls of Weisman’s home on Los Angeles' Westside.

None of the other expensive artwork hanging on adjoining walls was disturbed, and there was no sign of forced entry into the home. In all, 11 brightly colored silk-screen paintings were gone -- 10 portraits of famous athletes and one of Weisman, 69, who was a friend of Warhol's and commissioned the series in the late 1970s.

Some experts estimated each piece to be worth at least $1 million. Then, last week, the Seattle Times confirmed with Weisman that he had canceled the $25-million insurance policy covering the Warhols. LAPD Det. Mark Sommer, who makes up half of the department’s two-man art theft detail, called the turn of events “curious” in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, saying that “we’d like to talk to him about it."

To read the full LA Times article, click HERE.

Some General Art News

Lindsay Pollock and Scott Reyburn of Bloomberg have a very good Art Buzz column.  The two touch on 39 major pieces of art to be auctioned by Sotheby's in New York including paintings by Monet, Degas and Picasso, from the collection of Dutch financier Louis Reijtenbagh, in addition to review that upcoming auction sale, the pair touch on a recent watch auction sale at Sotheby's in NY with 161 lot totaling $3.15 million. This figure is above the $2 million low end estimate in the . About 90 percent of the lots found buyers which is a very good sell through rate. They also follow up on the Frieze art fair where a day after the sale a Picasso sold for 6.6 million (see image).

The article is a good recap of some activity in the fine and decorative arts world and worth reading in gaining a better feel for the economy and state of affairs in the fine and decorative arts markets.

A Picasso painting that had been on show last week at London’s Pavilion of Art & Design with a price of 4 million pounds ($6.6 million) has found a buyer.

Picasso’s 1954 “Portrait de Sylvette,’’ offered by the Mayfair-based Lefevre Fine Art, was sold to an anonymous collector on Oct. 19, the day after the fair closed, said the London art dealer and agent Kenny Schachter, who was representing the client, in an e-mail.

The 2-foot-6-inch-high canvas was one of more than 40 paintings, sculptures and drawings Picasso produced of the 19- year-old Sylvette David in the space of a month in 1954.

Alexander Corcoran, chairman of Lefevre, confirmed the sale had been made, refusing other details and citing client confidentiality.

Bacon Offer

The Picasso was shown at the “Frieze-Week” fair, held in a temporary structure in Berkeley Square and bolstered by galleries such as Lefevre and Faggionato Fine Art, which took a $9 million canvas by Francis Bacon.

To read the full Bloomberg piece, click HERE.

A Review of the Past Year in the Art Market

Stephanie Adamowicz writes an interesting review of the past 12 months in the world of art. She takes into account previous "herd buying" habits as well as economic concerns and failures.

Much of what she writes focuses on contemporary art as she looks to find more quality art on the market, but much can also be applied to other art and decorative art segments as well.  She does note a hit of around 30% on contemporary art prices, but also notes the market seems to be rebounding and gaining strength.  She is putting a lot of emphasis on the recent Frieze art fair, which as we know was strong in the below $100,000 sector, and she does note there are some good upcoming indicators which will further clarify the market status and trends. A good article to read.

Adamowicz states

In addition, over the last year, many art professionals argued that an art market correction would lead to better quality art, which in turn would assist in returning confidence to prices. During the art market boom, the pressure to produce greater quantities of work for the growing number of exhibitions and fairs, coupled with rapidly rising prices, stunted creativity. Artists who are no longer as directly influenced or constrained by the marketplace have greater flexibility and creative leeway to produce art independent of demand. There is no doubt that many of the positive reviews of this season's exhibitions reflected a genuine response to the greater quality of works being produced.

We are therefore witnessing a convergence of two important factors, which combined are bringing stability back to the art market -- artists, somewhat relieved of the pressure to cater to the mercurial tastes of an exploding art market, and collectors, who are approaching their purchasing decisions with greater confidence in valuations. The number of confirmed sales and the adjusted prices at Frieze have provided us with these insights into the state of the contemporary art market. Next week's contemporary art fair in Paris, FIAC, will provide another important opportunity to take the pulse of the contemporary art market.

To read the full article by Stephanie Adamowicz on the Huffington Post click HERE.

Bankrupt Law Firm Art Collection to be Sold at Bonhams

Nate Raymond of the New York Law Journal posting on Law.com writes about the corporate art collection of bankrupt law firm Heller Ehram soon to be auctioned by Bohnams and Butterfields. Bohnams appraised the collection to be worth between $610,000 and $771,000 at auction, but they have expectations of the sale reaching over $1 million. Bohnhams plans on auction the art in both NY and in San Francisco.

The article gives some very good insight into art collections and corporate bankruptcy, including value, prices paid, expectations and timing issues. It is well worth reading.

Raymond states

Martin Gammon, director of business development for Bonhams, acknowledged the art will be going on the block at a time when "the art market is somewhat down from its highs of 2007." But he said he expected the Heller auctions to be successful.

"In this particular instance, the pieces are post-war and contemporary, which has seen some deflation, but most of that speculation took place at the very high-end of the marketplace, pieces that were selling for hundreds of millions of dollars," Gammon said. "This is all, I would say, very well selected and well curated material."

