Auction Houses Worldwide - Summer 2020
1. NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Sotheby’s, the international auction house bought in 2019 by telecommunications magnate Patrick Drahi, reported Monday that it has sold $2.5 billion of art and collectibles so far this year. The figures include more than $285 million from online-only auctions and $575 million in private sales. “The art and luxury markets have proven to be incredibly resilient, and demand for quality across categories is unabated,” Charles F. Stewart, Sotheby’s chief executive, said in the statement, acknowledging the challenge of selling high-end inventory during the coronavirus pandemic. As a privately held company — like its rival international auction houses Christie’s, Phillips and Bonhams — Sotheby’s is under no obligation to release sales figures. It did not divulge in its official release how these figures compared to the same seven-month period last year, nor what profit or loss the company made. According to data independently compiled by Pi-eX, a London-based art market analytics company, Sotheby’s sales from relatively low-value online-only auctions from January through July were up 540% this year, but live auctions of $1.6 billion were down 42%, resulting in an overall fall of 25% in auction sales. Christie’s equivalent online and live sales declined by 53%, according to Pi-eX.“Auction houses release detailed sales information to remind, at times like this, buyers and consignors that the art market is open for business,” said Doug Woodham, a former Christie’s president of the Americas who is now a managing partner of the New York-based company Art Fiduciary Advisors. “It’s impressive how Sotheby’s has been able to scrabble together so many sales.
Because they’re owned by a telecoms magnate, they seemed to innovate faster than their competitors. ”The art market, like so much of the global economy, has been profoundly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Numerous art fairs and auctions have been either canceled or converted to an online-only format. So far this year, Sotheby’s has held more than 180 online auctions, including the single-lot sale in May of a pair of Michael Jordan’s game-worn Nike sneakers, which sold for $560,000, more than three times the presale estimate.
2. Sotheby’s Sales Fall 25% but Millennial Bidders Soften the Blow . Wall Street Journal The auction house pivoted to online sales during the pandemic and targeted buyers in their 30s instead of Baby Boomers Michael Jordan's game-worn and autographed Nike Air Jordan 1s from 1985 set an auction record for any pair of sneakers when they sold for $560,000 in May.PHOTO: SOTHEBY'SBy Kelly CrowAug. 3, 2020 6:00 am ET Sotheby’s sold $2.5 billion of art during the first seven months of the year, a 25.3% drop from the same period a year earlier and a sign that the art market took a major hit amid the pandemic. An influx of new, millennial bidders may be softening the blow, though. Sotheby’s results released Monday include $1.9 billion in auction and online sales, down 30.4%. The auction house also sold $575 million in privately brokered art, roughly the same amount as a year ago. The house typically divulges sales figures at the six-month mark but this year decided to fold in sales through July 31 because several of its marquee auctions were postponed to July. An ultra-rare Rolex Daytona JPS soared to $1.5 million in July, a record for a watch sold in an online auction. Rival Christie’s said it auctioned and sold online $1.4 billion of art as of July 31, down 50% from the same period a year ago.
The house said it would wait until the end of the year to divulge sums for additional private art sales. Bigwig collectors sat out much of the spring, reemerging mainly to bid in sales that were configured online in early summer. The house said the fallout might have been worse had Sotheby’s not concurrently seen a surge of bidding from newcomers under age 40, seeking everything from contemporary art stars to luxury watches to wine. Sotheby’s said more than 30% of its clientele is now millennials—and their exuberant bidding during the lockdown helped push the house’s online sales to $285 million, tripling its online total for all last year .“We’re getting to know an audience who isn’t waiting by the mailbox for a thick catalog,” said Sotheby’s Chief Executive Charles F. Stewart, who added that roughly 20% of the house’s first-timers were collectors from Asia, including younger collectors. After five years of breakneck growth, global online art sales had started to plateau last year, according to the UBS Art Market 2020 report—then the pandemic happened. Holed up at home, art admirers born in the 1980s and 1990s started to pay attention as the major houses migrated live sales online and mounted online-only sales targeting collectors in their 30s rather than Baby Boomers. These include Michael Jordan’s $560,000 Nike Air Jordan 1’s, which the basketball star wore and were expected to sell for up to $150,000.Other artists benefitting from millennial attention include Japanese painter Yoshitomo Nara, who is known for images of sarcastic latch-key children. Mr. Nara’s 2014 “Three Stars” sold for $3.7 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong last month, over its $3.3 million low estimate. Another favorite among the younger set is Eddie Martinez, an American who creates scrawl-covered paintings with graffiti touches. Mr. Martinez’s 2009 “Empirical Mind State” sold for $795,910, four times its high estimate, at Sotheby’s London in February. A 2018 painting by the artist, “Florida #2 (Mailbox Margie),” sold for $1 million, doubling its high estimate, at Christie’s Hong Kong in July. Sotheby’s said these artists and others like Andy Warhol helped boost the volume of private-sale transactions by 10%, compared to the same period last year.
