Concerns Over Contemporary Art

Scott Reyburn writing for Bloomberg reports that art reaseach firm ArtTactic has sent out warning signs in a recent report about the sustainability of contemporary art prices. The report was issued just as some major contemporary art are coming up for sale in London.  This includes works by Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. This outlooks is change from just a few short months, or even weeks ago.  It shows have fast the art market can change in unsettled economic times.

Reyburn reports

The survey’s Risk Barometer jumped 22 percent on concerns over the short-term economic outlook. Fifty-five percent of 138 contemporary-art collectors and professionals see little improvement over the next six months, ArtTactic said, though overall confidence was 4.2 percent higher than in December 2009.

“The recovery of the art market is on,” Anders Petterson, founder and managing director of ArtTactic, said in an interview. “Economic realities look as though they’re going to slow that recovery. This is going to be a tough five years going forward and wealthy collectors aren’t oblivious to what’s happening.”

Trophy works at Sotheby’s and Christie’s International’s evening sales of Impressionist and modern art last week struggled to realize expectations that were raised by recent auction records for Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani.

An Edouard Manet self portrait fell to a single bid of 22.4 million pounds at Sotheby’s on June 22. At Christie’s the following evening, a ‘Blue Period’ Picasso sold within estimate for 34.8 million pounds and a Claude Monet water lily painting, valued as much as 40 million pounds, failed. There was less buying from clients in the emerging economies, both auction houses said after their sales.

Fewer Asian Bids

“There was some activity from Asia, but it was mostly bottom-fishing,” the Paris-based dealer Christian Ogier, who specializes in 20th century Chinese art. “It was very surprising. There was a lot of Asian bidding in New York in May,” said Ogier, who was monitoring the telephone bids taken by Sotheby’s and Christie’s Hong Kong-based specialists at the London sales.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.