Relic Sellers are Faking it on Ebay
By Mike Boehm, LA Times, Section D, page one. Friday, May 29th, 2009.
http://articles.latimes.com/p/2009/05/29/calendar/et-ebayfakes29
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
REVIEW OF THE LA TRIBAL SHOW AT THE HELMS BUILDING:
Los Angeles Tribal, a local association of dealers specializing in the traditional tribal arts of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, held their first exhibition at the Helms Building in Culver City, California on March 13th, 14th and 15th 2009. Participating LA Tribal members: Anthropos Gallery (Ron Normandeau); Dimondstein Tribal Arts (Joshua Dimondstein); Philip Garaway; Mark A. Johnson Tribal Art; Leonard Kalina Fine Arts; Fily Keita Tribal Arts; Primary Source (John Strusinski); and Jerry Solomon Asian & Tribal Arts. Tribal Arts magazine were also represented.
There was a Friday night opening benefit for “The World Is Just A Book Away”, a non-profit organization promoting literacy in developing countries. On Saturday and Sunday, members of LA Tribal with Jonathan Fogel of Tribal Arts magazine held a Tribal Art Appraisal Clinic.
This untried venue turned out to be a very good place to hold a smaller and more intimate exhibition. Frankly, until set-up, we had no idea if the overhead track lights would work properly or the display cases could be easily plugged in! But, it all came together with no problems and the individual displays were first rate. In addition, the Helms Building (formerly the Helms Bakery) is a well known icon in Los Angeles, easy to get to from all parts of town, with lots of available parking.
The opening benefit and appraisal clinic were designed to draw in new people and hopefully potential buyers. Without question these were successful in bringing in new faces, and thanks to the efforts of the non-profit, a good PR team, ads, mailers, and email announcements, the event was well attended, better than expected. We had close to 200 attendees on opening night and at least that number over the next two days (mostly new people). Approximately 70 of these attendees (again, mostly new people) brought in items to be appraised. Tribal Arts magazine was able to sign up more than 20 subscribers, a very high number for this kind of show.
The bad news, which was not un-expected during this slow economy, was that sales were underwhelming. But, more disappointing than the lack of significant sales, was the lack of participation by those members of the local tribal art community that I would have expected to attend. It never surprises me who comes to these shows, but instead who doesn’t. Without question, we were able to get the word out to this community including all of the LA area collector’s councils, organizations, individuals, and museums that have an interest in tribal art, so it was extremely unlikely they would not have been aware of this event.
With the exception of the director of the Bowers Museum in Orange County (thank you Peter Keller for making the trip to LA!), I am not aware of any other museum staff that came by (I am looking at you Fowler Museum! You too LACMA!). And worse, perhaps 20% of the LA based Ethnic Arts Council (EAC) bothered to attend! This is especially disappointing considering that virtually all of the members of Los Angeles Tribal are EAC members and very supportive of their programs and events.
In the entire Southern California region, there is one regular public show of Asian and Tribal Art (the Caskey Lee show in November) a very few museum exhibitions, and this LA Tribal group show. That’s it! You would think that anyone that has enough interest in tribal art to spend money to join an organization dedicated to appreciating tribal art or work for an institution with a tribal art collection would find a little time over three days to take advantage of this rare, free opportunity to view these works up close and actually talk to people who are willing to give you information and answer your direct questions!
Despite the economic issues and the lack of full local participation, other aspects were very successful. It has been a goal of Los Angeles Tribal to hold a regularly scheduled annual show, so we will likely do this event next March at the same location.
LOS ANGELES TRIBAL: http://www.latribal.com/
THE WORLD IS JUST A BOOK AWAY: http://www.theworldisjustabookaway.com/
DUBROWORKS PR: www.dubroworks.com
TRIBAL ART MAGAZINE: http://www.tribalmagazine.com/
ART & ANTIQUES MAGAZINE: http://www.artandantiques.net/
There was a Friday night opening benefit for “The World Is Just A Book Away”, a non-profit organization promoting literacy in developing countries. On Saturday and Sunday, members of LA Tribal with Jonathan Fogel of Tribal Arts magazine held a Tribal Art Appraisal Clinic.
This untried venue turned out to be a very good place to hold a smaller and more intimate exhibition. Frankly, until set-up, we had no idea if the overhead track lights would work properly or the display cases could be easily plugged in! But, it all came together with no problems and the individual displays were first rate. In addition, the Helms Building (formerly the Helms Bakery) is a well known icon in Los Angeles, easy to get to from all parts of town, with lots of available parking.
The opening benefit and appraisal clinic were designed to draw in new people and hopefully potential buyers. Without question these were successful in bringing in new faces, and thanks to the efforts of the non-profit, a good PR team, ads, mailers, and email announcements, the event was well attended, better than expected. We had close to 200 attendees on opening night and at least that number over the next two days (mostly new people). Approximately 70 of these attendees (again, mostly new people) brought in items to be appraised. Tribal Arts magazine was able to sign up more than 20 subscribers, a very high number for this kind of show.
The bad news, which was not un-expected during this slow economy, was that sales were underwhelming. But, more disappointing than the lack of significant sales, was the lack of participation by those members of the local tribal art community that I would have expected to attend. It never surprises me who comes to these shows, but instead who doesn’t. Without question, we were able to get the word out to this community including all of the LA area collector’s councils, organizations, individuals, and museums that have an interest in tribal art, so it was extremely unlikely they would not have been aware of this event.
With the exception of the director of the Bowers Museum in Orange County (thank you Peter Keller for making the trip to LA!), I am not aware of any other museum staff that came by (I am looking at you Fowler Museum! You too LACMA!). And worse, perhaps 20% of the LA based Ethnic Arts Council (EAC) bothered to attend! This is especially disappointing considering that virtually all of the members of Los Angeles Tribal are EAC members and very supportive of their programs and events.
