Frieze Week in Review

 Colin Gleadell of the Telegraph has a good recap of the Frieze week fairs and auctions held last week.  As many appraisers are aware and as I have posted on the AW Blog, there was more than a little trepidation about how the auction sales would perform in this economic climate.  Just like the overall market, some did poorly, and some did well.  Gleadell is of the conclusion that in total, the week was not bad at all, and perhaps was a bit over initial expectations, yet still lower than the impressive 2010 results, and there were still winners and losers.

Gleadell reports that the Phillips sales were expected to sell over GBP 11 million and brought only GBP 8 million.  Likewise with Bonhams, expecting over GBP 3 million and selling around GBP 2 million.  Gleadell explains (rationalizes) that both Phillips and Bonhmas had to offer higher value points and guarantees in order to procure exceptional works for the sales.  In a softening market, usually higher estimates restricts bidding.

Sotheby's London sales did OK with 75% of the lots selling, but many sold below expectations.  Christie's sold all but six of their painints, and the sales totaled GBP 38 million which was close to the sales high estimate.

In conclusion, Gleadell notes the auctions totaled a decent GBP 123 million, which is good, but far below last years impressive tally of GBP 174 million.

Gleadell reports

Phillips de Pury & Co opened the series with patchy £8.2 million sale when over £11 million at least had been expected. Here, the tense atmosphere was compounded by the unusual presence of Leonid Friedland, the head of the Russian Mercury Group which are majority shareholders of the auctioneers. Friedland was clearly anxious about the outcome as he jumped up and down to speak to his Moscow specialist who was manning telephone bids on two star lots by Damien Hirst, both of which she bought without much competition below published estimates. Although there were bright moments for hot young artists Jacob Kassay, Walead Beshty and Tauba Auerbach, more than half the lots that were sold, including works by established artists Jeff Koons and Richard Prince, sold below estimates.

The next day at Bonhams, the bidding was again lacklustre as a fine painting by Glenn Brown, estimated at £700,000 was snapped up by American collector Adam Lindemann for £600,000, and a huge magazine collage by the Italian conceptualist, Alghiero Boetti, estimated at £1.2 million, was unsold. Elsewhere, Bonhams did manage some healthy prices, but the sale brought only £2 million when over £3 million had been hoped for.

The problem for both Phillips and Bonhams was that they had to quote high prices and provide guarantees to sellers of the best works who had also consulted Sotheby’s and Christie’s. In the event, they could not find enough bidders to compete at those levels.

The big question then was whether Sotheby’s could do any better? Leaving the regular 20th century Italian art sales aside (see market news), the answer was yes, but not that much better. Although over 75 percent of lots were sold, most of those did so at hammer prices on or below their estimates, including the star lot, a small portrait by Lucian Freud, and the sale fell below target. The highlight was a £691,000 record price paid by a private collector for a thickly encrusted street scene by Leon Kossoff. The price places Kossoff closer to fellow school of London painter, Frank Auerbach, for whom the market seems to have reached a plateau.

To read the complete article click HERE.
(1 British pound sterling = 1.5756 US dollars)