Blogs and Stories
The Art World's Hot Investment
Major galleries seem to not have fared much better. Longtime dealer Pace Wildenstein cut 18 of its 146 employees in November. Such news, however, seemed comparatively dry to the venom of an in-staff email sent out by art world overlord Larry Gagosian during the same period. As reported by Flash Art Online, Gagosian’s message was unapologetically clear: “If you would like to continue working for Gagosian I suggest you start to sell some art….The luxury of carrying under-performing employees is now a thing of the past.”
Hubris notwithstanding, the contemporary art market is probably not in jeopardy quite yet for megadealers like Gagosian—still, most agree that it will be a shell of what it has become. This was never a bubble that was going to pop, it was a balloon that has now deflated.
One of the reasons behind the panic comes from the fact that contemporary art has stopped selling well at auction. Yet the international rise of the art fair has produced a commercial powerhouse that liberates collectors from the time-sensitive restrictions of the bidding room. The ability to bargain at an event like ABMB affords a commercial flexibility that is particularly beneficial in an atmosphere of reduced expectations, something which was not reflected in Christie’s and Sotheby’s pre-financial crisis estimates on lots during the November sales.
On the other hand, the tempered buying mood at ABMB responded accordingly. Collectors took their time making purchases, less hampered by the dilemma of a debated work being snatched up in less than an hour. Others opted for no-brainer decisions, investing in the well-established names of modernism, like Picasso, Chagall, Warhol, and Basquiat.
Fittingly enough, the prototype for this selective collecting approach was displayed across the pond just a few days earlier inside the auction houses, during the London sales of Old Master paintings at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. These sales were largely seen as anomalous success, defying the market’s downturn. Traditional works are still selling big at auction, where buyers are more comfortable bidding high on proven quality.
On the evening of Tuesday, December 2nd, Christie's sold 80% of its lots-the highlight being a recently unearthed portrait by Giambattista Tiepolo, which at over $4 million, more than tripled its initial estimate.
Portrait of Lady as Flora by Giambattista Tiepolo, Photo Courtesy of Christie’s
Bringing Down Bachmann
Benjamin Sarlin is a reporter for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
America's Hot Jobs (and Not Jobs)
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Nicolas Cage, Compulsive Spender
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
True art collectors are buying work they love, not buying to invest. The fair in Miami was full of people with a love of art. The "investment collectors" and the "status collectors" were not as present. Fortunately for the art world, there are enough of the true art collectors to keep the good galleries moving. Collecting contemporary art as investment is always dodgy. Collecting contemporary art because you love it is NEVER dodgy.
Come on, Pharell Williams, Marc Jacobs, JZ--it is over!
Art 2010: sculptures of frozen homeless people, cast of recycled beer cans and dressed hyper-inflated $100.00 bills.
The spherical "thing" that illustrates this piece looks just like lots of neat, colorful folk-artsy stuff from Mexico that is available for twenty bucks or so all over the southwest (and I assume elsewhere). Only much of the Mexican stuff is more inventive.
Hooray for people who spend millions on art. Hopefully some of those millions will trickle down to people who are hungry and can use some help.
Barbara416 is correct. These people are insane. While it's at least slightly more 'original' than Murakami, Jay-Z picks Aaron Young! He's another sheltered art baby with Dash Snow and Nate Lowman. He only got famous when he was with Noelle Valdivia who wrote a few good pieces about him. I expect to see him directing a music video any day now. He's a DJ, not an artist.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.