In the entire Southern California region, there is one regular public show of Asian and Tribal Art (the Caskey Lee show in November) a very few museum exhibitions, and this LA Tribal group show. That’s it! You would think that anyone that has enough interest in tribal art to spend money to join an organization dedicated to appreciating tribal art or work for an institution with a tribal art collection would find a little time over three days to take advantage of this rare, free opportunity to view these works up close and actually talk to people who are willing to give you information and answer your direct questions!
Despite the economic issues and the lack of full local participation, other aspects were very successful. It has been a goal of Los Angeles Tribal to hold a regularly scheduled annual show, so we will likely do this event next March at the same location.
LOS ANGELES TRIBAL: http://www.latribal.com/
THE WORLD IS JUST A BOOK AWAY: http://www.theworldisjustabookaway.com/
DUBROWORKS PR: www.dubroworks.com
TRIBAL ART MAGAZINE: http://www.tribalmagazine.com/
ART & ANTIQUES MAGAZINE: http://www.artandantiques.net/
REVIEW: INDONESIAN TEXTILE EXHIBITION AT LACMA
I recently visited the Indonesian textile exhibition currently on display at LACMA. The exhibition is part of the Mary Hunt Kahlenberg collection, a former curator at LACMA and world renowned authority on Indonesian textiles. The original group was put on display (in conjunction with a symposium on Indonesian Textiles) in September of 2008 and ran until March of this year. Several pieces were removed and replaced with new selections in March. The current group will be on display until September 2009.
As a long time collector/dealer of Indonesian art and textiles, I am pleased to see LACMA take a special interest in this area. I believe their intent is to eventually acquire this collection. Textiles played an important part in the ritual life of Indonesians as well as displaying their status, wealth, and cultural identity. The collection covers most of the primary textile weaving cultures of Indonesia with a wide selection of ikat, batiks, and supplementary-weft examples from Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara (the outer island, east of Bali).
Several pieces have been carbon dated (C14) with ranges from 1430 to 1715! In my early days of collecting textiles from this region, it was believed that none could have survived more than 150 years, so 19th century dates were consider ancient. However, in the last decade, as more C14 tests results have come in, it is clear that many Indonesian textiles are considerably older than anyone would have imagined. Having a few of these early examples on display is an eye-opener.
There are many interesting pieces on display, but several drew my attention: an heirloom batik found in Sulawesi (dated to 1645-1695); a Lemba bark cloth blouse from Sulawesi with applied mica paint; a Tampan from South Sumatra with a single red ship surrounding by sea creatures; a Palepai banner with two red ships from South Sumatra; a large, Porisitutu cloth from the Sulawesi with bold meanders and fantastic color; a very good Pua Sungkit from the Sarawak, Borneo with serpent figures; a shawl from Timor with extremely detailed ikat motifs; and an ancient ikat fragment from Sulawesi with knelling animal figures (dated to 1430-1510).
I am not a big fan of Indonesian batiks, so I’ll admit I was not bowled over with this section, which was heavily represented. Other pieces from islands like Savu and Roti were not spectacular by any means, but these areas are not known for incredible weavings. I was disappointed to find that textiles from Borneo were so under-represented. Aside from the very good Pua Sungkit mentioned above, there were no examples of the better known and spectacular large ritual ikat blankets (Pua Kombu) from Sarawak or any good examples of the smaller woman’s skirts (Kain Kebat). In the first run, there was an underwhelming example of one ikat skirt. Beadwork was minimally represented as well, with the exception of important beaded bag from Sumba that was shown in the first run.
Regardless, of a few weak areas in this collection, the other examples are so spectacular it is well worth the visit (and re-visit). Hopefully, this exhibition will bring renewed interest in Indonesian textiles, an area often neglected by museums and collectors of important tribal art.
As a long time collector/dealer of Indonesian art and textiles, I am pleased to see LACMA take a special interest in this area. I believe their intent is to eventually acquire this collection. Textiles played an important part in the ritual life of Indonesians as well as displaying their status, wealth, and cultural identity. The collection covers most of the primary textile weaving cultures of Indonesia with a wide selection of ikat, batiks, and supplementary-weft examples from Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara (the outer island, east of Bali).
Several pieces have been carbon dated (C14) with ranges from 1430 to 1715! In my early days of collecting textiles from this region, it was believed that none could have survived more than 150 years, so 19th century dates were consider ancient. However, in the last decade, as more C14 tests results have come in, it is clear that many Indonesian textiles are considerably older than anyone would have imagined. Having a few of these early examples on display is an eye-opener.
There are many interesting pieces on display, but several drew my attention: an heirloom batik found in Sulawesi (dated to 1645-1695); a Lemba bark cloth blouse from Sulawesi with applied mica paint; a Tampan from South Sumatra with a single red ship surrounding by sea creatures; a Palepai banner with two red ships from South Sumatra; a large, Porisitutu cloth from the Sulawesi with bold meanders and fantastic color; a very good Pua Sungkit from the Sarawak, Borneo with serpent figures; a shawl from Timor with extremely detailed ikat motifs; and an ancient ikat fragment from Sulawesi with knelling animal figures (dated to 1430-1510).
I am not a big fan of Indonesian batiks, so I’ll admit I was not bowled over with this section, which was heavily represented. Other pieces from islands like Savu and Roti were not spectacular by any means, but these areas are not known for incredible weavings. I was disappointed to find that textiles from Borneo were so under-represented. Aside from the very good Pua Sungkit mentioned above, there were no examples of the better known and spectacular large ritual ikat blankets (Pua Kombu) from Sarawak or any good examples of the smaller woman’s skirts (Kain Kebat). In the first run, there was an underwhelming example of one ikat skirt. Beadwork was minimally represented as well, with the exception of important beaded bag from Sumba that was shown in the first run.
