Spring auction week tends to be a swirl of heartbreakingly beautiful works of art and mind-bogglingly high prices. But it also serves a more practical purpose of setting the bar for the art market. Is it strong overall, or is it bad? Were the prices inflated, adequate, or low? Which artists broke and which faltered?
At first glance, New York’s Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips saw solid sales last week, with art sales totaling nearly $2 billion at high sell-through rates. However, compared to past years in the stratosphere, this series of auctions was severely understaffed, with less attractive inventory, lower price points, and heavy discounts.
“This week was like 2008. All of a sudden, people started looking for deals and they could get them,” he said. Neil MeltzerAn art adviser in New York added that collectors are also willing to pay big bucks for rare Klimt works. Rousseau, Magritte and bacon.
As a result, the art world is now facing the idea that the market correction it has been wary of has finally arrived. Experts say its emergence is largely due to fears of inflation, a shortage of trophies and an overabundance of B+ titles.
Some say this marks the return of a healthy, long-awaited state of sanity. “What we have been through in recent years has not been a normal market environment,” art adviser said. Todd Levin. “The combination of money printing during the Covid-19 pandemic and low interest rates until recently has created a market bubble. Markets will not melt upwards forever.”
Here are some of the takeaways from the week, gathered from sales data and interviews with experts in the field.
Inflation stifles speculation
Unstable financial markets and rising interest rates have made collectors less liquid and more reluctant to participate in auctions. So instead of the usual $100,000 or $1 million bids, there are stingy bids in $50,000 increments.. Money problems revealed during Gerald Feinberg’s sale collection at Christie’s. The auction was conducted without guarantees or irrevocable bids, leaving the clear prospect that the market was stripped of any pre-set minimum bids that would allow shippers and buyers to hedge their bets.
Many lots sold below expectations.Even the most expensive artwork of the night, Christopher Wool from 1993 painting It sold for $10 million, but the winning bid was only half of the top bid. All in all, the collection finished about $38.3 million later than the evening’s lowest estimate, before considering buyer premiums.
“This season looks a little different because of the alert levels,” said Bonnie Brennan, president of Christie’s Americas. “And sales may take a little longer this year. It’s a great skill to pull those bids.”
lack of masterpieces
Last spring, collectors scrambled for Andy Warhol’s 1964 portrait of Marilyn Monroe at a Christie’s auction, which sold for a staggering $195 million, including commissions. The company declared it one of the most expensive images of the 20th century. Experts say the sale shows Warhol’s enduring hold on the art market, a gift that keeps on giving.
But this season, the famous pop artist barely made a sound. Christie’s sold one of her Warhol copies in an evening sale, but it was a minor work depicting a coffee can. $2 million, short of that high estimate by about $500,000. Sotheby’s, the world’s largest auction house, did not put up a single work by the artist in its evening sale.
Auctioneers and market analysts said it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain great works from modern masters such as Warhol, Picasso and Lichtenstein. These artists have been a mainstay of the world of good art for so long that supplies are running out.
“That’s what’s happening with Basquiat right now,” says Robert Manley, director of Phillips’ 20th century and contemporary art division. “The great Basquiat is becoming less and less.
“This is the natural evolution of the market,” Manley continued. “These works of art are increasingly being held in museums and collections that don’t want to sell all the time.”
Charles F. StewartSotheby’s chief executive agreed the market is facing a shortage problem. indicate About $1 billion worth of Warhol works have been sold over the past five years. This equates to about 136 works between his 2018 and his 2022 years.
“Collectors who can keep them long will do,” Stewart said. “And even if they do come, it will be a relatively small group of people who can afford it.”
But a work of art that is not considered a true prize would be difficult to price. “Work that is not of absolute superior quality should be given a lower pre-auction quote,” Levin said. “It’s becoming a ‘garbage or masterpiece’ market.”
Paul Allen effect
Due to the strong results (high quotes and big results) of last year’s Paul Allen sale at Christie’s, the auction house went into this season with aggressive quotes, partly because it was getting new material first. And at the last minute, the auction house had to lower its floor price, the minimum price at which an item could sell, to meet demand.
“Going forward, auction companies will either persuade sellers to be radically realistic about their pre-auction estimates, or suffer the humiliation of being required to drastically reduce reserves at the 11th hour. We need to,” Levin said.
In contrast, Newhouse’s sale was more modestly priced, so it ended up winning 100% and totaling above the midpoint of the expected sale. The works are more intellectual, two of which are his — by De Kooning and bacon — so it was priced so high that a few collectors chased it
Flip art and turn it into cash
Cecily Brown is currently exhibiting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and last week, Cecily Brown The painting was put up for auction. When an artist has a good year, so does her collector. Simone Lee, for example, has rapidly gained popularity, having participated in the Venice Biennale last year as a representative of the United States, and is currently holding an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston until September 4th.
This kind of buzz attracts auction houses and can be profitable for collectors who can sell their recent purchases and get paid quickly. This practice of flipping artwork has become more common than frowning. So it’s probably no surprise that one of Lee’s turned out like this. 2019 “Stick” The sculpture sold at Christie’s last week for $2.7 million (including buyer’s fees), making the auction a high for the artist.
Christie’s also had a 2020 painting by Daniel McKinney And the landscape of 2021 by Emma Webster.
For dealers, such rapid sales could overwhelm the market with works of art, oversupply and undervalue or oversell artists’ direct offerings, reducing their ability to make pricing decisions. I feel sorry for some reason.
“We want to sell to stewards, not investors,” said the dealer. Alexander Gray representing many older artists. “It destabilizes the primary market. This is why gallerists are very careful about who we sell to.”
Do your tastes change?
At the SI New House Sale on May 11, one of the season’s first major auctions, Christie’s attempted to sell. 3 paintings A work by renowned abstract expressionist Jasper Johns. The artist had momentum for his two major exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, both of which ended late last year. However, his work at the Christie’s sale fell short of low estimates. This seemed to shock shippers and collectors, and at the next Christie’s sale he had 3 lots withdrawn and 10 lots unsold.
Some market analysts and collectors theorized that John’s plunge was the result of a stingy bid. Some criticized Christie’s overpriced estimates. Still others blamed oversupply. Bonnie Brennan, president of Christie’s Americas, argued that the 93-year-old’s paintings are in global demand and have yet to reach record prices.
But the big trend after the two-week auction was probably about developing market preferences around new painters. For example, McKinney, Webster, and Rebecca Ackroyd, who sold well last week, are all in their 30s. “This incident is a reminder to people how sensitive prices are to changes in taste,” he said. Doug Woodham, art advisor and former Christie’s executive. “And changes in taste are the main drivers of long-term price volatility.”
The market has begun experimenting with new artists at lower bids to attract buyers’ attention. “Auction houses used to shy away from untested art, especially at night sales,” says Natasha Deegan, director of art market research at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “This has changed dramatically.”
Of the 26 lots offered at Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale, nearly a third were by artists born in the 80s or 90s.and Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, 80% of the lot appeared on the auction market for the first time. These artists are often women and people of color, bringing diversity to a market that has traditionally served the needs of white male artists.
“It’s amazing how many artists are selling at very healthy prices for a fairly young generation,” Manley said. “Yes, many of them are young artists, some paintings have only been produced in the last few years, but we are reflecting the demand.”
Many artists unfamiliar with the auction world far exceeded expectations. Among them was his 2020 painting by. Noah Davis It sold for more than $900,000, including Phillips’ buyer’s fee, almost seven times its highest bid.
“There’s a re-evaluation of the classics as newer classics are being integrated,” Meltzer said.
