ART: Focus on Contemporary Art

Our friends at Art Research Technologies just released its most recent newsletter, Focus On: Contemporary Art.  ART publishes their newsletter, which is typically connected to the auction season, just before a major sale.  With the large spring contemporary, modern and impressionist sales coming up this week in NYC, the report from ART is rather timely.

The report has some interesting content, such as Christie's average mid estimate is $801,616 which 42% higher than Sotehby's and twice the average mid estimate at Phillips.  As many appraisers are aware, the prices of Andy Warhol art has been increasing, ART reports the average Warhol price has increased by 212% since 2006.  The ART report contains some excellent market based information on art sectors as a whole as well as individual artists.

The ART Focus On: Contemporary Art report states

SOTHEBY'S WILL KICK OFF the second round of Contemporary art sales in 2011 when it offers 43 lots from the collection of Wayne Thiebaud on Monday night. The Thiebaud auction includes works by 11 different postwar artists -- Joseph Cornell and John Chamberlain among them -- as well as pieces by Thiebaud himself. Pies (est. $2.5-$3.5 million) carries the highest estimate of the 18 Thiebauds on offer, which are expected to bring a total of at least $12.8 million.

Christie's, meanwhile, is hanging its hopes on the biggest Francis Bacon consignment to come to market since 2008 (see page three for more). The Bacon is one of seven works that the house expects to bring more than $10 million, a lineup that also includes Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly and, of course, Andy Warhol. Between Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips, there are 66 Warhols on the block next week (including another big Liz at Phillips), about as many as the market saw in May 2010. However, last May's Warhols were expected to bring $60 million to $90 million; in May 2011, his work is estimated to sell for $143 million to $204 million -- more than a quarter of the expected total for the week.

As those Warhol numbers indicate, the houses are banking on big prices in a way that they were not a year ago: Six lots are expected to sell for more than $20 million next week, whereas only one lot was expected to pass that benchmark last May.

The ART report is subscription based with a free e-newsletter and monthly fee plans, click HERE for more information.

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