Regardless, of a few weak areas in this collection, the other examples are so spectacular it is well worth the visit (and re-visit). Hopefully, this exhibition will bring renewed interest in Indonesian textiles, an area often neglected by museums and collectors of important tribal art.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
COMMENTARY ON THE RECENT SF TRIBAL SHOW
San Francisco Tribal & Textile Art Show
Fort Mason Center, Feb.13th to 15th, 2009.
Every February I exhibit at the San Francisco Tribal & Textile Art Show held at the Fort Mason Center. I really look forward to this event because in my opinion this show is the best Tribal Art venue in the US and possibly the world. There are more exhibitors than any other show (100 or more) with considerably more variety of material, unlike the big European shows which tend to focus on African art. Also, sales have typically been strong and consistent each year. There is always an interesting display in the lobby at the entrance to the venue and this year was no exception. Featured were a series of fantastic and powerful paintings from famed Miami artist (and tribal art collector) Jose Bedia.
Even with the constant drumbeat of economic Armageddon each day on the news, I was cautiously optimistic that buyers would dust off their checkbooks to take advantage of this once in a year opportunity to acquire great tribal artworks. There were plenty of good pieces for sale and attendance was high, certainly it appeared to be no less people walking the aisles than last year.
However, most people I talked to were not in a buying mood, even the ones that were not directly affected by the economic slowdown. Everyone appeared nervous about spending any serious money. With fewer sales to collectors, most dealers were backing off buying as well, so in the end overall sales were down considerably from previous years. This seemed to be the case with the majority of exhibitors, with the exception of a few dealers who did quite well. This was disappointing of course, but not unexpected considering the circumstances. Despite lower than usual sales this year, I believe this will not be the norm and look forward to exhibiting at this venue next year.
One side area that I want to address is the vetting at the show this year. Vetting, prior to the public opening, is a necessary step to insure the quality and authenticity of the material offered. This is usually done with the intention of removing only those items that are obviously or very likely to be problematic (fakes, reproductions, or overly restored items). In a perfect world, people selected to do the vetting would be recognized as experts in their fields and have no personal interest in the items on display. Admittedly, this is difficult to achieve as finding outside experts who are willing to do this job is not easy and often impossible. As an alternative, the show organizers usually have to select a group of dealers that are also exhibitors.
Unfortunately, this can (and often does) lead to allowing certain dealers, with less than honorable intentions, to have the power to remove any item from a competitor’s booth. This is supposed to be remedied by that fact that a small group has to make these decisions and no piece can be vetted out by a single person. However, it is not unusual for other members of these committees to either have their own agendas or not be qualified to make those decisions in the first place. In addition there can be a sheep-like mentality amongst some members of a vetting committee who prefer to avoid confrontation, so they just go along with the opinion of the most forceful personality.
I personally know of several authentic old Borneo sculptures (including a pair of male/female territory markers) that were vetted out of the show. These particular pieces were so clearly and unequivocally correct, that I was in shock when I found out they were removed. To be blunt, certain key members of that committee, who voted to remove these pieces (as well as others), were either extremely ignorant of the material or chose to do so because of a personal agenda.
This business is hard enough without the moronic and virtually criminal behavior of certain dealers. The real shame is these same dealers actually believe they will look better to their clients if they pull down their colleagues, when in fact it only causes distrust and insecurity in the marketplace. We need more cooperation, not more competition amongst our community if we want to see this business flourish.
LA TIMES STORY ON OCEANIC ART
SOUL OF OCEANIA:
The Art of Pacific Island Cultures is Gaining New Significance Across the U.S.
Article about Oceanic art at LACMA and at the San Diego Museum of Art.
By Suzanne Muchnic, LA Times, February 22, 2009.
For the direct link to the article online, please go to:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-oceanic22-2009feb22,0,924504.story
The Art of Pacific Island Cultures is Gaining New Significance Across the U.S.
Article about Oceanic art at LACMA and at the San Diego Museum of Art.
By Suzanne Muchnic, LA Times, February 22, 2009.
For the direct link to the article online, please go to:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-oceanic22-2009feb22,0,924504.story
Thursday, January 22, 2009
ART AND RECESSION
Art and Recession
By Wolfgang Schlink, editor EAC e-news
“Art Imitates Crunch, With Few Exceptions” proclaimed an early January 2009 headline of The Wall Street Journal. Art moves largely in lockstep with the global economic turmoil. Artists, galleries, auction houses, museums, schools, philanthropists, and collectors are adjusting to a changing world.
2008 - Records, rejects, Russians
For Sotheby’s, November 14, 2008 was a rare good day in recent months. The auctioneer was basking in superlatives, like “a new level” for African and Oceanic Art, “continued enthusiasm of collectors even amid challenging economic times”, and “many world records achieved”. The sensational $4 million sale of a pair of Senufo ancestor figures, originally in the collection of Nelson A. Rockefeller, was the highlight of the evening. Moreover, the New York auction of the Rosenthal Collection was one of the few bright spots in the fall auction scene; so praise was warranted. But, to put things in perspective, tribal art accounts for just a small fraction of total art auction sales where Impressionist, modern, and contemporary art dominate.