Peter Benvenutti, the chair of Heller Ehrman's dissolution committee who is now at Jones Day in San Francisco, said he expected the auction to generate "a small fraction of the original cost" of the art, which he said was substantially more than $1 million.

"The short of it is the timing of the sale is not driven by the art market. The timing of the sale is driven by the process in the dissolution and bankruptcy case," Benvenutti said.

Partners at Heller Ehrman voted to dissolve the firm in September 2008 and filed for bankruptcy that December in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Since then, the firm has been busy winding down in order to pay off creditors, including selling assets such as its art. The firm submitted a liquidation plan last week.

Heller listed $50 million to $100 million in liabilities when it filed for bankruptcy last year. According to last week's liquidation plan, $232 million in unsecured claims had been filed in the case.

The bulk of Heller's collection was in its West Coast offices, the firm said in a motion to sell its art in August filed in the bankruptcy proceedings. It had 1,050 photographs, prints, paintings and sculptures. Of those, 113 pieces were in New York and

To read the full Law.com article, click HERE.

Chirstie's To Auction Rahpael Drawing and Possibly Set a Price Record

Bloomberg's Scott Reyburn is reporting that Chrisite's will sell a Raphael drawing during the December 8th Old Master sale in London.  The drawing is expect to sell for $19.7 million. The previous high for an Old Master drawing was in 2001 for 8.1 pounds (I bleive the exchange rate was around 1.5, or just over $12 million). The article notes that Raphael is one of the three most important artist of the Renaissance, and perhaps the rarest.

Reyburn reports

Stephen Ongpin, a London-based dealer in Old-Master drawings, said in an interview. “He has been at the top of the tree for 500 years. This is a truly significant work. A Raphael drawing of this quality hasn’t emerged since the 1980s.”

The subject of Apollo and the muses was one of four frescos by Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael, commissioned by Pope Julius II and executed between 1508 and 1511. The cycle of wall paintings is regarded by art historians as the summit of the painter’s career. Raphael died in 1520, aged 37.

Raphael’s Mind

“This truly exceptional drawing offers us a glimpse into the working mind of a genius,” Benjamin Peronnet, Christie’s international head of Old Master and 19th-century drawings, said. “It presents us with the immediacy of his thoughts and ideas, capturing the precise moment at which the artist’s hand and mind were applied to paper.”

The drawing has been entered by an anonymous private collector, Christie’s said. It was formerly owned by the painter Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) and by King William II of Holland (1792-1849). This is the first time it has appeared at auction for more than 150 years, said the auction house.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.

Grosvenor House Antique and Art Fair to Masterpiece?

The Antiques and Trade Gazette is reporting that Masterpiece is in the final stages of finding a venue for a potential replacement of the now closed Grosvenor House Antique and Art fair. The ATG piece is short, so I will take the liberty to just reprint the article. Given the news of such a crowded and competitive field to replace Grosvenor, it is certainly good news for the Antique market.

The organizers of Masterpiece, one of the hopefuls in the race to fill the gap left by the Grosvenor House fair, hope to have their venue settled by the end of the year.

In a statement released to ATG at the end of last week, they said they had “appointed experienced planning advisers ahead of submitting an application to hold the inaugural event at Chelsea Barracks from June 24-29, 2010”.

They explained that they were working with the Royal Hospital Chelsea, neighbors to the Barracks, “to deliver the project”.

“It is anticipated that an application will be finalised and put forward to Westminster City Council by the end of this month following consultation with the local community. A decision is expected to follow approximately eight weeks later, as per standard planning guidelines.”

Meanwhile, French organizers Patrick Perrin and Stéphane Custot have confirmed they are joining the increasingly crowded June fairs scene with the launch next year of the Berkeley Square Art & Antique Fair.

It will be held from June 24 to 27 in a marquee in Mayfair, but details have yet to be announced. There was talk of planning permission issues with this event too, but M. Perrin has assured ATG the venue is definitely secured.

Frieze Fair Review

Lindsay Pollock writing for the Art Newspaper has a good review of the past weeks events at the contemporary Frieze Art Fair in London. Early indications from dealers and the Christie's sales showed much promise for a rebounding of the contemporary art market, which as we all know had been hit rather hard over the past year.

In her review, Pollock states there is now a renewed confidence in the contemporary art market.  Where last years Frieze Fair was extremely poor, this year many dealers and gallery owners went in with solid expectations and left with many signs of optimism as well as sales. Although many of the sales reported were below the $100,000.00 threshold, as a good portion of the fair was geared toward newer collectors and affordability by both the promoters and the exhibitors.  So from that perspective it was a good sale for the middle market.

Pollock states

The fair attracted collectors who have only recently come into the market, taking advantage of lower prices and greater supply. “There was a general correction: asking prices are down 40% in some cases,” says hedge fund manager Thomas Sandell, who purchased works by Glenn Ligon and Barnaby Furnas on his first trip to Frieze.

