Speakeasy called Mr. Polsky at his home in Sausalito, Calif., to see how he and the gallery crowd are holding up during the recession. Here is the edited excerpt.

Speakeasy: In your book, your say the business of buying and selling art is a lot like “high school with money.” How’s the mood in the cafeteria these days?

RP: It’s like grade school with money now. I feel like we’ve all digressed. People become art dealers because they can afford to become art dealers, but it’s not a business so much as a lifestyle. You’re attracted to the life of going to art fairs, hanging out at artists’ studios and taking collectors out to eat. The whole trip of it. And it’s very hard to treat it like a business because you’re dealing with crazy behavior.

A dealer once told me he paid $150,000 for a painting and sold it five years later for $175,000. He was bragging to me about his profit, but I had to wonder what the carrying costs of owning that painting were all those years and what the interest might have been on his line of credit for paying it off. You do the math and he lost money on that deal. People in this field don’t understand Business 101.

During the boom era, you said your role evolved from selling artworks to working as a “financial art advisor” for collectors. How’s that line of work holding up?

I’m helping a collector put a painting up for auction this fall, and what I’m noticing is that Sotheby’s and Christie’s are becoming more detail-oriented. You no longer get this sweeping “Yes” to whatever you want to sell. The vibe is, “We’ve got to really pay attention here.” Every deal counts now, and every million dollars matters to these auction houses. In 2007, they wanted the $10 million paintings, but now they’re willing to talk. The bottom line has shifted.

Your first book revolves around your quest to buy a silkscreen self-portrait of Andy Warhol wearing his spiky silver wig, a portrait often called his “Fright Wig” series. You paid $47,500 for a green version in 1998, which you auctioned off three years ago for $375,000. The profit looked good until you watched a similar “Fright Wig” sell for $2.6 million in 2007 during the market’s height. What’s the going rate for a “Fright Wig” these days?

I hate to say it, but it’s probably back down to about $400,000. There were a group of three “Fright Wigs” that were sold as one lot for $1.2 million this February at Sotheby’s, so I can base it on that.

Heading into the fall art season, which artists seem to be faring well?

In general, prices are off by about a third. Certain artists are holding up better that others, like Roy Lichtenstein and Alexander Calder. Warhol’s market is solidifying.

Who’s becoming a tougher sell?

Anyone whose market saw a lot of speculation, like Ed Ruscha. Richard Prince’s “Nurse” paintings also peaked a little over $8 million and they’re under $3 million now. Damien Hirst is also taking a hit.

Have you checked out the galleries in Chelsea lately?

There’s a lot less foot traffic. If you don’t have a street-level space, you’re screwed. People don’t want to climb stairs or wait for the elevator –- they have too many other options. So it’s about high visibility, showing fewer artists and leaving your shows up longer to keep your overhead down.

Is there any good news?

The upside is that if you’re a great artist, you might be getting treated better because the dealers are realizing they only have a few long-term prospects, so they want to really give their best artists the promotion they need.

The White House wants to reform Wall Street –- how would you fix the art market?

This may sound radical, but I wouldn’t mind if the art market was regulated. My colleagues would kill me for saying it, but it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if dealers had to pass an exam to sell art, a test on art history, on the history of the profession and how to price art.

People trade million-dollar paintings with a handshake, and it’s all built on trust. When anyone betrays that trust, there’s little recourse and no SEC to come charging in and checking licenses.

In the art world, values are set when I say a painting is good and you say a painting is great and whoever is right makes the most money. You can’t teach that easily, but I do think we can ask for more due diligence.

What’s the best thing a collector can do this season?

Go to New York, see as many shows at the galleries and museums that you have the patience for, and have a conversation about what you like. Insist on meeting the gallery director and sit down for 10 minutes and listen to their pitch. Don’t just look at the art -– hear about it and try to discern the difference between the propaganda and the truth.

What’s the worst thing a collector could do now?

Ignore things.

