Financial Times Previews Modern and Impressionist Sales

Georgina Ada's of the Financial Times has an interesting preview column on the upcoming impressionist and modern sales at Christies and Sotheby's in New York.As has become standard practice, all is measured against early sales in 2008 followed by the melt down in the fall of 2008 after Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.  You do get a little tired of hearing about last years sales and I assume it is necessary to set the stage for the current sales, of  a year later.

Ada states confidence is up, but the total prices the sales are expected to realize are still far below those of past years.  Sothebys is offering 60 items in their premiere event and Christies is offering 41 lots. The interesting news is in the Sotehby's sale were there is an irrevocable bid left on a Picasso. The article also covers some other art topics, so it is an interesting read.

Ada reports

But confidence has been returning to the market on the back of a bouncy Art Basel fair, and consignments have followed, boosted by the first major sale of “distress” art in the case of Sotheby’s. All the same, the total expected this week is still well down and stands between $218.5m and $324.5m for both houses.

First up is impressionist and modern art, and Christie’s opens the ball on Tuesday evening with 41 works estimated between $68m and $97m. There are few highlights but the cover lot is a very pretty Degas pastel of “Danseuses” ($7m-$9m). This is being sold as part of a restitution agreement with the heirs of Jewish collectors Ludwig and Margret Kainer, who were forced by the Nazis to sell the painting in 1935.

Sotheby’s 60-lot evening sale on Wednesday is estimated at up to $160m and includes 27 works that come from a Dutch investor, Louis Reijtenbagh. During a three-year spending spree he made massive investments in private equity; he has now settled claims brought by a number of banks and some of his art collection has been impounded. In a statement, Reijtenbagh confirmed that “these works ... were previously pledged either to ABN Amro Bank Luxembourg SA or JPMorgan Chase as collateral for loans ... these loans have been fully satisfied.”

To read the full FT article, click HERE.