Fair organisers responded (camouflaging the weak market and fewer exhibitors) by transforming a section of the fair into “Frame”, a platform for younger dealers showing cheaper art by less well known artists in solo presentations. “Frame is a good move to introduce new voices,” said Matthew Higgs, head of New York’s non-for profit White Columns space. Dealers were pleased with the results. “People who are on top of things came here,” said San Francisco dealer Claudia Altman of Altman Siegel (R25). “Plus, prices are low.” Altman featured Trevor Paglen’s poetic images of US surveillance satellites priced $6,000 to $9,000. She sold three.

While sales have not returned to anywhere near 2007 levels, the fair has elevated the moods of both buyers and sellers. “The spirit is infinitely better than last year,” said New York art adviser Stefano Basilico. “There’s more pep in people’s walk.”

To read the full Art Newspaper review of the Frieze Art Fair, click HERE.

Results: Christie's Post War and Contemporary Sale

Scott Reyburn of Bloomberg reports on the recent Christie's Post War and Contemporary sale which was held to compliment the Frieze Art Fair in London. The Crhistie's evening sale saw a total of 25 lots up for sale with all but one selling. The group of Post War and Modern sales totaled $18.3 million. The $18.3 million was nearly twice the pres sale low estimate for the sales. Not a bad showing, along with positive results from the Frieze dealers, it seems there might be some stabilization, or perhaps I should say growth in this hard hit market segment. As noteded by one dealer,price have rebounded to the 2006-2007 levels.  Betwwen the results fo the art fair and the auction, reaction has been positive.

Reyburn reports

“There were some good things in the auction and estimates were reasonable,” said New York-based dealer Christophe van de Weghe. “It will give buyers confidence. People are able to see things are selling and there’s no panic in the market.”

The volume of sales at contemporary-art auctions dropped between 70 percent and 80 percent and the prices of works by 50 percent or more since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. last September, said the London-based research company ArtTactic.

Christie’s equivalent auction last October, containing 47 lots, took 32 million pounds, against a lower valuation of 57.8 million pounds. Forty-five percent of the material failed to sell at that time. Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips de Pury stopped guaranteeing minimum prices to sellers at the end of 2008. Collectors have been reluctant to offer high-priced works in public without guarantees; auction companies are selling more pieces through discreet private transactions, often for higher prices than they would have achieved under the hammer.

Big Frieze

“Frieze is a big week in London,” said Francis Outred, Christie’s European head of contemporary art. “We wanted to get the right property at the right price. There were a few come-on estimates that attracted a good mixture of bargain hunters and big-game hunters,” he said.

A 2004 Rudolf Stingel silver wallpaper painting that failed to sell at Christie’s London in February 2008 against a low estimate of 500,000 pounds was re-offered last night at 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds. A flurry of bidding pushed the price up to 289,250 pounds.

“Prices are back to the level of 2006 and 2007,” said Van de Weghe.

To read the full Bloomberg report on the sale, click HERE.

Update: Stolen Warhols

On the 12th of September I posted to the AW Blogs a story about a set of Warhol silkscreens of athletes which were stolen from a Los Angeles residence (click HERE to read).  The owner of the stolen art was offering a $1 million reward for the art, of which 10 pieces were stolen. There was no forced entry into the home, and it is now revealed the owner had several sets of the Warhol Athletes series.

The Art Newspaper is now reporting the owner of the painting has rescinded his insurance claim as well as his $1 million reward.  No explanations are known at this time, but here again the situation sounds unusual.  Is it possible the thief or thieves contacted the owner and a ransom has been paid, but then why the cancellation of the insurance? Regardless, the whole situation makes one wonder.  And, lets not forget the unusual circumstances surrounding the reported on thefts from Pebble Beach.  Both situations certainly raise interest and perhaps suspicion on what actually has happened.

The Art Newspaper reports

News of the widely reported theft came as a shock to the organisers of “Warhol/Icon: the Creation of Image” in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens (until 10 January). They had borrowed a set of “Athletes” from Weisman, and initially police were tipped off that they were the stolen ones.

The guest curator Paul Moorhouse, of the National Portrait Gallery in London, thought the loan was off. “Then we discovered that Weisman had a second set which had been stolen,” he said.

In fact, Weisman has four complete sets out of the original eight “Athletes”. The stolen set was taken from his Los Angeles home in early September; there was no sign of a break-in, and other more valuable works of art were left untouched nearby, Detective Don Hrycyk of the Los Angeles Police Department told The Art Newspaper.

“Withdrawing the insurance claim is an unusual move,” said Hrycyk. “People can make what they want of it.” The investigation into the theft continues, he said, but it “depends on [Weisman’s] cooperation; he’s cut off contact with the insurance company and has not returned recent phone calls”.

To read the full Art Newspaper article, click HERE.

Sotheby's Refuses to Disclose Executive Pay Criteria

Philip Boroff of Bloomberg is reporting that Sotheby's, a publicly traded company has said to the Securities and Exchange Commission it will not reveal the criteria is has set for determining executive pay. Sotheby's believes that by disclosing detailed information on executive pay, its major competitor Chirstie's will gain an unfair advantage and therefore cause harm to Sotheby's. Christie's is a privately held company and it does not have to make such public disclosures.

