Fewer lots and lower prices in London's sale rooms

Pablo Picasso's “Homme à l’épée” is part of Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Evening sale in London on June 23rd.

Fewer lots and lower prices in London's sale rooms
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13849543

(Source The Economist)Giovanna Bertazzoni has observed a change in the culture of the sale rooms in the year between Christie’s grand summer sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in 2008 and this year’s more subdued version. She runs these evening sales, and she tells a tale of fewer lots and generally lower prices. “There are fewer parties, fewer tours of the paintings before they go on sale,” she says. “Finding paintings to sell now depends on relationships, conversations and trust. It’s a lot more work.”

The end of the speculative bubble means that fewer collections are coming onto the market. Days when sellers were tempted by generous guarantees are over. Curators such as Miss Bertazzoni did not have to be told by management to stop offering them. They no longer make commercial sense.
There are 46 lots in her June evening sale this year, compared with 72 last year. Total estimates vary from £39.25m ($64.60m) on the low end to an optimistic £53.65m at the top. Last year's sale raised £144.5m, which included a £40m Monet.

Yet prospects in London look slightly more promising than in New York. According to Artprice.com, sales in New York were down 35% by the end of the first quarter of 2009 compared with 2008. One way of measuring this is the number of sales above $1m in the contemporary art market: 40 this year, compared with 132 in 2008. The market for Impressionists is less volatile than for contemporary painting, but it is also hurting. Sotheby’s May sale of Impressionist and Modern art in New York fetched $52.9m, far less than the forecast $81.5m. Last year Roman Abramovich purchased a Francis Bacon “Triptych” for $77m, which was only $3.9m less than the total Christie’s made from the sale of 49 contemporary art lots in New York in May.
Contrary to pessimistic pundits, Miss Bertazzoni declares that prices fetched by some painters have still to reach their peak. She identifies Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso's later works as being under-priced. But in Picasso's case this is a relative judgement. His late work may be under-priced compared with the rest of his oeuvre, but he is not cheap. Christie’s top lot in the summer sale is a late Picasso titled “Homme à l’épée” (pictured). It is a colourful piece painted with simple decorative lines that apparently appeal to contemporary art collectors. The painting sold for £2.7m in February 2005. The estimate this summer has risen to £5m-7m.

Looking at this Picasso, it is not astonishing to learn that it was painted in a day; July 26th 1969, to be precise. Picasso liked the image and repeated it four times. Indeed, another “Man with a sword” appears in Sotheby’s summer sale a day after the Christie’s sale, though it comes with an estimate of £6m-8m. This display of optimism is based partly on a success in Christie’s May sale in New York of Picasso’s “Mousquetaire à la pipe”—a more carefully considered piece than the men with their swords—which fetched $14.6m. A remarkable performance by the prolific and versatile old goat. Read Article...
Contrary to pessimistic pundits, Miss Bertazzoni declares that prices fetched by some painters have still to reach their peak. She identifies Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso's later works as being under-priced. But in Picasso's case this is a relative judgement. His late work may be under-priced compared with the rest of his oeuvre, but he is not cheap. Christie’s top lot in the summer sale is a late Picasso titled “Homme à l’épée” (pictured). It is a colourful piece painted with simple decorative lines that apparently appeal to contemporary art collectors. The painting sold for £2.7m in February 2005. The estimate this summer has risen to £5m-7m.

Looking at this Picasso, it is not astonishing to learn that it was painted in a day; July 26th 1969, to be precise. Picasso liked the image and repeated it four times. Indeed, another “Man with a sword” appears in Sotheby’s summer sale a day after the Christie’s sale, though it comes with an estimate of £6m-8m. This display of optimism is based partly on a success in Christie’s May sale in New York of Picasso’s “Mousquetaire à la pipe”—a more carefully considered piece than the men with their swords—which fetched $14.6m. A remarkable performance by the prolific and versatile old goat.

Pablo Picasso's “Homme à l’épée” is part of Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Evening sale in London on June 23rd.