Although, art prices of both modern and contemporary artists have fallen substantially in the last few months, it appears that the demand for certain modern artists continues to rule the market. Most buyers look for specific artists when they scout the market to make an investment in art, and a majority of them look for artists that form the biggest brands. The reason behind the trend is that as the demand for these artists does not follow seasonal changes, it is easier to resell their works. Most of these modern artists have been a part of numerous international auctions and their works have reached a stable graph both in terms of quality and pricing. Recently too, it was noticed that at auctions held here and abroad, the modern artists were much more in demand compared to the contemporary artists. Collectors who own works by the top-most segment of modern artists are happy to wait out the recessionary period as they are sure that prices will go up in the future. Or, when approached by prospective clients the sale figures they quote remain on the higher side. This is yet another instance where the seller dictates terms. In fact, negotiations, if held, are minimal. Still, one can see that buyers are not on a wild spending spree, images are carefully evaluated before the sale actually happens. It also implies that awareness about art and its pitfalls has percolated extensively and made the buyer more discerning. This single factor alone will help the art market immensely. After all, when buyers demand quality, the artist and the dealer will have no option but to comply. The demand for modern artists may persist for some time as the buyers continue to play safe, but soon, when the market begins to revive at a faster rate, and there is lot more liquidity to play around with, interest in contemporary art is likely to shoot up again.

The post Modern art in demand first appeared on Indian Art News.

HONG KONG— Held May 24, Christie’s Hong Kong spring sale of Asian contemporary and Chinese 20th-century art saw healthy results, due in large part to its more careful selection of works, smaller scale, and tighter focus on what old-money Chinese art collectors covet. Quality works by Chinese masters from the 1950s and 1960s held their prices or established new records, while art created on the mainland in the last 20 years — a category that had become fashionable in the last decade among American and European collectors, who account for 90 percent of the market — continued to underperform. Eric Chang, Christie’s senior vice president, international director of 20th century Chinese and Asian contemporary art, said after the sale: “The results, which nearly doubled pre-sale expectations and saw over 90 percent of lots selling within or above their high estimate, prove that our specialists brought together the right mix of works and matched them with attractive estimates to best meet the current market.” The auction brought in HK$181,657,500 (US$23,379,320), selling an impressive 34 of 38 lots, for 89 percent sold by lot and 98 percent by value. The top earner was a painting by the late, European-trained Sanyu, one of the biggest names among 20th-century Chinese artists. A collector paid HK$42,100,000 for the work, Cats and Birds, setting a new auction record for the artist.

The post Christie’s Hong Kong Sales Smaller but Still Strong first appeared on Indian Art News.

The stratospheric state of the global art market has been underlined by figures that show last month’s ‘Monet’ auction at Christie’s in London was the most lucrative in European history.

Despite the global economic slowdown, Christie’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art fetched £144 million.

Of that total, £40.9 million was accounted for by the sale of Claude Monet’s Le bassin aux nymphéas, from the Frenchman’s waterlily series.

That was a world record for a work by the artist at auction – almost doubling the previous record of £21 million, set earlier this year at Christie’s for Le Pont du chemin de fer á Argeneuil.

Humble motorists are effectively paying at the pump for the rocketing price of top works, art market analysts believe.

Controllers of Middle Eastern sovereign funds and Russian oligarchs are the new power brokers, they say.

That seems to have been born out by the £44 million Sotheby’s sale in May of Francis Bacon’s Triptych (1976) – the highest price ever paid for a work of contemporary art at auction. It was apparently sold to Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.

Although the billionaire has not confirmed the purchase, it is thought he bought it for his young girlfriend Daria ‘Dasha’ Zhukova.

She is in the process of setting up a major new art gallery, the Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture Moscow, or CCC, due to open in September.

Another world record to be smashed this year is the £17.3 million spent on a painting of a naked JobCentre worker by Lucian Freud, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, the most ever spent on a work by a living artist.

The first half of 2008 has brought worldwide sales of £1.8 billion for Christie’s International, a 10 per cent increase on the same period last year. It’s Asian salesrooms have seen 63 per cent year-on-year growth.

Edward Dolman, chief executive officer of Christie’s International, said the figures reflected “the ongoing strength of the international art market.”

He added: “Collectors across the globe have remained active and confident, despite more uncertain economic conditions in some regions.

“Christie’s extensive international network has introduced an increasing number of buyers to the international art market from growth markets including Russia and the CIS states, the Middle East, India and China.”

The post Claude Monet auction most expensive in European art history first appeared on Indian Art News.