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New York – the Mecca of Contemporary Art
Posted on December 2, 2015
©Michael Burges – Reverse Glass Painting – No. 02 – 2014
I like to share this excerpt from the latest artprice.com annual report
New York – the Mecca of Contemporary Art
The United States has recovered its leader position on the global Contemporary art market, resuscitating
the fierce competition with China. In total the United States generated $650 million from Contemporary art, nearly $90 million more than China. This strong performance was essentially driven by New York, the global capital of the art market. New York is home to the biggest art collectors, the most powerful galleries and the most prestigious museums. It also has the strongest networks, allowing the fastest emergence of young artists in the world. In fact, almost the entire value of the United States’ Contemporary art auction turnover is generated in New York ($631 million in 2014/20151, i.e. 97% of the US Contemporary art market). The city is today the unchallenged epicenter of the ultra-high end of the art market. With just 6% of the global number of lots sold, New York generates 36% of the global turnover2. In fact, New York is ideally placed to benefit from the current boom in the art market, which is being driven by a minority of ultra-rich individuals and institutions with investment budgets in the millions of dollars. Christie’s and Sotheby’s generate their best turnover figures in New York and hammer their best results in the Big Apple. Nine of the top ten best results during the 2014/2015 period were hammered in New York, and one in London. The intense media focus on the ultra-high end of the art market tends to overshadow the fact that more than half the artworks sold in the city sell for under $5,000. So New York’s art offer is not exclusively reserved for a wealthy elite and it remains accessible for all kinds of non-professional art aficionados.
Hammer Prices in New York
Posted on April 6, 2014
Sales of photographs are attracting an ever-growing population of collectors and the rise in demand was reflected in last year’s auction prices with twelve 7-digit results, a general price index up 25% and an auction turnover ten times higher than 10 years ago. In New York at the beginning of April, Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s were offering several hundred photographs with estimated prices ranging from $800 to $500,000. The sales took place on April 1 at Phillips, April 1 (evening sale) & 2 at Sotheby’s, and April 3 at Christie’s. Here are some of the results:
Top Bid at Christie’s was:
IRVING PENN (1917-2009)
Frozen Foods, New York, 1977
dye-transfer print, printed 1984
signed, initialed, titled, dated, notation ‘14696’ in ink, Penn/Condé Nast copyright credit reproduction limitation stamp and stamped ‘signed prints of this photograph not exceeding 33’ (on the reverse of the mount)
image/sheet: 23 3/8 x 18¼in. (59.5 x 46.4cm.)
mount: 26 x 21in. (66.1 x 53.4cm.)
Estimated $60,000 – $80,000 it realized $198,000
Six of the Top Ten lots were Irving Penn photographs out of which four sold for an 6-digit amount. One of four photographs by Richard Avedon was also sold for a price of this category.
RICHARD AVEDON (1923-2004) Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent, Los Angeles, California, June 14, 1981 gelatin silver print signed and numbered ’51/200′ in pencil (on the mat) image/sheet: 28 x 42in. (72.2 x 109cm.) Estimated at $70,000 to $90,000 realized $137,000 which was $18,000 less than another print of the edition had realized two days before at PHILLIPS.
The cheapest Lot was sold for $938 despite an estimate of $3,000 to $5,000 and created
by DANNY LYON
Total Turnover at Christie’s $4,230.000
The two top lots out of the ~ $4,000.000 result at Sotheby’s were:
ALFRED STIEGLITZ (1864-1946) Georgia O’Keeffe – Nude Study, Palladium print, mounted to board, 1918-19 Size 9 1/2 by 7 5/8 in. (24.13 by 19 cm.) Estimated at $300,000 to $500,000 the lot realized $365,000
and
Man Ray (1890-1976),’Champs Delicieux: Album des Photographies,Paris 1922, an edition of 40 numbered copies), a volume containing 12 tipped-in photographs of rayographs by Man Ray, with a printed 3-page preface by Tristan Tzara and colophon signed and numbered ’34’ by the photographer in ink. Folio, original red wrappers with yellow printed label
The photographs approximately 8 3/4 by 6 3/4 in. (22.2 by 17.2 cm.)
Estimated at 250,000 — 350,000 it brought $281,000 including Buyer’s Premium.
The least expensive deals of the day were photographs by Berenice Abbott. Three of his images offered for $5,000 to $7,000 each, all changed hands for $3,750 each including Buyer’s Premium.
Here is one of them:
BERENICE ABBOTT (1898-1991)’Sumner Healey Antique Shop’, numbered ‘170’ in the negative, the photographer’s Federal Art Project ‘Changing New York’ and caption stamps, with title, date, and annotations in colored pencil, on the reverse, 1936 (Yochelson, Middle East Side, pl. 33) Size 9 1/2 by 7 1/2 in. (24.1 by 19.1 cm.)
At PHILLIPS, April 1, around Lunch Time Auctions (10AM and 2PM) offering 271 modern and contemporary lots, we saw
HIROSHI SUGIMOTO (1948)
The Music Lesson, 1999, Pigment Print 53 1/8 x 41 3/4 in. Signed in ink, printed title, date and number 5/5 on an artist’s label affixed to the reverse of the frame. Estimated at $200,000 to $250,000 with a result of $629,000 in front.
Followed by fellow country man
NOBUYOSHI ARAKI (1940), ‘From Close to Range’,1991
A Gelatin silver print diptych, printed 2008. Each 49 x 39 7/8 in. Overall 52 1/2 x 86 in. (133.4 x 218.4 cm) Right panel signed in pencil on the verso; signed, dated in pencil, printed credit, title and date on a Certificate of Authenticity accompanying the work. Estimated at $80,000 to $120,000 it had generated $191,000 when it changed hands.
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