Prices for art - especially of the contemporary and modern genre – had skyrocketed in the past few years driven by the irrational exuberance of wealthy collectors. Within weeks of a waning 2008 the overheated market dropped to a more earthly level. For some segments of the art world this did not make for a soft landing. Contemporary Asian art from China and India - so hot for a few years - fell prey to overhyped estimates at the October/November Hong Kong auctions. By the beginning of the fourth quarter Sotheby’s contemporary art experts still took solace in the record results of their Damien Hirst September formaldehyde-drenched auction. The direct sale - a bypass of Hirst’s gallerists - marked a peak of the contemporary art market. In hindsight, it was not a trendsetter, but rather an aberration combined with lucky timing. The Hirst auction took place on September 15, the day Lehman Brothers collapsed.
By December 2008, Christie’s indicated price cuts of 10% or more; an optimistic view as the New York November auctions had seen downward adjustments of more than 30% and a disproportionate share of unsold consignments. Cash rich buyers took advantage of what could only be described as twofer sales. In less than 90 minutes at Sotheby’s New York, Los Angeles financier Eli Broad reportedly plunked down $8 million for a Ruscha, a Judd, a Koons, and a Rauschenberg, all well below their low estimates.
The tea leaves of the fall 2008 auctions for late 19th and 20th century art do not make for a simple reading. The heap of bought-in lots increased. Works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Marden, Hirst, and Koons were among the rejects while records were still broken. Some of the highlights: Edvard Munch’s 1894 “Vampire (Love and Pain)” changed hands for more than $38 million. Kazimir Malevich’s 1916 “Suprematist Composition”, recently wrested by the painter’s heirs from Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, set a high mark for Russian art at $60 million.
Earlier, in May 2008, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich had snapped up Francis Bacon’s 1976 “Triptych”, at $86.3 million the fourth most expensive painting ever sold at auction. Only 48 hours later he added Lucian Freud’s 1995 painting “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” from the artist’s “fat period” to his collection. At $33.6 million it was a record result for a living artist. The two purchases - an interesting comparison – came close to matching the entire 2007 budget of America’s National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
It is not entirely clear what drives the art collecting ambition of several Russian oligarchs and intensely private Mr. Abramovich in particular. He is known as a trophy hunter who owns FC Chelsea (the English Premier League soccer club) and several luxury yachts including the world’s largest with its own missile defense system (still under construction). His muse seems to be girlfriend Dasha Zukhova, herself a rookie in the art collecting world. Yet, the 27 year old Russian ‘It Girl’ has the drive to make things happen. With the assistance of first-class professionals and her boyfriend’s deep pockets she orchestrated the conversion of the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, a Moscow architectural landmark from the 1920s, into a center for contemporary culture. For the June 2008 “soft” opening of her Garage art space, movers and shakers of the international art scene scrambled for invitations. Among the 300 lucky attendees were the likes of Ronald Lauder (Neue Galerie, N.Y.C.), Larry Gagosian (has now his own Moscow gallery), collector Steven Cohen, and artist Jeff Koons. Singer Amy Winehouse flew in for the night and performed for a reported fee of $2 million. Abramovich and Zhukova have far reaching plans. For 2010, they have committed to a Francis Bacon retrospective that will open at the Garage and then travel to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Some glorified comments seem to suggest that a new elite of Russian collectors is born, reminiscent of the tradition of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, or Impressionist connoisseurs Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin. It remains to be seen if the art shopping spree of Mr. Abramovich is more than just an expensive flash in the pan. Russia’s precipitous economic downturn since May 2008 has clearly affected his fortune by the billions, although a spokesperson calls the bad news “merely paper losses”.
The lessons from the capricious auction scene of 2008 indicate that even in a recession rare, good art of impeccable provenance keeps its value. Impressionist paintings did not lose their standing. In contrast, overvalued names and less than first-rate works have quickly created their own bear market.
Philanthropists rethink
“… mad Americans and sad Japanese slowly begin to discover they have been throwing away billions of pounds on the hideous rubbish which is still called ‘modern art’“; the London Daily Telegraph mocked the art slump of 1991(!). The assessment for late 2008 would sound only slightly different. Yet in November, Tobias Meyer, at Sotheby’s in charge of contemporary art worldwide, tried to put a positive spin on a dire situation by feeding the art world the euphemism: “… price disparity between good and great has widened to humongous”. And of course, the nationality of compulsive contemporary art buyers had changed over time. Now, the nouveaux riches from Russia, the Middle East, and Asia stayed away, and so did much of the recession-bitten Wall Street elite of collectors. A few members of the latter quickly turned from buyers to sellers to take advantage of a last fat chance - for a while - to replenish some of the lost family silver. America’s museums had courted affluent financiers, investment bankers, hedge-fund managers, and their wives for board memberships with the expectation of major art endowments. Philanthropy has to wait as museum patrons prioritized personal needs.
Kathy Fuld, a vice chairman of MoMA’s Board of Trustees and wife of Lehman Brothers ex-CEO Richard Fuld, consigned a set of 16 rare postwar works on paper (Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, and others) to Christie’s for their November 12 auction, guaranteed by the auctioneers for $20 million. The sale tallied just $13 million leaving Christie’s holding the bag for the difference. You win some, and you lose some. According to Bloomberg, husband Richard Fuld unloaded his shares of insolvent Lehman in September for just $500,000, a stash that had been worth a tidy $247 million only some 18 months ago.
Jennifer Stockman, president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, consigned several works of art to the same auction, among them a 1994 painting “Pine House (Rooms for Rent)” by Scottish-born artist Peter Doig. The work had stellar exhibition provenance from London’s Tate Britain where it had been part of an early 2008 show of the artist’s work. It also came with an estimate of $4.5 to $6.5 million and a generous guarantee by the auction house. Small change as Georgian mining magnate Boris Ivanishvili had shelled out $11.3 million for Doig’s 1991 painting “White Canoe”, at the time (February 2007) the most expensive work by a living European artist. Yet, the no-sale of “Pine House” and the low sale of other pieces of the Stockman lot triggered the guarantee. The sheltered consignor was happy while Christie’s stockroom kept growing. “Talk about timing … It was now or never …” were Mrs. Stockman’s cheerful comments; words reminiscent of a commodity trader.
Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis - she the president of MoMA’s Board of Trustees, he the co-founder of private equity firm KKR - staged a successful sale of their c. 1879 Edgar Degas pastel on paper “Danseuse au Repos”. The painting was knocked down at a record $37 million, breaking its own 1999 high mark of $27.9 million. A successful ‘flip’ for the consignors with an added bonus as Sotheby’s supposedly had guaranteed the sale at a generous $40 million.
And, when everybody was getting ready for some good - albeit muted - holiday cheer, Bernard Madoff and his collapsed Ponzi scheme shocked the financial world. The deceitful investor made off with multibillion dollars of direct and indirect clients. Philanthropists are disproportionately affected by the Madoff malaise as they have a tendency to put their charitable dollars into higher risk investments than let’s say their retirement savings. For a few of them their art collections became over night their sole - not very liquid - assets. Unlucky timing as any forthcoming fire sales will face a soft art market.
Auctioneers restructure
The new economic reality forced auction houses to make changes. Sotheby’s and Christie’s, the top contemporary art auctioneers, and distant third Russian-owned Phillips de Pury had engaged in a cutthroat competition to win consignments. Many of the weapons used in this battle for prestige and market share have become - at least for now - tools of a foolish historic arsenal. Gone are the kickbacks of buyer’s fees to the seller. Next, the questionable and loss making practice of luring sellers by giving them price guarantees has been abandoned. In this ultimate gamble to attract consignors, an auction house would commit itself to pay a fixed sum to a seller of a piece of art, regardless if it would be bought at auction or not. This promise was at times embellished by a profit-sharing agreement if a successful sale exceeded the guarantee. Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s European chairman of contemporary art, confidently declared: “We guarantee the works we believe in”. That she stated in October 2008. Only weeks later it turned out the believers had significantly underestimated the precipitous slide of the art recession. Serious multi-millions of dollars - all three major contemporary art auctioneers were affected - were lost in their blown up (no pun intended) guarantees. By December, Sotheby’s and Christie’s reportedly had lost a combined 63 million to their overoptimistic pledges. Incidentally, the guarantee game had always been looked at with some skepticism as it could easily skew the impartiality of the auctioneer. Who wouldn’t try to market a guaranteed pay-out harder in lieu of the uncertainty of selling or not selling a given lot?
Yet auction houses continue to play all sides of the sale. They seem to have maintained the “third party guarantee” (i.e. not their own, more likely a gallery’s or a collector’s pledge geared to see the prices for a particular artist increase). Fairly new in their toolbox is the “irrevocable bid” (i.e. a buyer’s pre-sale guarantee). In addition, they are extending loans and pre-sale advances to sellers. And, who’d know about potential side deals to ingratiate themselves with consignors, like promised donations to the seller’s favorite charity?
Sotheby’s had expanded its brand from being just an expert art intermediary. Attempting to cater to other needs of their well-to-do clientele, they branched out into high end real estate brokering. Over time the auction house had slipped into the role of a financial institution for the wealthy, involved in lending, guaranteeing, rebating, and the (now terminated) credit card business. It did not make for a successful diversification. Sotheby’s share price (NYSE ticker: BID) had dropped to $8.89 by New Year’s Eve, a nosedive of 77% from early 2008. Downsizing of staff, resulting in anticipated savings of $7 million for 2009, was just one of the consequences.
Closely held Christie’s - part of French holding company Artemis that owns the Gucci brand and Chateau Latour - announced their restructuring plan on January 12, 2009. Speculation had it that the winery or even the auction house itself may be for sale. Not so fast; for now the vague announcement just speaks of “significant staff reductions”.
Museums retrench
The Art Newspaper of London recently conducted a financial survey of some 40 U.S. art museums. The polled institutions had reportedly lost on average more than 20% of their invested endowments in 2008. That may well be an understated figure. As a consequence, from the Guggenheim to the Getty, from MoMA to MOCA painful budget cuts are being put in place for 2009 and 2010 affecting staffing, programming, and operations. Hiring freezes, early retirement packages, postponement of building expansions and renovations, temporary closing of venues, and cut back on research and exhibitions are the orders of the day for America’s cultural institutions.
While their European counterparts are for the most part publicly funded, American museums rely heavily on private and corporate philanthropy. Sponsorship of art fairs, museum exhibitions and catalogs, has been an integral part of the business plan of many financial institutions. It was one way to attract high-end clients for their wealth management divisions. Active players, like Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch have collapsed or merged. Other art-supporting banks of significance, like Deutsche and UBS, have reported multi-billion losses. The corporate sponsorship dollar is becoming a rare currency in the global art and museum world.
Los Angeles’ MOCA, arguably the world’s most important contemporary art venue, was lucky. A victim not so much of the recession but of financial mismanagement, the museum had lived for years beyond its means. Magnate Eli Broad came to the rescue and has pledged a $30 million lifeline for MOCA’s survival.
President Obama - WPA revisited?
The current economic crisis is a stark reminder of the time of the Great Depression; minus the dust storms and soup kitchens for now. Today’s economic pundits keep skillfully avoiding the dreaded D-word. “A deepening recession” was the balancing act of wordsmithing recently used by a senior advisor to the presidential runner up. The answer to the calamitous times of the 1930s was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal which included support for the arts. Programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and others provided jobs creation and education. Artists who received government paychecks included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, and Thomas Hart Benton. Production of posters for public causes flourished, muralists beautified post offices and other public buildings. The depression presented photographers like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, both on the federal payroll, with haunting motifs. It remains to be seen to what extent the Obama administration will include support for the arts in the eagerly anticipated stimulus package.