Looking back through the annals of art-world power, you say that collectors called the shots in the 1950s, artists ruled the 1960s, and dealers owned the 1980s. The auction houses took over during the past few years, but who’s on top now?

Collectors. When there’s a real shake-up, we always go back to connoisseurship, to the ones who decide which art will stand the test of time. Most art that I see is a one-liner -– you see it, you nod, you get it, you move on and forget it. The good stuff that will be worth money makes you go back a second time. Collectors are going after art that’s well-executed and seems to have a soul. The rest? Forget it. It’s not getting sold now.

Which art sales or fairs are you hitting or skipping this fall?

I will go to auctions in New York in November and Basel Miami in December, just to see what changes are afoot. But the art fairs are becoming less important. Their model is all about cash and carry. The auction houses are also getting less important, and the galleries are getting more important. It’s not a party atmosphere, and that’s what art fairs are all about.

Everyone is a lot more sober –- they still want to buy art, but they want to be thoughtful about what they’re doing. No one is frantic because they haven’t bought any paintings yet today. I wish they were, but that feeling is over.

When prices started freefalling last fall, did you ever reconsider the title of your book to something like “I sold Andy Warhol (I swear)?”

I’ve had a few friends tell me I ought to just drop the “(too soon)” part of it, and but that’s how I felt in the moment a couple years when that other “Fright Wig” sold for $2.6 million. That was my brief moment when I could’ve sold my painting and become a millionaire, but it was like watching someone else win the lottery. There’s no use beating myself up over it now. No one can time a market perfectly every time.

Source – WSJ.com

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A stock-market rebound in cities such as Hong Kong and China, fueled by economic recovery, is reviving interest in art purchases among wealthy Asians, said Misung Shim, managing director of Seoul Auction’s Hong Kong office. A prevailing economic slump in Europe and the U.S. has made Western art more affordable in recent months and helped spur Asian buying.

Auction prices for Western contemporary artists have slid between 30 percent and 50 percent because of the credit crisis, said dealers. Sales of Impressionist and contemporary works at the June London auctions fell 70 percent to 165.9 million pounds ($274 million), according to figures compiled from Sotheby’s, Christie’s International and Phillips de Pury & Co.

“Many Asian collectors have always understood and loved Western art,” said Shim, 41, in a telephone interview. “This happens to be a good time to buy.” Chinese, Japanese and residents of Hong Kong are among Asia’s biggest buyers of Western art, she said.

South Korea’s largest art-auction house, which held its first sale in Hong Kong on Oct. 7, said vividly colored works by established artists like Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein and Damien Hirst are especially popular.

Hirst Butterflies
At Seoul Auction’s May 15 sale in Hong Kong, Hirst’s “Tranquility,” from the artist’s Butterfly Series, fetched HK$13.4 million ($1.7 million), his most-expensive work at an Asian sale. The buyer was an Asian collector, the company said, declining to give details. In November 2006, Hong Kong real-estate magnate Joseph Lau paid $17.4 million for a Mao portrait by Warhol, a record at that time.

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Sotheby’s, the auction house, has become the latest victim of the financial crisis after failing to make the high estimates it predicted for its contemporary art sales.

By Urmee Khan Last

Andy Warhol’s series of 10 skull paintings sold for £646,750 Photo: EPA The sales made a total of £43.9 million, down £11.4 million on its lowest estimate of £55.3 million. Even the highest selling lot in the auction, Andy Warhol’s series of 10 skull paintings, sold for £646,750 less than its lowest estimate at £4,353,250.

The composite work, which joined 10 previously-separate works together, was the highlight of a contemporary art sale at Sotheby’s and was bought by an unnamed US dealer.It had been expected to fetch up to £7 million, but bidding fell short.

The second highest hammer price achieved across the three contemporary art sales was £2,841,250 for Gerhard Richter’s Abstrakes Bild (Rot), just short of its lowest estimate of £3 million.

