High Expectations for Christie's June UK Impressionist Sale

Scott Reyburn reporting in Bloomberg states the upcoming June 23rd Impressionist sale at Christie's in London may well set an auction record for total sales in the UK.  Two paintings being offered in the sale are expected to sell at close to $60 million each.  This includes a Monet water lily painting (see image) as well as a Picasso.

The interesting aspect of the Reyburn's article is the commentary on the success of sales at the top end of the market.  If you recall, just about a year and half ago there were sales struggling to get quality art. It seems like since the end of 2009 and early 2010, the upper end of the market has opened up again. This type of information is very important for appraisers.  As much of the middle markets continue to suffer, the very top end, the best of the best, is doing very well.  As Reyburn reports, there are many wealthy individuals in the world today and they see top quality art as safe haven investment, a hedge against inflation and are willing to pay premium prices for the right work.

Reyburn reports

“There’s a belief that great art is the new gold,” said Guy Jennings, partner in the London-based dealership Theobald Jennings. “There are people with a great deal of money who think art is a safe haven. They aren’t collecting, they’re depositing money in assets.”

Demand for Impressionist and modern artworks has been pushing recent auctions to records. In February, Sotheby’s achieved a total of 146.8 million pounds with fees at its Impressionist auction, the highest for any sale in London. Record results such as the 65 million pounds achieved by Sotheby’s for Giacometti’s “Walking Man I” and the $106.5 million paid for Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” at Christie’s in New York in May will encourage sellers of high- value works, dealers said.

The 3-foot-high (0.9 meter) Monet canvas, a smoky evocation of light shifting across the surface of the artist’s Japanese- style water garden at Giverny, was one of five 1906 works in an exhibition of “Nympheas” paintings held by the dealer Durand- Ruel in Paris in 1909. The work remained in the Durand-Ruel family for several decades, said Christie’s.

To read the full Bloomberg report, click HERE.