President Obama has publicly stated: ”Our art, our culture, that’s the essence of what makes America special …”. His campaign platform included an arts program, unusual for a presidential contender. One of the main ingredients of his cultural policy platform is the creation of an Artists Corps, a cadre of young art talent pressed into service for the benefit of America’s public schools. A welcome thought at a time when state budget cuts force the Los Angeles Unified School District to freeze its Arts Community Partnership program, a valuable hands-on teaching program in many disciplines of the performing and visual arts. Clearly a shame, as it is a documented fact that test scores in low-income public schools which link art education across the curriculum improve faster than scores in schools lacking art programs. Establishing the Artists Corps would be a win-win situation for young artists and for students.
In a time of recession the cliché of the starving artist is likely to become a clear and present reality. Art is luxury that one can arguably live without. As an overspending nation focuses on reducing debt, the negative impact on art sales and the burgeoning gallery scene is inevitable. Yet there is a chance for the creative, innovative mind. One example is Los Angeles-based artist Shepard Fairey who by his own admission was “living on the poverty line” until 2001. He propelled his art to prominence by starting as a street artist pasting - not always terribly legal - his posters on buildings, walls, and bridges. Skill, timing, and using the potential of the Internet made his image of candidate Obama a ubiquitous icon. The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian just acquired and unveiled the original.
Let the image be the maxim of art and recession: There is - HOPE.
----------------------
The article was first published in the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles (EAC) e-news january/february 2009 edition
By Wolfgang Schlink, editor EAC e-news
“Art Imitates Crunch, With Few Exceptions” proclaimed an early January 2009 headline of The Wall Street Journal. Art moves largely in lockstep with the global economic turmoil. Artists, galleries, auction houses, museums, schools, philanthropists, and collectors are adjusting to a changing world.
2008 - Records, rejects, Russians
For Sotheby’s, November 14, 2008 was a rare good day in recent months. The auctioneer was basking in superlatives, like “a new level” for African and Oceanic Art, “continued enthusiasm of collectors even amid challenging economic times”, and “many world records achieved”. The sensational $4 million sale of a pair of Senufo ancestor figures, originally in the collection of Nelson A. Rockefeller, was the highlight of the evening. Moreover, the New York auction of the Rosenthal Collection was one of the few bright spots in the fall auction scene; so praise was warranted. But, to put things in perspective, tribal art accounts for just a small fraction of total art auction sales where Impressionist, modern, and contemporary art dominate.
Prices for art - especially of the contemporary and modern genre – had skyrocketed in the past few years driven by the irrational exuberance of wealthy collectors. Within weeks of a waning 2008 the overheated market dropped to a more earthly level. For some segments of the art world this did not make for a soft landing. Contemporary Asian art from China and India - so hot for a few years - fell prey to overhyped estimates at the October/November Hong Kong auctions. By the beginning of the fourth quarter Sotheby’s contemporary art experts still took solace in the record results of their Damien Hirst September formaldehyde-drenched auction. The direct sale - a bypass of Hirst’s gallerists - marked a peak of the contemporary art market. In hindsight, it was not a trendsetter, but rather an aberration combined with lucky timing. The Hirst auction took place on September 15, the day Lehman Brothers collapsed.
By December 2008, Christie’s indicated price cuts of 10% or more; an optimistic view as the New York November auctions had seen downward adjustments of more than 30% and a disproportionate share of unsold consignments. Cash rich buyers took advantage of what could only be described as twofer sales. In less than 90 minutes at Sotheby’s New York, Los Angeles financier Eli Broad reportedly plunked down $8 million for a Ruscha, a Judd, a Koons, and a Rauschenberg, all well below their low estimates.
The tea leaves of the fall 2008 auctions for late 19th and 20th century art do not make for a simple reading. The heap of bought-in lots increased. Works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Marden, Hirst, and Koons were among the rejects while records were still broken. Some of the highlights: Edvard Munch’s 1894 “Vampire (Love and Pain)” changed hands for more than $38 million. Kazimir Malevich’s 1916 “Suprematist Composition”, recently wrested by the painter’s heirs from Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, set a high mark for Russian art at $60 million.
Earlier, in May 2008, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich had snapped up Francis Bacon’s 1976 “Triptych”, at $86.3 million the fourth most expensive painting ever sold at auction. Only 48 hours later he added Lucian Freud’s 1995 painting “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” from the artist’s “fat period” to his collection. At $33.6 million it was a record result for a living artist. The two purchases - an interesting comparison – came close to matching the entire 2007 budget of America’s National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
It is not entirely clear what drives the art collecting ambition of several Russian oligarchs and intensely private Mr. Abramovich in particular. He is known as a trophy hunter who owns FC Chelsea (the English Premier League soccer club) and several luxury yachts including the world’s largest with its own missile defense system (still under construction). His muse seems to be girlfriend Dasha Zukhova, herself a rookie in the art collecting world. Yet, the 27 year old Russian ‘It Girl’ has the drive to make things happen. With the assistance of first-class professionals and her boyfriend’s deep pockets she orchestrated the conversion of the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, a Moscow architectural landmark from the 1920s, into a center for contemporary culture. For the June 2008 “soft” opening of her Garage art space, movers and shakers of the international art scene scrambled for invitations. Among the 300 lucky attendees were the likes of Ronald Lauder (Neue Galerie, N.Y.C.), Larry Gagosian (has now his own Moscow gallery), collector Steven Cohen, and artist Jeff Koons. Singer Amy Winehouse flew in for the night and performed for a reported fee of $2 million. Abramovich and Zhukova have far reaching plans. For 2010, they have committed to a Francis Bacon retrospective that will open at the Garage and then travel to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Some glorified comments seem to suggest that a new elite of Russian collectors is born, reminiscent of the tradition of Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, or Impressionist connoisseurs Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin. It remains to be seen if the art shopping spree of Mr. Abramovich is more than just an expensive flash in the pan. Russia’s precipitous economic downturn since May 2008 has clearly affected his fortune by the billions, although a spokesperson calls the bad news “merely paper losses”.
