Tag: Sotheby\’s

  • The Art Market, Philistinism and the NEA

    Art sales figures show interesting declines in the markets. A Feb. 16, 2009 article in The Telegraph stated that Sotheby’s ($5.3 billion) inched ahead of Christie’s ($5.1 billion) in global art sales last year. Both figures, however, are down from the previous year, when Christie’s was ahead by $6.3 billion to Sotheby’s $6.2 billion. “At…

  • New York Auctions bad, but could have been worse

    At Sotheby’s sale of contemporary art on Nov. 11, only 43 of the 63 lots sold for a total of $125 million. Presale forecasts predicted a minimum of $202 million in sales. Contemporary art stars plunge to earth, AFP Contemporary art sale at Sotheby’s nets $125 million, International Herald Tribune Sotheby’s contemporary art sale defies…

  • Jerry Saltz predicts doom: Artworld will retract, be reborn

    My favorite art critic is Jerry Saltz of New York Magazine. (His wife Roberta Smith from the New York Times is likely my second favorite). Mr. Saltz has an insightful article on the state of contemporary art in the current issue. Read it here. Art Market Watch from ArtNet.com also explores the situation in detailed…

  • Art sales in London this week may determine future of art market

    Bloomberg is reporting that Sotheby’s and Christies both have guaranteed lots in this weeks London auctions. The big question is whether they will have buyers. Read the article here. “There’s an awful lot riding on these sales in London and next month in New York,” said the London dealer Alan Hobart. “If they’re successful, confidence…

  • Damien Hirst, the Contemporary Art Market, and the Critics

    Last week, on September 15 & 16, 2008, the same days the U.S. stock markets tanked and the world economy appeared to be on the brink, Damien Hirst did something revolutionary. He and Sotheby’s sold $200m of his “art.” I put that term in quotes, because critic Robert Hughes weighed in on the “tacky” and…