The sales included the Modern and Contemporary Design Sale, which made £1.2 million, against its lowest estimate of £1.8 million, two contemporary art sales, which made a combined total of £291,320,50 – £124 34750 less than their lowest combined estimates – and the Twentieth Century Italian Art Sale, which bucked the trend by taking £13.6 million, against a pre-sale estimate of £11.9 million.

One of the bright spots for the auction series was the sale of a specially created work by Angel of the North sculptor Antony Gormley, which sold for £193,250 against its lowest estimate of £100,000.

The sale topped a difficult week for the contemporary art market in which the financial crisis sent share prices and the value of investment funds plunging.Sotheby’s blamed global financial difficulties for the lower hammer prices, saying the estimates had been predicted in better financial circumstances. Cheyenne Westphal, chairwoman of contemporary art at Sotheby’s Europe, said the sale was “assembled in a very different economic environment from that which prevailed today”. “Bidding in tonight’s sale was rational and considered,” she said. “We are very pleased with the results of tonight’s sale, which is the second highest total for an October Sale of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s.

“It is important to keep perspective; this market has witnessed rapid growth – five years ago our October Contemporary Art sale yielded £3.5 million and our first various owners sale two years ago brought £9.9 million, and last year our October sale realised £34,865,300.
“What we have seen tonight is that buyers are continuing to respond to unprecedented saleroom opportunities; works of high quality that are fresh to the market and properly estimated continue to perform well, as illustrated by the prices achieved for Warhol, Richter and Basquiat.”

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Source – CCTV

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With a quirky style, Jayesh Sachdev is one of the most innovative of the few pop artists in India
At the age of 21, in the hopes of honing in on his artistic interests, Pune based Jayesh Sachdev set out to Singapore to pursue a course in visual communications. Having graduated with an advertising major, he returned home and has been dabbling in various fields to satiate his creative drives ever since then.
Now 28, Jayesh continues to be inspired by all things highly graphic in nature. He says, “I grew up admiring artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein who are some of the best pop artists of our times. Although pop art is quite Western, I am quite ‘old school’ in essence or in style, retaining as much of an Indian influence in my work as possible.” The only commercial artist in his family, Jayeshs’ local inspirations also include Raja Ravi Varma. “As an artist, he was way ahead of his time. He did exactly as he wanted to, irrespective of what people thought of him.”
Recently, at a Fiat event in Mumbai, Jayesh took pop art to a whole new level. Creating a platform of canvas measuring 40×40 feet, and using a car as a paintbrush, the young artist sped over a stage creating a wild, almost chaotic image as the car tires smudged and dragged paint around with their movement. “The idea,” says Sachdev, “was to do something classic yet contemporary, but most importantly, something larger than life.” Although the fate of ‘Drive Art’, or ‘Tire Art’, is still undecided, what remains undoubted is the fact that Jayesh has created a whole new dimension to art. Sachdev says of what is most likely India’s biggest art work on canvas, “The painting might be restored at Fiat head offices in Italy or it may be auctioned off…for charity of course. If so, the panels may be sold separately and each individual panel of roughly 6×4 feet should fetch anything between 5 to 10 lakh rupees.”
Sachdev’s current projects also include a commissioned series of works collectively titled, ‘the Bollywood wall of fame,’ which pays tribute to the stars of the silent film era. l_shanaya@dnaindia.net

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Police have been looking for witnesses in the neighborhood, stated Carina. The stolen pieces have a value of around $500,000.

About Lasse Åberg Lasse was born in Hofors on the 5th of May, 1940. That year the family moved to Stockholm, Kungsholmen, where Lasse grew up. He loved to draw and by the age of ten, he had already decided to be an artist. After secondary school, he first worked at Expressen’s Printer Department and later for Seelig’s book warehouse. He did his military service at LV3 (antiaircraft defence) at Norrtälje. After that, he applied for studies at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design and started there in 1960 at the institution for Graphic Design and Illustration. He completed his studies in 1964.

During his summer holidays in 1962 and 1963, Lasse worked as a musician at jazz ballet performances. There he met Ardy Strüver, a Dutch artist. They started to make television programmes and were active during the 70’s. At the same time, Lasse was illustrating children’s books (with Lill Lindfors for example) and did illustrations for publishing houses and advertising companies.

