Established artists and classic masterworks are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of eager art flippers, Bloomberg reports, pointing in particular to a Francis Picabia that saw a massive 220% gain in price in less than six months.  “Because art is seen as an asset class, the more rapid turnover is considered encouraging. There’s a whole new generation of collectors who are playing the art market,” says Frances Beatty, VP at Richard L. Feigen & Co. (more…)

Marina Abramovic is in Bloomberg this week, reviewing her current market value, and the difficulties in selling her works despite her immense recognition as an artist.  “There is this contradiction,” says Abramovic. “I’m very high on every art list or whatever, but as for market value, I’m less than any mediocre, how do you call it, young art.” (more…)

Claude Monet, Le Grand Canal (1908), via Sotheby’s

The Impressionist and Modern Auction week has begun in London, as Sotheby’s closes its doors on a strong set of evening sales.  It was the first sale since the auction house announced its increase in rates for 2015, but buyers seemed undeterred by the price increases, bring the final sales tally for the 54 lot sale to an impressive £170,274,000. (more…)

Global art sales topped $16 Billion in 2014, according to the new figures released this week by Artnet, with Andy Warhol at the top of the list of top-selling artists for his $653.2 million in sales.  “The headline number is not so much a comment on the art market as it is on global wealth,” says Jeff Rabin of advisory firm Artvest Partners. “We haven’t seen a considerable increase in the number of objects sold. We have seen price appreciation at the top end.” (more…)

Christie’s will auction Manet’s iconic Le Printemps (1881) this fall at its Impressionist and Modern sale in New York, the New York Times announced today.  The 1881 portrait has remained in the same family for over a century, and is estimated at $25 to $35 million.  “We’ve given museums advance notice,” says Impressionist and Modern Director Adrien Meyer. (more…)

Writer Paul Levy is in The Telegraph this week, writing on the unique experience of seeing his own portrait put up for auction later this month at Christie’s in London.  Levy was the subject of two portraits painted by artist Howard Hodgkin, one of which led to a bizarre encounter with Charles Saatchi, the original purchaser of one of the works.  “I greeted an old friend who was then secretary of the RA,” Levy writes.  “He was talking to someone vaguely familiar, who turned to me and said: ‘You don’t recognise me. But you’re the first thing I see every morning.’ That is how I learnt that my portrait hung in Charles Saatchi’s bedroom.” (more…)

The New York Times writes on the state of the art market, noting the risks inherent in a market that relies partially on taste and the opinions of art advisors to determine market value and success.  “Art is an asset, not an asset class,” said Luke Dugdale, a private client wealth management director for the Royal Bank of Canada.  “If it were an asset class, the F.C.A. would regulate it, and that would kill the art world. It’s a market in which everyone can be an adviser.”  (more…)

The Wall Street Journal looks at the growing market for prints, drawings and sketches by major artists, which can command impressive sales figures, and have even paid off for many investors in the high-demand state of the current auction market. Prints and sketches by Warhol and Calder, among others, have doubled or tripled in price in a matter of a few years.  “These are the names everybody knows—they feel safe for people, especially when no one quite knows exactly how long a good run is going to last,” said Meredith Hilferty, director of Rago Arts & Auction Center in New Jersey. (more…)

China Poly Group Corporation, the state-run mega-conglomerate has announced that its cultural division will seek an Initial Public Offering this year, anticipated to raise up to $330 million for the company.  China Poly is a major player in the Chinese auction market, pitted against Sotheby’s and Christie’s, but seems to have set its sights internationally.   “We are very big in the art auction market in mainland China but still have a long way to go to become the biggest auction house worldwide,” said China Poly chief executive, Jiang Yingchun. (more…)

Sotheby’s first auction in mainland China closed today with an impressive final sales tally of over $37 million.  The final results included a record-setting $14,725,457 final price for Zao Wou-Ki’s 1958 canvas, Abstraction.   (more…)

The hotly contested painting Red, Black, and Silver has been authenticated as the final painting from artist Jackson Pollock, given to his mistress shortly before his death in 1956.  The painting had long believed to have been a Pollock, but was blocked from authentication by Pollock’s wife, Lee Krasner, who held a personal vendetta against his mistress, Ruth Kligman.  That changes today, now that authorities have found strands of Pollock’s hair in the canvas, as well as sand unique to the beaches around his East Hamptons home.  “The world was flat. Now it is round. It’s Galileo. Science can now be used to authenticate the art.  We are [tracing] the painting back to where it was executed. It’s very CSI.”  Says artist and Kligman estate trustee Jonathan Cramer.      (more…)

Oscar Murillo, Untitled (2012), via Phillips

The Phillips Contemporary Art Evening Sale wrapped tonight in London, kicking off another edition of Frieze week auctions in the British capital. Running efficiently through the 38 lot auction, the first in the week’s three nights of sales achieved strong, if not expectable results.  With the events of Frieze week as a major draw for collectors around the world, Phillips had little problem finding new buyers for all but 6 of the works on sale, with 10 lots selling well above their maximum estimates.

Tauba Auerbach, Untitled (Fold) (2011), via Phillips (more…)

Phillips has announced plans for a first-ever digital art auction, held this October 10th in New York, featuring a number of online works including one website, a YouTube video and a number of digital files able to be exhibited on a number of different devices.  Featuring work by artists Brenna Murphy, Addie Wagenknecht and Clement Valla, the auction is curated by Lindsay Howard of Bushwick’s 319 Scholes gallery. (more…)

The Financial Times has published an interview with Zeng Fanzhi, the Chinese painter who currently sits as one of the most expensive contemporary Asian artists.  Documenting his unique style, the interview goes on to detail Fanzhi’s early struggles as an artist in China, and his early life in Wuhan, a city known for its prominent role in The Cultural Revolution.  “At the time everyone wore the same clothes but my mother liked beautiful things and she sometimes wore a bit of colour – some pink flowers on her clothes,” Zeng says. “For that she was persecuted for her ‘petit bourgeois sentimentalism’ – that experience affected my whole family deeply.” (more…)

The ongoing growth of the Asian art market has brought a new focus on local identities and markets within the region, The Guardian reports, leading to a new market segment increasingly interested in predominantly Asian artists and works.  “What’s happening in London or New York remains important of course, but so is what’s happening in Mumbai, Jogjakarta or Tokyo,” says Philip Tinari, director of the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing. (more…)

ARTNews’ annual list of the world’s top art collectors has been released, detailing the most prolific and high-spending patrons from around the world.  Among the top 10 are a number of recognizable names, including Eli Broad,  Steven A. Cohen, and François Pinault.  Also of note is a brief article stating the number of collectors willing to spend high dollar amounts for desired works. “I’d say the figure for those going over $20 million is about 150. There are about 100 who would go over $50 million.” Says Sotheby’s Executive Vice President Charles Moffett.   (more…)

At a time when some major artist committees are disbanding for fear of lawsuits over authentication practices, and increased reliance on studio practices has challenged the notion of the singular, “authentic” work of art, standard practices of authenticity in contemporary art are increasingly under fire.  Issues of market value, versions, and lack of knowledge challenge ideas of validity, and pose interesting questions into the value of the art object.

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