Where is the Street art market going & how is this affected by the Auction houses spring sales?
It’s getting to that exciting time of year when all the auction houses hold their opening contemporary art auctions, this Feb proving to be more interesting than ever, with the global economic turmoil having seen a correction in the art market it will be fascinating to see how this has affected the auction houses selection of work placed for auction, the level that the reserves & lower estimates have been set at, and ultimately the results achieved by the work offered. For those who read my initial article you will know that the area that I am especially interested in is street art (or urban art as Bonhams have labelled it). As all of above applies to contemporary art as a whole there is a complete subplot underneath this, which manifests itself in the current attitude to street art and where it is currently going. I want to draw attention to key lots that I will be looking out for to show the health of the market as a whole and looking forwards what can this tell us. I am also focusing on the London auctions, as they are a fantastic indicator of what is to follow in New York later in the year.
I want to break the spring auction season down over 2 articles, firstly focusing on the power houses of the auction world, Sothebys & Christies. Once these auctions have finished it will be clear as to how much the art market has corrected, how well managed the sales where and give some guidelines as to what to expect from the urban art auctions at the end of the month at Bonhams & Dreweatts. Then post their sales focus on the more specific Urban art sales at Bonhams & Dreweatts. I’ll pick out some lots to keep an eye on as a good indicator of where the market is heading, and what to expect. Finally in the last instalment I’ll run down the auction season as a whole, look at what it meant and pick out what to watch for the rest of the year
The last series of auctions in autumn saw a higher percentage of bought in work (unsold work that fails to hit it’s reserve and remains unsold), and also the problem of selling work against estimates that had been set back in August when the market was in a far stronger position. The results were poor for the auction houses, and sellers, however they were good for buyers, who had greater choice and the opportunity to be more circumspect with what they want to buy and what to pay. On another note with work that fails to sell, if this is a piece that you had your eye on a huge amount of business is done post auction when potential buyers can make the auction house an offer to pass on to the seller. This is a good way of picking up a strong piece at a good price, and also takes advantage of an unrealistic estimate. At this moment in time it is a buyers market, and one where a lot of sellers need cash, so any offer may well be entertained.
The first auction is held at Sotheby’s. Sotheby’s Christies & Phillips divide their auctions into Evening & Day auctions, with the evening auctions having a far smaller consignment of work, of a far higher quality. The evening auctions are where the auction houses place the best contemporary work that they are approached with, they set the bar for what is to come. The Sotheby’s Evening auction is held on Feb 5th in their London New Bond St showrooms, with the day auction the next day on the 6th Feb. Christies hold their evening auction on the 11th Feb and the day auction on 12th Feb, these at their London King St showrooms.
Having gone through the Sotheby’s catalogue (see bottom note) it is a very tight auction, only 27 lots and all very well established blue chip artists. For me I will be taking a look at the performance of
Lot 6 Fontana (estimated £5M - £7M), Lot 13 Warhol (£550-£750K), Lot 14 Hirst (£250K - £350K), Lot 15 Jeff Koons (£2.2M – £3.2M), Lot 16 Roy Lichenstein (£1.8 - £2.5M). These lots hold interest, Warhol as a general barometer of the market, Fontana as the key value piece, Hirst is interesting due to the recent direct to market sale he held last October, Koons as it appears he is already slightly overpriced, and finally Lichenstein due to the price and unusual nature of the work. It will be interesting to see if these works al sell, for how much, and finally the overall total for the show and the amount bought in (unsold lots).
The next auction, the Sotheby’s contemporary day auction the first area of interest is the reduction in street art work offered from previous auctions. This in itself not a surprise, their had been to much work being placed in auction houses from artists very young in their careers. Within this auction the lots that are catching my eye are 3 Banksy pieces Lots 171 (£20K-£20K), 172 (£10K-£15K), 174 (£30-£40K) and Lot 173 JR (£10K-£15K). With the Banksy work this will give a very strong indication as to how desirable the artist still is, has he cemented his place at the head of the street art scene. It appears that with Lot 174 the estimate has been set deliberately low, the piece is unique and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this smash it’s estimate, possible trebling this. The other 2 Banksy pieces are from editions of 25 each, both originally £500 in 2003 and again they will prove useful to gauge the strength of the Banksy market in general. The other lot of interest here Lot 174 by JR is intriguing. This was the same image that JR pasted on the outside of the Tate Modern as part of the Street art exhibition last summer. The piece itself was only sold late last year as part if the Outsiders show held at Lazarides. The work was also sold for £20K plus VAT, so again this will be interesting for the price it achieves, and as to whether the seller makes a decent return on their original investment..
After this the following week we have the same evening & day auctions at Christies. Here in the evening auction I am focusing on Lot 11 the Bacon (£4-£6M) & Lot 17 the Rothko (£2.5M-3.5M) Both incredibly well established artists whose work should command great interest and achieve at least their minimum estimate. The next day, as with Sotheby’s there is a noticeable lack of street art from the previous sales, yet the one piece of interest that is there is Lot 180, Banksy (£25K-£35K) of a unique piece on a safe. This again is something that has yet to come to auction, and due to it’s more “street appearance” is pretty special for Banksy makes it very interesting.
It is clear that estimates are more realistic, and the quality of work offered is tighter and reflective of the current economic situation. This also confirmed to me recently by speaking to Phillips - they are really concentrating on quality and rarity of work, and pressing upon sellers the need to set realistic reserve prices It is also clear that it is a buyers market and may become even more so over the next month or so. With this in mind keep an eye on these first 2 rounds of auctions then come back to read some pointers for the Urban art auctions at Bonham’s on Feb 23rd & Dreweatts on Feb 26th.
Useful Links
www.sothebys.com
www.bonhams.com
www.phillipsdepury.com
* To find all the relevant auction info you can go direct to the auction house sites above, register on the site, and search for the contemporary auctions as on the dates given. It is also possible to watch the auctions on live streaming if not actually there in person
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