More on Old Masters

Souren Melikian in the NY Times looks at last weeks Old Master sales. Melikian has issues with the Christie's sale which he felt struggled to obtain  the necessary number of paintings for a full important sale. Christie's therefore allowed much second tier work into the sale. He also felt the combining of Old Masters with late 19th century art is also a mistake and detracts from the importance an Old Master sales.

The interesting point made is that quality art is still scarce, and yet the second level paintings have sold well even with large buy in rates. The Christie's sale still made $27.5 million. It is clear Melikian did not care for the quality level of the Christie's sale, and was disappointed in the addition of 19th century art, but was impressed with some of the numbers on many of the lots that did sell.  Perhaps the message we can take out of this is the middle market is starting to gain a little bit of traction due to the scarcity at the top end of the market sector.

Melikian was much kinder about the quality at the Sotheby's sale although he did feel there were a few empty spots, and also a few bargains as well.

The NY Times report stated

The scarcity of goods was actually made painfully obvious at Christie’s on Wednesday. The need to fill their catalogues with a minimum number of lots had apparently persuaded the departmental heads to accept too many second division works and to estimate them at levels more appropriate for gems. There was no way Luca Giordano’s “The Triumph of Bacchus and Neptune and Amphitrite” could match the ambitions suggested by a $500,000 to $700,000 estimate plus a sale charge in excess of 15 percent. It crashed unsold at $380,000.

Another mistake induced by the dearth of goods was to try to make up for the insufficient number of Old Masters by throwing in late 19th-century works qualifying as kitsch of the first water. Offering in the same session a portrait of a late 19th-century socialite by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta and a devotional panel with Jesus on the Cross by the 15th-century master Filippino Lippi is not a great idea. True, both sold, the Lippi for a modest $122,500, and Madarazo y Garreta’s likeness of one Mrs. Aline Mason for an astonishing $218,500.

The problem with such pranks is that they do not raise the profile of an auction and go a long way to create a dull atmosphere. Nearly half the lots failed to sell, leaving some newcomers to the market under the impression that the situation was dire. But nothing could have been further from the truth.

A sale that despite its weakness manages to take in a substantial $27.5 million does not point to a sluggish market.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.