Between 1976 – 1977 Lasse and Klasse Möllberg produced the “Trazan Apansson” series. By mistake, the videotapes were demagnetised. From 1980 to 1981, they made a new Christmas edition of “Trazan Apansson”, which was replayed on mornings during the summer holidays. Lasse made the film “The call up” in 1978.

At the beginning of the 1970’s, Lasse started collecting Disney artefacts because it was fun and sufficiently silly. He became very fond of pop art when it appeared in the beginning of the 1960’s and Lasse decided that if he would have an artistic activity in the future, it would be in the direction of pop art. He has held exhibitions at different galleries and museums since the 1970’s. To date, Lasse has created 276 lithographs.

In 1980, Lasse produced the film “The package tour”, which has been seen by 2.4 million people. He has made six feature films: ”The call up”, “The package tour”, “Snowroller”, “SOS”, “The involuntary Golfer” and “The health Trip”.

Lasse enjoys music and plays the guitar, the guitar-banjo and the conga drums. He has played with the orchestras: “Electric Banana Band”, “Stig-Helmers Experience” and “Jazzakuten”.

Lasse has produced many works for television, for example “Trazan Apansson”, “How do you behave, man?”, “Zwampen” and “Disneytajm”. “Trazan Apansson” was re-broadcast in the summer of 2007.

In 2002 the Åberg family opened the “Åberg’s Museum” where you can find Lasse’s Disney collection, which is one of the best in the world. There are also originals by cartoonists and art associated with cartoons.

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The ‘stunning’ piece, which soared above its pre-sale estimate of £1-1.5 million, “embodies the pioneering manipulation of space and material that characterises the very best output of this world-renowned sculptor.” The untitled sculpture is one of Kapoor’s largest alabaster works and the first double-concave piece to come to auction.

Among other Indian works, Subodh Gupta’s untitled work, created in 2005, catapulted above its pre-sale estimate of £2,00,000-3,00,000, selling for £6,01,250. The untitled canvas, depicting a vessel stall glistening in the pink dawn of sunrise, is one of Gupta’s most important and powerful photo-realist paintings to ever come to the market.

Bharti Kher made her debut appearance at the Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Contemporary Art. Her sculpture, ‘Misdemeanours’, executed in fibreglass, wood and fur, saw bidding from six bidders and finally realised £75,650, against an estimate of £40,000-60,000.

The sale, overall, achieved a phenomenal sum of £94.702 million ($188.854 million) against a pre-sale estimate of £67.4-96.6 million making it the most successful summer sale of contemporary art in Europe. The sale had numerous high points, with records achieved by 11 different artists.

Cheyenne Westphal, chairman of contemporary art, Sotheby’s Europe and Oliver Barker, senior international specialist, Sotheby’s contemporary art department, told ET in an email from London: “We are elated with the results of the sale, the highest ever Summer sale of contemporary art in Europe. We saw 11 records tumble, including ones for Antony Gormley, Bridget Riley, Richard Prince and Anish Kapoor, in front of a hugely energetic and packed saleroom.”

“The top lot of the sale was Francis Bacon’s exquisite small-scale study for head of George Dyer, which sold for £13.7 million. We are also extremely happy with the result achieved for the group of twelve works from the Lauffs Collection, which achieved a total of £18.9 million, almost triple the pre-sale low estimate of £6.4 million. Once again, we are witnesses to a market that is driven by art lovers. Buyers have confidence in the artworks they are competing for, and have shown unprecedented determination to win the lots which they desire.”

Incidentally, the portrait of John McEnroe and Tatum O’Neal by Andy Warhol, depicting McEnroe and O’Neal in their mid-1980s prime, sold for £241,250. Gifted by McEnroe himself, the proceeds will be donated by the tennis star for the benefit of habitat for humanity, which provides not-for-profit housing through the help of volunteers.

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