Boroff states

Sotheby’s was responding to a recommendation in May from the SEC to improve its explanation of executive pay, something it also asked of Microsoft Corp. and Coca-Cola Co., among others. Amid calls for more corporate transparency, Sotheby’s case illustrates the challenges of a publicly held company when it has a closely held rival.

Sheridan also rejected an SEC request to give specifics on how the auction house’s bonus pool is derived from earnings, saying that “would enable our competitor to understand how much of our resources are being or have been devoted to compensation and how much might be available to other corporate purposes.”

Competitive Position

Sheridan wrote the SEC that Sotheby’s will provide more details on bonuses and how they’re set in future filings, as long as the company believes the information doesn’t harm its competitive position. The company devoted about 13,000 words in its March proxy statement to executive compensation.

The SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance periodically reviews filings to monitor and improve public company accounting and disclosure, according to the SEC’s web site. The SEC has made public its correspondence with companies since 2005.

After Sotheby’s and the regulator had a back-and-forth about pay and other disclosures, Kathleen Collins, an SEC accounting branch chief, wrote back in August that the SEC completed its review and had no further comments, the letters show. In an interview, Sheridan called the SEC review routine and said Sotheby’s was pleased with the outcome.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.

Aesop's Mirror

Fellow appraiser and conservator Jennifer Lacker had received a pre publication copy of the new book by conservator Mary Alice Huggins called Aesop's Mirror. Jennifer Lacker reviews the new book from the perspective of an appraiser on the Appraisers Post. The tale sounds similar to Objects of Desire, but this is from an antique trade insider.

The book sounds fascinating, as Lacker states in her review (I especially like the part where she says no one is left unscathed:

Huggins tells the tale of a large mirror and an Empire sofa as they work their way up the antiques food chain. As a New York City antique restorer with a heavy hitter client list, the story goes deeper. This very personal story that will be a must read for personal property appraisers. It will validate both the highs and lows of our investigations.

In many ways, the book is the ultimate fantasy appraisal, the one we all would like to do if not bounded by time, money and energy. Due diligence directs us to consult experts when evaluating an object and the marketplace. Huggins, an insider, is able to show the mirror, unsure if is it American or English, to a staggering array of big names in the antiques field; John Hays, Luke Beckerdike, The Kenos, Alan Miller, Albert Sack, Carpenter etc. Equally staggering is the wide variety of opinions and values gathered, many of which were spongy “maybes” and “perhaps” . No one gets by unscathed.

The book is available for pre order on Amazon by clicking HERE.

It will be released on November 10th.

The full review by Jennifer Lacker is up on the Appraisers Post at www.appraiserspost.com.

London's Frieze Art Fair

The Frieze Art Fair in London is attracting some attention and perhaps more importantly, buyers.  The contemporary art has been on of the hardest hit segment in the art market.  The Frieze fair is being held in a 70,00 square foot temporary structure in Regnet's park and concludes on the 18th. 165 galleries are present from around the world, and as sales were off during the 2008 fair, 28 dealers, or approximately 17% did not return. Many prices remain high, but it also appears many dealers are willing to negotiate well below the asking price to consummate a sale. According to the article, it appears gallery attitudes are good, and the Fair is being well received with both solid interest, offers and sales.

Scott Reyburn of Bloomberg reports there has been solid interest and sales at the Fair. He reports

“Last year was so rough at Frieze,” said the New York- based dealer Marianne Boesky. “Now the feeling is positive. It’s real. There’s no hype or depression. We’re now selling to people who just love art.”

Boesky sold 13 of a new series of 15 watercolors by U.S. artist Barnaby Furnas, showing the capture and execution of the Civil War abolitionist, John Brown. The watercolors, painted specially for Frieze by Furnas, 38, sold for prices between $25,000 and $30,000.

Frieze Discount

“We’ve kept the prices the same for Furnas over the last year,” said Boesky, “though we are offering buyers a 10 percent discount at Frieze.”

Several works at the fair attracted multiple reserves as dealers negotiated with collectors at length to make sales.

“It’s all about decency of transaction,” said Nicholas Logsdail, director of the London-based Lisson Gallery, which attracted three reserves on a new 4-foot-diameter Anish Kapoor gold mirror sculpture, “Turning the World Upside Down,” priced at 475,000 pounds ($759,000).

“We’re waiting to get an agreement from one of the three at a fair price that makes everyone feel good,” said Logsdail.

Kapoor, who has a one-man show at the Royal Academy of Arts, is one of the few contemporary artists whose gallery prices have increased over the last year, said Logsdail.

“They’ve gone up about 10 percent,” he said.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.

Results: NY Photography Auctions

This past week both Christie's and Sotheby's held several photograph sales.  I am not finding much feedback on whether the results were considered good, bad or indifferent.  I do see that Christie's sold much more in both dollar and volume than Sotheby's.

Sothebys offered 244 lots for sale and sold 182 for a 74% sell through rate.  The total sales volume including buyers premium was $3.75 million.  The average lot price for Sotheby's was $20,000.00.  Christie's sales total was $7.48 with 504 lots being offered and 403 selling for a sell through rate of 80%. The average lot price for Christie's was $18,500.00.

