Strong Opening for Art Basel

The trade papers have been reporting on the opening VIP exhibition at the now 42nd Art Basel fair.  Most early indications and reports are that buyers are out in force, that prices, although considered high, are not slowing the interest or the sales at the fair.  The rationale is that many HNWIs are seeking alternative investments as a hedge against recession.  The article states interest rates are low and economic growth is considered weak, and the euro is stronger than the dollar. With many of those thoughts mind, the upper sector of contemporary art market continues to show signs of strength.

The fair has over 300 dealers from 35 countries representing about 2,500 artists, with total values of exhibited art in the $1.75 billion range.

Bloomberg reports on the fair

“This year’s Art Basel reminds me of the boom,” said Philip Hoffman, chief executive of the London-based Fine Art Fund, which sold four pieces priced at more than 5 million pounds ($8.2 million) through exhibiting dealers. “Wealthy people are looking to art as a hedge against recession. And they’re being better advised than they were in 2007. Then I saw some idiots buying anything.”

The Rothko, a 1969 orange work in oils on paper mounted on canvas offered by New York-based L & M Arts, was one of the early confirmed sales of more than $5 million. The fair is bristling with substantially priced works by major-name 20th- century artists.

“Some of the prices are a little high, but the euro is strong against the dollar,” the New York-based collector Alberto Mugrabi said in an interview. “The quality is good this year, and things are moving.”

The Swiss dealer Galerie Bruno Bischofberger presented the 1980 Andy Warhol screen printed canvas “Onehundredandfifty Black/ White/ Grey Marilyns,” measuring 33 feet (10 meters) wide and priced at $80 million. It attracted a reserve from a European collector during the fair’s opening minutes. The reserve was lifted a few hours later when the seller’s family decided to withdraw it, according to the gallery director, Tobias Mueller.

To read the full Bloomberg article, click HERE.

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