Steven Murphy, the Christie’s CEO who has presided over the company during its record-setting run of auctions over the last several years, has announced that he will be leaving his position at the end of the year. “We have now successfully concluded an ambitious three year plan and the company is in the strongest leadership position in its history,” Murphy said in a statement. (more…)
Art Basel Miami Beach Opens its Doors, all images via Art Observed
The doors have opened for Art Basel Miami Beach 2014, the 12th edition of an art fair that has since become synonymous with big events, bigger celebrities, and even bigger price tags serving as a year’s end bacchanal for the contemporary art market.
Work by Christopher Wool at Helly Nahmad (more…)
The Art Los Angeles Contemporary Fair will open its doors once again in late January, and has released its exhibitor list this week for the sixth edition of the fair. Attendees among the 60 gallery list include The Hole, CANADA, Standard (Oslo), and Francois Ghebaly. (more…)
Ed Ruscha, Mind If I… (2014), via Gagosian Gallery
As the year winds into its final weeks, the art world is heading south once again, preparing for the annual festivities and fairs surrounding the 13th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. The weeklong event will feature a near endless stream of parties, nightlife events, and of course, art exhibitions across the city, from major fairs to hotel pop-ups. (more…)
The record for the most expensive work of art by a female artist fell in unexpected fashion at Sotheby’s in New York last night, as a Georgia O’Keefe painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1 from 1932 sold for more than three times its estimate for $44 million. The work was included in a sale of American Art last night, and beats the previous $11.9 million auction record for a female (held by Joan Mitchell). (more…)
A recent article in Financial Times by writer Bendor Grosvenor takes a discerning look at the specter of price speculation in the contemporary market, and notes some of the more manipulative practices in guarantor purchases. “To liven things up, they are allowed to bid the work up during the sale too. But if they happen to buy it, their presale negotiation (again, undisclosed) means they will not pay anything like the “price” reported by the auction house, and nor will the new ‘value’ of the work be representative,” says Grosvenor. “Almost half of the lots in Christie’s sale last week were guaranteed.” (more…)
The ongoing dispute between the city of North Miami and MOCANoMi has finally been resolved, with the museum giving a small percentage of its permanent collection to the departed board members, who have since founded a new museum called the Institute of Contemporary Art. “Our focus is that MOCA shall remain an internationally recognized force in contemporary art while continuing to have a profound impact in our community,” says Mayor Philippe Bien-Aime. (more…)
Frank Stella, Concentric Square (1966), via Phillips
The Phillips Contemporary Evening Sale concluded Thursday evening, capping off the fall auction season with a staid, relatively stable performance. While the sale lacked some of the flair and fireworks of the proceeding evening at Christie’s, a number of notable sales defined the evening, as the auction house achieved a final tally of $52 million, with 8 of the 47 lots on offer failing to sell. (more…)
An article in Forbes traces the conclusion of the modern and contemporary art auctions over the past two weeks, and places the overall sales during the two series of sales at an unprecedented $1.78 billion. “We’ve seen a trend over the last few years where clients are going into hard assets, from real estate to art, which is a neutral currency,” says Citi Bank head of art advisory and finance, Suzanne Gyorgy. “We continue to see U.S. collectors discretely buying at a high level.” (more…)
Andy Warhol, Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] (1963), via Christie’s
The market has a new world auction record after Christie’s monumental sale last night in New York, an $852.9 million benchmark that saw 92% of the works find buyers, and 69 of the 75 works on sale exceed $1 million in its final sales total. Capitalizing on a remarkably strong selection of works and an eager buying pool, the auction saw a number of impressive figures reached, as well as several artist records fall. (more…)
Mark Rothko, No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange) (1951), via Sotheby’s
Following a strong sale of works from the Mellon Collection last night, many were expecting Sotheby’s to continue with an exceptional start to the auction week, and given the strong offering the auction house had on view this past week at its York Avenue exhibition space, it was conceivable that it would bring forth a competitive sale. However, a number of major passes and underwhelming bids during the sale left the auction house with what could best be classified as a moderate success with $343 million tally, as a number of records were set, while other works failed to live up to initial estimates. (more…)