Denise Bethel, Head of Sotheby's Photographs department, said:

 We are pleased with the results of today’s sale which were within the estimates (est. $3.5/5.2 million). We saw active participation from private collectors, including a number of new participants, the trade and institutions. Performing especially well were works by Ansel Adams, Paul Outerbridge and Robert Frank.

Yes the Sotheby's sale just made the low end of the total sale estimate of 3.5 million, but that did include the buyers premium.  The above statement from Sotheby's lacks much depth, and I guess the better news is the sale could have been worse.  I was not able to locate a comment on the Christie's sale.

Porcelain Market Remains Strong?

The Art Newspaper recently ran an interesting article on European porcelain and how the market has remained strong.  Now before we get too excited, this strength, according to the article, is for the more unique, high quality and rare pieces. In that upper level museum quality marketplace the demand is and remains high as do the prices being paid by collectors.

But is this really news, or is it any different from many other market segments or sub segments.  I think we have seen across most fine and decorative art segments if the quality and rarity is there, the demand is as well. It is the secondary level and middle markets which have typically suffered.  The best of the best has usually done well in the economic downturn.  Just look at the YSL sale results. Quality, provenance and a little pop culture can go a long way.

So to me I think the article is a bit of a misnomer as the strength of the market for porcelains is perhaps limited  to the very upper end of the market.

The Art Newspaper states

Herbert van Mierlo, director and expert in works of art, furniture and porcelain at Sotheby’s in London, explains: “The market is dominated by a relatively small group of specialised, devoted collectors looking for exquisite pieces. Because of this, the market for porcelain has remained practically immune from the negative effects of the financial crisis, especially in comparison to the general art market.” According to Van Mierlo, “the price tendency for good porcelain is clearly upward as long as the collectors remain eager. The big and difficult challenge for the auction houses is to find the right pieces.” His view is shared by Rodney Woolley of Christie’s in London where, on 2 June 2009, bidding rose to £121,250 for a small gold-mounted Meissen snuff box dating from 1738, decorated on the inside with a delicately painted scene inspired by Watteau.

Russian collectors, who mainly buy figurines and groups, are among Elfriede Langeloh’s most important clients, says Kirsch. And although the porcelain market is doing very well in terms of sales, there is still a problem with what Kirsch calls “the crippling shortage of goods”. She adds: “All dealers are finding it increasingly difficult and expensive to buy porcelain, which is becoming rarer while demand continues to rise. You can’t simply reprint porcelain in the same way as money. Auction rooms have become like battlefields.”

To read the full article, click HERE.

First Block of Lehman Brothers Art Soon to be Auctioned

William Cohen of Fotune Magazine previews the upcoming sale of art from failed investment bank Lehman Brothers.  283 lots will be offered by Freeman's Auction of Philadelphia on November 1st. The expectations for the art is not high, with all 283 lots expected to bring between $500,00.00 and $700,000.00, and rather small amount considered the billions involved in the bankruptcy proceedings.  Two other sales will be scheduled by Freeman's, with values expected to be in the $280,000.00 and $430,000.00 range.

A Roy Lichtenstein print, "I Love Liberty" (see image) is being offered with an estimate of between $15,000.00 and $25,000.00.  According to the article there is a reserve on the print.

From an appraisal and valuation standpoint, it will also be interesting to track the sale of these prints and compare to others without the notoriety and provenance of the being from the Lehman collection.

Cohen reports

Still, the 283 lots that Freeman's will be selling early next month do include any number of iconic images by many familiar artists. For instance, there is a group of 10 Berenice Abbott photographs of New York City street scenes (as well as one of the Flatiron Building) on which Freeman's has placed a seemingly modest price range of between $6,000 and $10,000. There is a set of nine Walker Evans photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge, priced at $1,000 to $1,500. There is a Christo print of wrapped buildings in lower Manhattan ($1,000 to $1,500) and a signed Alexander Calder print ($800 to $1,200). There is a 1973 David Hockney print of spring flowers in a vase that Freeman pegged at between $7,000 and $10,000.

A Roy Lichtenstein print, "I Love Liberty" from 1982, is estimated to fetch between $15,000 and $25,000. The Lichtenstein is one of the few lots being sold subject to a reserve price, or floor, so that if a minimum bid is not received the artwork will not be sold. Most of the collection, however, will just be sold without a price floor, which may be why Freeman's has put relatively low price ranges on a number of the pieces.

There are also a number of prints by artists such as Jim Dine, Louise Bourgeois, Claes Oldenburg, Wayne Thiebaud, Yaccov Agam, Alex Katz, Robert Motherwell, Louise Nevelson, Frank Stella, Robert Indiana, and Andy Warhol. In many ways, the collection is very typical of what Wall Street banks and law firms use to line the many walls of their offices. There are also a slew of works by lesser-known artists as well as French, Indian, and Chinese artists.