Auction houses are still figuring out the predilections of younger audiences. Hiscox, an insurer that conducts surveys on online art sales, recently found that 79% of collectors under age 35 said they discover new artists over social media. Mr. Stewart said millennials also prefer to bid over the house’s app rather than call specialists standing at phone banks in the salerooms during major auctions like heavyweight collectors typically do. “We call them,” he said, “and they’re like, ‘Can I just use the app?’” Affordability also matters. The house said around 70% of its sales still go to objects priced under $10,000 rather than multimillion-dollar masterpieces. Seasoned collectors still hold sway at the high end. The house’s priciest sale so far this year was Francis Bacon’s $84.6 million “Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus.” Other top lots included Sanyu’s $33.3 million “Four Nudes” and David Hockney’s $29.8 million “The Splash.” Even before the pandemic, Sotheby’s toyed with ways to get millennials to expand their collecting interests beyond luxury goods and contemporary art to less-fashionable categories. Mr. Stewart said several hundred younger collectors stopped by its New York offices last year to see a group of Old Master paintings and sculptures that were picked out and arranged for sale by Fabrizio Moretti, drummer for the indie band The Strokes.Search for related stories in the Wall Street Journal Lichtenstein’s Nude Buoys Christie's Live-Stream Sale July 10, 2020Christie’s Tests the Art Market’s Strength Amid Coronavirus July 8, 2020Sotheby’s Brings Home the Bacon June 29, 2020Will Anyone Bid $60 Million Online for a Painting? June 26, 2020 https://www.wsj.com/articles/sothebys-sales-fall-25-but-millennial-bidders-soften-the-blow-11596448800?st=f0ris7x5tbunkfz&reflink=article_email_share
3. PARIS.- Christie's introduces Collections: a new sale concept debuting in Paris following successful iterations in New York and London. Presenting curated ensembles of artworks and furniture from prestigious provenances, this exclusive sale explores four collections, four universes. The first is a selection of Old Master paintings and works of art from King Leopold II's villa in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat; the second is a tribute to the craftsmanship from Mr Henri Klinger’s collection; and a European collection partly composed of HRH Princess Murat’s former private collection housed in her hôtel particulier on rue de Monceau - make up the third element. Lastly, drawings, paintings, furniture and works of art belonging to Mrs Françoise Heftler’s estate, will close this auction full of charm and elegance.Lionel Gosset, Director of Collections, comments: "We are very pleased to launch the Parisian edition of Collections, which brings together the acute sensibility of several collectors, offering a wide scope of decorative arts and art history, and celebrating sumptuous settings, such as the vast salon of King Leopold II's villa adorned by splendid chandeliers (ill. below). Merging different universes, the dialogue between arts and eras should seduce the modern collector”. The sale will firstly lift the curtain on a selection of paintings and artefacts from the renowned Villa des Cèdres. Acquired by Leopold II, King of the Belgians, in 1904, he transformed the space into a Florentine villa featuring ceremonial salons, including three magnificent chandeliers over 3 metres high (estimate: €30,000-50,000 each). In 1924, the property was acquired by the Marnier-Lapostolle family, who created an exotic garden and arboretum as famous as the one in Monaco, nearby. Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle was a great collector, especially of classical paintings. Amongst his acquisitions is a work by Hubert Robert and his studio: Vue imaginaire d'un temple (€30,000-50,000) as well as another one by Claude-François Desportes: Cygnes et canards sur une pièce d’eau (€20,000-30,000). Collectors will also discover important pieces of Decorative Arts such as a bronze sculpture by Rembrandt Bugatti Eléphant et deux gazelles (€200,000-300,000) and a suite of four Empire parcel-gilt beechwood stools stamped by Jacob Desmalter (€8,000-12,000).A cross-category online sale of contemporary art, watches and jewellery to kick off Phillips' fall seasonThis selection will be followed by a group of companion works from the Henri Klinger Collection. The staircase featured here illustrates the exceptional quality of execution (from €2,000 to €8,000).The sale will then introduce a European collection coming partly from the former collection of HRH Princess Murat, specifically from her hôtel particulier located on the rue de Monceau. Memories of the Empire are evoked by several works such as a painting attributed to Franz Joseph Kinson, Portrait du maréchal Ney, duc d’Elchingen, prince de la Moskova (€15,000-25,000, ill. left), a marble group after Antonio Canova: Pauline Borghèse Bonaparte (€2,500-3,500), a marble medallion featuring the general Joachim Murat (€10,000-15,000) and several pieces of furniture such as an ensemble stamped by Charles-Jacques Petit (€8,000-12,000). The enthusiasm for the Haute-Epoque can be found in a beautiful cupboard inspired by Sambin (€4,000-6,000), a Louis XIV Aubusson tapestry depicting the abduction of Helen (€4,000-6,000) and in a pair of rare and strange wolves’ heads made of carved and painted wood, a Venetian work dating from the 1720s (€5,000-7,000).The sale will end with the collection of Mrs François Heftler’s estate, which was housed in her apartment near the Bois de Boulogne. This charming and elegant section is led by a large canvas attributed to Frans Snyders Le concert des oiseaux (€80,000-120,000), numerous views of Paris by various 19th century artists including two beautiful testimonials on canvas by Giuseppe Canella Le pavillon de Marsan, rue de Rivoli (€7,000-10,000) and Vue du Pont-Neuf à Paris (€40,000-60,000).Amongst the modern paintings, collectors will be pleased to discover a beautiful painting by Maurice de Vlaminck, Au potager (€70,000-100,000). Faithful to the Galerie Chantal Kiener throughout her life, Mrs François Heftler ensembled many works on paper and terracotta objects in her collection such as a drawing by Thomas Couture, Etude d'un bras et d'un ceinturon (€2,000-3,000), another one enhanced with watercolour by Isidore Pils, Gardiens du jardin des Tuileries (€1,500-2,000), as well as a terracotta statue by Paul Montford: Robert Burns en pieds (€1,200-1,800) and a bronze after Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Buste du prince impérial, N°1 (€3,000-5,000). Finally, it is worth mentioning a pair of armchairs from Maison Jansen (€1,000-2,000) and a bronze silk velvet sofa by Victor Grandpierre (€4,000-6,000), with the classic elegance of the 20th century.https://artdaily.cc/news/127637/Christie-s-announces-Collections--A-new-sale-concept-debuting-in-Paris#.X2fTD2hKhsA