The lessons from the capricious auction scene of 2008 indicate that even in a recession rare, good art of impeccable provenance keeps its value. Impressionist paintings did not lose their standing. In contrast, overvalued names and less than first-rate works have quickly created their own bear market.
Philanthropists rethink
“… mad Americans and sad Japanese slowly begin to discover they have been throwing away billions of pounds on the hideous rubbish which is still called ‘modern art’“; the London Daily Telegraph mocked the art slump of 1991(!). The assessment for late 2008 would sound only slightly different. Yet in November, Tobias Meyer, at Sotheby’s in charge of contemporary art worldwide, tried to put a positive spin on a dire situation by feeding the art world the euphemism: “… price disparity between good and great has widened to humongous”. And of course, the nationality of compulsive contemporary art buyers had changed over time. Now, the nouveaux riches from Russia, the Middle East, and Asia stayed away, and so did much of the recession-bitten Wall Street elite of collectors. A few members of the latter quickly turned from buyers to sellers to take advantage of a last fat chance - for a while - to replenish some of the lost family silver. America’s museums had courted affluent financiers, investment bankers, hedge-fund managers, and their wives for board memberships with the expectation of major art endowments. Philanthropy has to wait as museum patrons prioritized personal needs.
Kathy Fuld, a vice chairman of MoMA’s Board of Trustees and wife of Lehman Brothers ex-CEO Richard Fuld, consigned a set of 16 rare postwar works on paper (Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, and others) to Christie’s for their November 12 auction, guaranteed by the auctioneers for $20 million. The sale tallied just $13 million leaving Christie’s holding the bag for the difference. You win some, and you lose some. According to Bloomberg, husband Richard Fuld unloaded his shares of insolvent Lehman in September for just $500,000, a stash that had been worth a tidy $247 million only some 18 months ago.
Jennifer Stockman, president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, consigned several works of art to the same auction, among them a 1994 painting “Pine House (Rooms for Rent)” by Scottish-born artist Peter Doig. The work had stellar exhibition provenance from London’s Tate Britain where it had been part of an early 2008 show of the artist’s work. It also came with an estimate of $4.5 to $6.5 million and a generous guarantee by the auction house. Small change as Georgian mining magnate Boris Ivanishvili had shelled out $11.3 million for Doig’s 1991 painting “White Canoe”, at the time (February 2007) the most expensive work by a living European artist. Yet, the no-sale of “Pine House” and the low sale of other pieces of the Stockman lot triggered the guarantee. The sheltered consignor was happy while Christie’s stockroom kept growing. “Talk about timing … It was now or never …” were Mrs. Stockman’s cheerful comments; words reminiscent of a commodity trader.
Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis - she the president of MoMA’s Board of Trustees, he the co-founder of private equity firm KKR - staged a successful sale of their c. 1879 Edgar Degas pastel on paper “Danseuse au Repos”. The painting was knocked down at a record $37 million, breaking its own 1999 high mark of $27.9 million. A successful ‘flip’ for the consignors with an added bonus as Sotheby’s supposedly had guaranteed the sale at a generous $40 million.
And, when everybody was getting ready for some good - albeit muted - holiday cheer, Bernard Madoff and his collapsed Ponzi scheme shocked the financial world. The deceitful investor made off with multibillion dollars of direct and indirect clients. Philanthropists are disproportionately affected by the Madoff malaise as they have a tendency to put their charitable dollars into higher risk investments than let’s say their retirement savings. For a few of them their art collections became over night their sole - not very liquid - assets. Unlucky timing as any forthcoming fire sales will face a soft art market.
Auctioneers restructure
The new economic reality forced auction houses to make changes. Sotheby’s and Christie’s, the top contemporary art auctioneers, and distant third Russian-owned Phillips de Pury had engaged in a cutthroat competition to win consignments. Many of the weapons used in this battle for prestige and market share have become - at least for now - tools of a foolish historic arsenal. Gone are the kickbacks of buyer’s fees to the seller. Next, the questionable and loss making practice of luring sellers by giving them price guarantees has been abandoned. In this ultimate gamble to attract consignors, an auction house would commit itself to pay a fixed sum to a seller of a piece of art, regardless if it would be bought at auction or not. This promise was at times embellished by a profit-sharing agreement if a successful sale exceeded the guarantee. Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s European chairman of contemporary art, confidently declared: “We guarantee the works we believe in”. That she stated in October 2008. Only weeks later it turned out the believers had significantly underestimated the precipitous slide of the art recession. Serious multi-millions of dollars - all three major contemporary art auctioneers were affected - were lost in their blown up (no pun intended) guarantees. By December, Sotheby’s and Christie’s reportedly had lost a combined 63 million to their overoptimistic pledges. Incidentally, the guarantee game had always been looked at with some skepticism as it could easily skew the impartiality of the auctioneer. Who wouldn’t try to market a guaranteed pay-out harder in lieu of the uncertainty of selling or not selling a given lot?