Although the dollar amount is relatively small, selling the collection is a bit of a coup for Freeman's. Usually, one of the three titans in the auction art market, Christie's, Sotheby's (BID), or Phillips, would be expected to sell such a collection. But Kelly Wright, an art advisor to Lehman, conducted a beauty contest earlier in the year and Freeman's was selected. "We are very excited about it," Henry said. "This is a very important provenance in the art world and there are number of top quality artworks being sold in good condition." Of course, Freeman's will get its pound of flesh. The auctioneer will add 25% on the first $20,000 of the hammer price of each lot, and 20% on the portion from $20,001 through $500,000.

To read the full article from Fortune, click HERE.

Da Vinci Drawing Discovered Value at $147 Million

The Antique Trade Gazatte is reporting that a work sold at Christie's during the 1990's for $19,000.00 is now in fact considered by many to be a true Leonardo Da Vinci pen and chalk drawing on vellum. The painting had a German early 19th century attribution.  Forensics have played a large role in the authentication and forensic processes, with a fingerprint on the painting matching one in the Vatican known to be Da Vinci's. Many Da Vinci scholars are now agreeing with the new findings. As a Da Vinci the painting could be worth $147 million

The Antique Trade Gazatte article is very interesting and delves into a fair amount of authentication issues.  It is worth reading.

Professor Kemp’s assertion is backed by scientific evidence obtained by the revolutionary “multispectral” camera pioneered by Lumière Technology of Paris.

Peter Paul Biro, the Montreal-based forensic art expert, examined the multispectral images and found a fingerprint near the top left of the work, corresponding to the tip of the index or middle-finger, and “highly comparable” to a fingerprint on Leonardo’s St Jerome in the Vatican (which, stresses Biro, is an early work from a time when Leonardo is not known to have employed assistants).

A palm-print in the chalk on the sitter’s neck “is also consistent in application to Leonardo’s use of his hands in creating texture and shading”, adds Biro, who is credited with pioneering fingerprint studies to help resolve authentication and attribution issues of works of art.

The Lumière camera has already been used to analyse Leonardo’s Mona Lisa and Lady with an Ermine; by the Kröller-Müller, Van Gogh and Cleveland Art Museums; and by the Art Institute of Chicago.

Multispectral analysis reveals each successive layer of colour, and enables the pigments and pigment mixtures of each pixel to be identified without taking physical samples.

For the vellum portrait, Lumière have been able to establish the composition of the materials used in both the original drawing and the restoration. It transpires, for instance, that the green of the girl’s costume was obtained by applying progressive strokes of black chalk to the yellowish surface of the vellum.

Lumière have identified the chalk as amphelite, a fine-grained black argillite (clay slate). Meanwhile flesh tints, and the amber tone of the iris, were achieved by leaving the vellum uncovered.

To read the full article click HERE.

Empty New York Store Fronts Attracting Artists

Diane Carewell of the NY Times is reporting that artists are helping NY landlords temporarily fill empty store fronts. The retail spaces the artists are typically taking advantage of is at times either donated or rented and far below market rates.  This helps the artists gain notoriety and also keeps the space occupied until better times and new rent paying businesses are located by the landlord.

The good news is artist are getting more exposure to show their work, the downside is the economy is still hurting as landlords and commercial real estate brokers look for short term flexible ways to temporarily fill space as the longer term lease and entrepreneurship continues to wane.

Carewell states

The art may vary in style and shock value, but the settings are essentially the same — spaces donated or leased for a song by building owners unable to rent or develop them.

As the recession drags on and storefronts across New York remain empty, commercial landlords are turning to an unlikely new class of tenants: artists, who in flusher times tend to get pushed out rather than lured in. And the price of entry is not deep pockets, but vivid imaginations and splashy exhibits — anything to lend the darkened buildings a sense of life.

On terms that are cut-rate and usually temporary — a few weeks or months — the artist gets a gallery or studio, and the landlord gets a vibrant attraction that may deter crime and draw the next wave of paying tenants.

“Any sort of activity is better than no activity,” said Jed Walentas, a Brooklyn developer whose company, Two Trees Management, routinely lends space in Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn for art projects. “As long as it’s short enough and it’s flexible, then there’s no real cost. So the question is who can you find that’s going to make an investment in a space with that level of uncertainty, and often it’s the artist.”

These “pop-up galleries,” as they are known in Britain, where the phenomenon is well established, are increasingly taking hold in New York as development advocates and landlords struggle to keep up appearances where commerce and construction have stalled.

The demand among landlords is so high that Chashama, a group that has been working for almost 15 years to find vacant real estate for visual and performing artists, no longer has to go looking.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.

Canadain Silver Sold

Fellow appraiser Kathi Jablonsky sent me this article from the Toronto Sun on Officials at Rideau Hall and Public Works who were called before the Canadian Parliament to explain why a silver collection was not only sold but sold below market rates. It would have been helpful if an appraiser was involved to advise prior to the sale, if the sale were in fact authorized. Indeed, for future sales this appears to be the case.

The Toronto Sun article is rather short, so I will post in its entirety.

Officials at Rideau Hall and Public Works will be called before a Parliamentary committee to explain why the government auctioned off thousands of dollars worth of antique silver at bargain basement prices.

Senator Serge Joyal, who has tabled a motion calling for changes in the way artifacts and public rooms at Rideau Hall are managed, says he will push for a Senate committee to call witnesses to get to the bottom of the incident.