The Wall Street Journal profiles the work of Xin Li, the former professional basketball player and model who has become Christie’s top resource in courting billionaire Asian collectors as its Deputy Chairman for the continent. “I used to get up at 5 a.m. to go to play basketball in minus-30-degree weather,” Ms. Xin says during the interview. “I learned how to focus.” (more…)
An article on CNBC this week notes that the battle for control of Sotheby’s auction house against investor Dan Loeb cost the company upwards of $20 million in fees for legal defense and a $10 million reimbursement to Loeb for his own fees. The full total in expenses makes up nearly half of the company’s net income during the time period. (more…)
Jeff Koons was on hand last night at Simon de Pury’s benefit auction for collector Svetlana Uspenskaya’s Project Perpetual, offering a series of Hermès Birkin bags (previously owned by stars like Sofia Coppola, Marc Jacobs, and others) turned into readymade artworks, as well as a sculpture paying homage to Picasso’s La Soupe. “You look into the gazing ball and it’s very immediate,” Koons said. “You see your reflection. You’re affirmed, your senses are stimulated…and if you move the abstraction changes. But the piece also becomes affirmed. It becomes reflected into the gazing ball, and when that happens, you go from that Dionysian type of velocity into Platonism.” (more…)
The Wall Street Journal has published a piece this week detailing the advantages and drawbacks to gallery sales, private sales and auctions for collectors looking to sell their work, and notes an almost 1000% increase in private sales across the board in the last decade. (more…)
The New York Times highlights the challenges faced by a growing online auction market, including a relative unwillingness by collectors to exceed certain prices when bidding for work, and concerns about work authenticity and provenance. “They feel comfortable up to about $10,000,” said Ben Hartley, a managing director at Auctionata, an online auction company. “Beyond that, people are still needing levels of trust. Online purchases are going to take time reaching the upper limits.” (more…)
Alberto Giacometti, Chariot (1951-52), via Art Observed
Sotheby’s Evening Sale for Impressionist and Modern Art concluded last night, capping a successful if occasionally unpredictable auction that achieved $422.1 million in sales, the highest record of sale for the auction house in its history. (more…)
Alberto Giacometti, Chariot (1951-52), via Sotheby’s
As temperatures begin to drop and the art world looks to begin winding down the Fall 2014 Season, the major auction houses are opening their doors for two consecutive weeks of major sales, beginning on Tuesday with Sotheby’s Evening Auction of Modern and Impressionist Masterpieces, and followed close behind with Christie’s sale of Impressionist and Modernist works the next night. Initial estimates for the week’s sales are already promising major dividends for both auction houses, with several important works expected to break major auction sales records. (more…)
The New York Times profiles the increased efforts by Christie’s to build its online sales platform, including a new focus on online only auctions. “The main objective here is the acquisition of new clients,” said Steven P. Murphy, Christie’s Chief Executive. “We’re building our online business the old-fashioned way, brick by brick.” (more…)
Outside the Grand Palais for FIAC, all photos via Art Observed
As the doors to one fair close, another set has opened on the opposite side of the English channel. Paris’s FIAC is now in full swing after opening its VIP preview yesterday at the Grand Palais, packing in guests to view the fair’s deep selection of works from Europe and abroad. (more…)
In an interview with Bloomberg, Christie’s chief executive officer Steven Murphy has commented on the ongoing growth of the contemporary auction market, noting that sales are only increasing, and that Christie’s is increasingly focused on digital auctions. “We have 14 exhibition spaces around the world where we exhibit the art, and we’ve really grown our accessibility to clients through the online experience,” he says. “What brings the most consignments is the number of buyers.” (more…)
Joe Bradley, Untitled (2011), via Christie’s
Last evening, Christie’s auction house closed its first auctions of the fall season in London, a successful affair that saw only 5 of the 46 lots on sale go unsold, with a final sales tally of £40,344,500, settling firmly into the auction house’s estimated £32 million to £47 million sales range. (more…)
Phillips has opened its new exhibition and auction space at 30 Berkley Square in London, part of its increased efforts to compete at the highest end of the contemporary market. The space is currently exhibiting a curated show in the space, titled A Very Short History of Contemporary Sculpture, and curated by Francesco Bonami. “I thought about sculpture, as soon as I saw this space,” Mr. Bonami says. (more…)
Peter Doig, The Heart of Old San Juan (1999), via Christie’s
The fall auction season will get back underway this week, as the bustle of Frieze London will also play home to the first major evening sales since early this summer. With major lots offered at Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, buyers in the British capital will compete over a number of classic works alongside their recent purchases at Regent’s Park.
