Lily Safra is the anonymous bidder that won the Giacometti for over $104M. Although there is plenty of skepticism in the art community that she was not actually the buyer.

Siblings in England have settled out ofcourt with Christie’s regarding the mischaracterization of an artwork they sold.  In 1993, brother and sister David Dickson and Susan Priestley brought the painting to Christie’s to sell it and were advised it was “from the school of Titian.”  After selling the work for the insignificant sum of £8,000 the work passed through some hands and finally to a collector who said it was a lost Titian.  Sotheby’s then placed it at auction in 2009 with a low reserve of $4M.

The Whitney Museum of Modern Art opened its every other year retrospect of everything American art.  This most recent incarnation displays work from 55 different artists.  Reviews are mixed but many are saying the show does not take enough chances.  Our opinion is that the show is well worth seeing but it is conservative. Some installations are inspiring and the majority of works on paper and canvas (remember those traditional mediums of painting and drawing?) are worth the visit.

The top lot this summer will undoubtedly be a blue period painting by Picasso entitled Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto (The Absinthe Drinker).  This 1903 portrait of the Soto, who shared a studio with Picasso at least two times, will have a European record low estimate of £30m.

For those of you that came to New York during the newly dubbed New York Art week and squeezed in a visit to the gallery between art fair hopping we hope you enjoyed the Botero exhibit we just closed.

We are currently sponsoring a fantastic exhibit on Fernando Botero at the Nassau County Museum of Art.   You are all cordially invited as guests of the gallery.

We would also like to extend a Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all of our friends and clients.

Long Live the Art Market!

Yours,

David Benrimon

The art market may not be completely restored but Sotheby’s has shown that it has dealt with the recession in a fiscally responsible way.  While full year revenue fell by nearly 30%, to $485M, most financial analysts expected much worse.  The art market and auction houses are adjusting to the market and while Sotheby’s stock continues to rise, it only comes after cutting 20% of its staff and basically stopping the practice of guaranteeing artworks. 

In the Old Masters Sale in London in Christie’s in December 2009, a stunning Raphael drawing was auctioned off for £29 million, the second highest sale amount of 2009, (it almost seems paltry given the £104M just paid for the Giacometti) and the highest for an Italian Renaissance artist ever.  But in a unique move to keep the work in England, the Culture Minister of England, Margaret Hodge, has attempted to stop the export of the artwork.  The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in England can defer to make a decision on the work until May 25 and also has the sole option to not decide whether the artwork can be released until November 25.  It is unfortunate that England will lose the drawing but the buyer should not be punished for having purchased it. Do the right thing and release the work to the winning bidder.

Bacon’s former London School friend, Lucian Freud, had mixed success at auction with four of five works offered by the same consignor finding buyers, and with all the successes going for under their low estimates — including the tiny 7 3/8 by 5 5/8 inch Self-Portrait with a Black Eye, circa 1978 (est. £3-4 million), which sold to London adviser Elena Guena for £2,841,250 ($4,453,659).

During the week of March 1, 2010, hundreds of dealers and tens of thousands of collectors descended on New York for over a dozen different art fairs. Some estimates put visitor totals at over 60,000; a new Armory record. While we were too busy to check out every fair, we were happy to report that the attendance and appearance of red dots at the Armory Pier 92: Modern Art Fair and the ADAA at the 67th St. Armory, the Modern and Impressionist Art Market made both shows seem commercially successful.

The Contemporary market was not lacking either at the Armory. When we arrived on the first day of the fair, Wednesday, March 3, 2010, we could barely move between art booths.  It seemed that more people were socializing in the hallways and less people were speaking to galleries and about art.  It was almost as if the Armory show was just a continuation of the social scene in Miami Basel.  But it has been reported that some of the works under $10,000 were moving quickly.

Christie’s once again won the right to auction off an important international art estate. Last year they defied the art market and financial markets and conducted the Yves Saint Laurent sale which brought in almost $500M.  This year they won the auction to sell some of the Brody Collection, estimated to be around $150M.   The collection includes works by Picasso, Giacometti, Braque, Degas, and a host of others; reading like a cannon of modern artists.

The “Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust” Picasso may fetch up to $90M.

A combination of strong market indicators was seen in the First Open Sales of Christie’s and Sotheby’s. These strong sales, in the first week of March, followed the crowds of the Armory show and demonstrated that the climbing international economy combined with low estimates makes for good auction results.

First Open at Christie’s featured some fantastic works; which destroyed the inviting estimates.  Christie’s total for the sale was over $7.5M despite a high estimate of $5M, including a sale though rate of 87% by lot and 94% by value.  A rare silkscreen on purple plexiglass of Jackie by Andy Warhol sold for $446,000 despite a modest $40,000 to $60,000 estimate.  A beautiful Haring also sold for almost $221,000 despite the unassuming estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art sale, also the second week of March, brought in almost $6M.  Many of the works went above their high estimates.  Just like Christie’s, Sotheby’s had a synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas Warhol that destroyed the estimate.  It sold for over $500k.