“There is no doubt that we will ask who is responsible for this and how it happened to wind up in the disastrous situation it finds itself in at the end.”

Joyal’s comments come following the revelation by Sun Media that the government has paid $95,150 to buy back historic antiques from Rideau Hall that it accidentally sold for $3,934.37 on a government online auction site.

The government paid $50,000 to buy back three sterling silver flower baskets it sold for $532 to a unnamed buyer in Luskville, Que. The baskets, presented as wedding gifts to Queen Elizabeth II’s grandparents, were on loan from Buckingham Palace.

A gold-trimmed table mirror was sold for $218.04 and repurchased from a Montreal buyer for $32,000.

Both pieces were repurchased for prices at or near the values determined by professional appraisers.

E-mails provided to Sun Media by the purchaser of the table mirror, suggest officials were under pressure to get the antiques back.

“Give me a call or contact me ref the sell back of the mirror,” wrote Mike Fabbro of Crown Assets Distribution in an e-mail July 29. “The best price you will ever get will be this week as the leadership wants to close the file — either way.”

Public Works Minister Christian Paradis said he was “shocked” by the sale of heritage objects but denied that political pressure resulted in higher prices.

“When we saw the error had been made, we recovered the assets and we said in the future when there are heritage assets from any client department ... we should ask for an evaluation to ensure that such errors don’t happen again.”

Officials balked at paying $500 to get the pieces appraised before the sale. They have since paid $1,500 for appraisals to get them back.

The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (OSGG), which sent the antiques off to be sold, is paying for the appraisals and the repurchases – a total of $96,650.

NDP MP Charlie Angus said the government lacks a plan to protect heritage assets.

“We don’t know what else would have been sold off at fire sale prices if it hadn’t been through investigative journalism that caught the government out on this.”

Liberal Martha Hall Findlay said the government is quick to spend money to “cover their tracks” but not on infrastructure.

“It’s an appalling waste of taxpayer money.”

Middle Eastern Market Woes

Stefania Bianchi of the Wall Street Journal reports on the Middle Eastern art market. After much investment and anticipation it is now struggling for a  firm financial foundation, although it is proving allusive. Bianchi discusses the current state of art affairs in the Middle East with Matthew Girling, Bonhams' regional chief executive. Girling believes the Middle Eastern market is soft for several reasons, first the economic impact has been greater than what has been felt in the US and Europe, and the market is not nearly as deep as other regions with fewer sophisticated collectors.

This poor news follows on the heels of today's other post on the positive outlook of the RICS Art and Antique Survey in England. Of course markets and collecting habits are unique and different, but it does show there is still a ways to go before the art markets return to a more stable environment.

Bianchi reports

To tap a growing appetite for art, jewelry and other luxury items in the oil-rich Gulf, international auction houses have in recent years moved their businesses to the region.

Dubai has become a center for galleries and auction houses hoping to tap into the region's wealthy.

Christie's was the first international auction house to have a permanent office in the Middle East, opening in Dubai in 2005. Phillips de Pury & Co. also has an office in the emirate, while Sotheby's has an office in Qatar.

But in recent months, as the global downturn has moved in on the Persian Gulf's boomtown, its auction houses have struggled to drum up interest at art events targeting the mega rich.

"The last thing the art market in this region was a downturn and it's been very hard to withstand a knock like that," Girling said.

The 216-year old British auction house, which will hold its fourth Middle Eastern Art auction in Dubai next week, expects that as the global and regional economic downturn eases, the appetite for art in the Gulf region will return, but warns "it could take a while to build back up."

Bonhams set up a Dubai office in 2007 and an inaugural sale for contemporary art here in March 2008 took $13 million - almost three times the expected result, with 94% of lots sold.

However, at Bonhams' most recent Dubai auction last May only 70% of lots were sold.

Girling says the Bonhams sale of predominantly Iranian, Arab and Pakistani contemporary art on Oct. 12 will "test the waters" for appetite in the region. With the pre-auction estimate at a modest $1.5 million to $2 million for the 100 pieces up for sale, Girling says there are plenty of opportunities for bargain hunters.

"Sellers have had to reduce their expectations," he said. "The huge prices we once saw won't come around again quickly."

To read the WSJ article, click HERE. (If the full article does not come up and you wish to read the full article search Google News for Stefania Bianchi.

RICS Third Quarter Art and Antiques Survey

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has released its third quarter Art and Antiques survey. I am please to see from both a price and confidence perspective the results are positive. The survey categories cover all lots, furniture, books, ceramics, silver , clocks, Jewelery, toys, militaria, oils and water colors, contemporary art, expected supply and expected demand.

Read the summary for a general overview of the positive direction and then download the full PDF for the full report and statistics.  Finally some positive news, if it can continue perhaps additional confidence and buyers will start to move into a support the various fine and decorative art markets, especially at the middle market levels.


The RICS survey summary states:

The net balance of surveyors reporting rising rather than falling prices rose in the third quarter, with the All Lot net price balance increasing from +7 to +14.