Yet auction houses continue to play all sides of the sale. They seem to have maintained the “third party guarantee” (i.e. not their own, more likely a gallery’s or a collector’s pledge geared to see the prices for a particular artist increase). Fairly new in their toolbox is the “irrevocable bid” (i.e. a buyer’s pre-sale guarantee). In addition, they are extending loans and pre-sale advances to sellers. And, who’d know about potential side deals to ingratiate themselves with consignors, like promised donations to the seller’s favorite charity?
Sotheby’s had expanded its brand from being just an expert art intermediary. Attempting to cater to other needs of their well-to-do clientele, they branched out into high end real estate brokering. Over time the auction house had slipped into the role of a financial institution for the wealthy, involved in lending, guaranteeing, rebating, and the (now terminated) credit card business. It did not make for a successful diversification. Sotheby’s share price (NYSE ticker: BID) had dropped to $8.89 by New Year’s Eve, a nosedive of 77% from early 2008. Downsizing of staff, resulting in anticipated savings of $7 million for 2009, was just one of the consequences.
Closely held Christie’s - part of French holding company Artemis that owns the Gucci brand and Chateau Latour - announced their restructuring plan on January 12, 2009. Speculation had it that the winery or even the auction house itself may be for sale. Not so fast; for now the vague announcement just speaks of “significant staff reductions”.
Museums retrench
The Art Newspaper of London recently conducted a financial survey of some 40 U.S. art museums. The polled institutions had reportedly lost on average more than 20% of their invested endowments in 2008. That may well be an understated figure. As a consequence, from the Guggenheim to the Getty, from MoMA to MOCA painful budget cuts are being put in place for 2009 and 2010 affecting staffing, programming, and operations. Hiring freezes, early retirement packages, postponement of building expansions and renovations, temporary closing of venues, and cut back on research and exhibitions are the orders of the day for America’s cultural institutions.
While their European counterparts are for the most part publicly funded, American museums rely heavily on private and corporate philanthropy. Sponsorship of art fairs, museum exhibitions and catalogs, has been an integral part of the business plan of many financial institutions. It was one way to attract high-end clients for their wealth management divisions. Active players, like Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch have collapsed or merged. Other art-supporting banks of significance, like Deutsche and UBS, have reported multi-billion losses. The corporate sponsorship dollar is becoming a rare currency in the global art and museum world.
Los Angeles’ MOCA, arguably the world’s most important contemporary art venue, was lucky. A victim not so much of the recession but of financial mismanagement, the museum had lived for years beyond its means. Magnate Eli Broad came to the rescue and has pledged a $30 million lifeline for MOCA’s survival.
President Obama - WPA revisited?
The current economic crisis is a stark reminder of the time of the Great Depression; minus the dust storms and soup kitchens for now. Today’s economic pundits keep skillfully avoiding the dreaded D-word. “A deepening recession” was the balancing act of wordsmithing recently used by a senior advisor to the presidential runner up. The answer to the calamitous times of the 1930s was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal which included support for the arts. Programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and others provided jobs creation and education. Artists who received government paychecks included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, and Thomas Hart Benton. Production of posters for public causes flourished, muralists beautified post offices and other public buildings. The depression presented photographers like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, both on the federal payroll, with haunting motifs. It remains to be seen to what extent the Obama administration will include support for the arts in the eagerly anticipated stimulus package.
President Obama has publicly stated: ”Our art, our culture, that’s the essence of what makes America special …”. His campaign platform included an arts program, unusual for a presidential contender. One of the main ingredients of his cultural policy platform is the creation of an Artists Corps, a cadre of young art talent pressed into service for the benefit of America’s public schools. A welcome thought at a time when state budget cuts force the Los Angeles Unified School District to freeze its Arts Community Partnership program, a valuable hands-on teaching program in many disciplines of the performing and visual arts. Clearly a shame, as it is a documented fact that test scores in low-income public schools which link art education across the curriculum improve faster than scores in schools lacking art programs. Establishing the Artists Corps would be a win-win situation for young artists and for students.
In a time of recession the cliché of the starving artist is likely to become a clear and present reality. Art is luxury that one can arguably live without. As an overspending nation focuses on reducing debt, the negative impact on art sales and the burgeoning gallery scene is inevitable. Yet there is a chance for the creative, innovative mind. One example is Los Angeles-based artist Shepard Fairey who by his own admission was “living on the poverty line” until 2001. He propelled his art to prominence by starting as a street artist pasting - not always terribly legal - his posters on buildings, walls, and bridges. Skill, timing, and using the potential of the Internet made his image of candidate Obama a ubiquitous icon. The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian just acquired and unveiled the original.
Let the image be the maxim of art and recession: There is - HOPE.
----------------------
The article was first published in the Ethnic Arts Council of Los Angeles (EAC) e-news january/february 2009 edition
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
INTERNATIONAL ASIAN ART FAIR 2009: CANCELLED!
Statement from the Haughton website announcing the cancellation of the 2009 Internatioal Asian Art Fair in New York.
"Due to the present global economic situation we have regrettably taken the decision to cancel The International Asian Art Fair for 2009. The fair was scheduled for the 11-15 March at The Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York City. Many of the dealers who had contracted to take part are not in a position to go forward in the current climate and as such we have decided a fair would put an untenable strain on their resources. We hope to be able to re-launch the fair in 2010 and look forward to working with our exhibitors again."
http://www.haughton.com/
"Due to the present global economic situation we have regrettably taken the decision to cancel The International Asian Art Fair for 2009. The fair was scheduled for the 11-15 March at The Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street, New York City. Many of the dealers who had contracted to take part are not in a position to go forward in the current climate and as such we have decided a fair would put an untenable strain on their resources. We hope to be able to re-launch the fair in 2010 and look forward to working with our exhibitors again."
http://www.haughton.com/
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