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.