Out of the ten sub-sectors covered in the survey, only three did not record a positive net balance during the latest three month period; contemporary arts, ceramics and oil and water colours. The contemporary art sector continued to record a much weaker net balance reading than the oil and water colour sector (-34 vs. -3). Moreover, in the oil and water colour sector, it is notable that the price falls were recorded in the lower end of the market; at the richer end, prices were still rising.

The best performing sub-sectors were jewellery and silverware (with strong readings in all price bands). The continued strength of these sectors can be partly explained by the perceived 'safehaven' status of such items during times of financial and economic uncertainty as well as by the increased scrappage value of precious metals over the last three months.

In terms of the demand and supply outlooks for the Q4 period, confidence turned increasingly buoyant in both areas, with the net balance readings reaching 47 in both cases (although the shift was more pronounced for the supply outlook).

To read and download the full RICS survey, click HERE.

Results: Sotheby's Hong Kong Autmn Sales

The results are in, and Sotheby's and many buyers are smiling.  The past week at Sotheby's Hong Kong saw over 2,400 lots sell for a total of $166 million.  This is the third highest for a Sotheby's Hong Kong series of sales.  It also brought 88% above the level of the spring sales.Many of the purchasers were from  mainland China and they dominated most every auction category, setting many sales.A very rare and finely enameled FAMILLE-ROSE celadon ground butterfly vase sold for $2.76 million(see image).

Here are some highligths from a Sothey;s press release, and the list is long:

• Sales of Two Private Wine Collections Realised a combined total of HK$61.5 million/ US$7.9 million- 23% higher than the Spring 2009 sale total
  

• 3 October - The Classic Cellar from a Great American Collector III Totaled US$4.9 million; over 99% sold by lot and sold by value (The remaining 5 lots sold after the auction, bringing the final result to 100% sold)
  

• 4 October - An Exceptional Cellar from a Private American Collector - Totalled US$2.97 million; - 100% sold- World Auction Record Set for Château Pétrus 1982 Imperial (6 litres) which sold for US$93,077

• 5 October - Fine Chinese Paintings Sale achieved over US$23 million - The Highest Total for a Sotheby’s Various-Owner Sale of the Category - 40% higher than the Spring 2009 sale total
  

• 6 October - 20th Century Chinese Art Sale achieved over US$14 million - 18% higher than the Spring 2009 sale total
  

• Sanyu’s Lotus et Poissons Rouges commanded US$4.68 million - The Second Highest Auction Price for the Artist - An Auction Record of a Landscape Painting by the Artist

• 6 October - Contemporary Asian Art Sale totaled over US$14 million, - Sold by Lot: 77%; Sold by Value: 82% - 75% higher than the Spring 2009 sale total
  

• 6 October - Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings Sale totaled over US$6.4 million - 76% higher than the Spring 2009 sale total - Lee Man Fong’s Magnificent Horses fetched US$1 million – World Auction Record for the Artist - Le Pho’s Paysage du Tonkin (Landscape of Tonkin) sold for US$264,000 – World Auction Record for a Lacquer Work by the Artist
  

• 7 October - Important Watches Sale achieved over  US$4.6 million - Sold by Lot: 86.6%; Sold by Value: 91% - 69% higher than the Spring sale total

• 7 October - Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Sale totaled  over US$32.6 million - 105% higher than the Spring sale total - 8.74-carat Emerald-cut Fancy Intense Blue Diamond and Diamond Ring sold for  US$5.6 million – The Highest Price for a Fancy Intense Blue Diamond at Auction in Asia - 18.08-carat Kashmir Sapphire and Diamond Ring sold for US$1.5 million – An Auction Record for a Kashmir Sapphire in Asia
  

• 8 October – Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Sale realized a combined total of US$62.4 million - 173% higher than the Spring 2009 sale total Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection - Qianlong - Totalled over US$8.2 million - Sold by Lot: 84%; Sold by Value: 91.7% Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art - Totaled US$54 million

Some quotes from Sotheby's:

Commenting on the sales, Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said: “We are very pleased with the results from our Autumn sales series. In every category this week, we produced strong results and achieved many high prices and records. Bidding support throughout the sales series was solid and particularly deep for top lots, evidencing a clear indication that our clients – both long-time collectors and those new to the market – are after the most valuable and rare works. Chinese participation in our sales this week was notably stronger and is testament not only to the continued economic power of China but also our efforts in cultivating clients in this important region.”

Kevin Ching, Chief Executive Officer of Sotheby’s Asia, continued: “Our specialist teams were adept at assembling well-curated sales, combined with market-savvy estimates, that were responsive to the desires of our discerning clients. It is this careful approach that produces the strong results we witnessed this week. While the overall economic outlook has improved to some degree since our spring sales, bidders remain focused on correct estimates and fresh property. As our results demonstrate, our offerings this week exceeded this rigorous standard to produce excellent results for our consignors.”

One interesting note, and all of the sales figures are quoted with the buyers premium, the Hong Kong sales at Sotheby's were charging a buyers’ commission of 25 percent of the hammer price for the first HK$400,000/$51,600.00; 20 percent for an amount between HK$400,001/$US 51,600.00 and HK$8 million.US $1.3 million; and 12 percent for any amount above that.