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The February Sales 2011: a Review

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

By Oliver Shuttleworth

Impressionist and Modern Art Sales

Following the staggering results of the November sales in New York it was always going to be interesting to see whether the London sales would generate the same sort of demand as they had in June 2010. As we thought, the globalised world of the top end art market saw a continuing upsurge in demand for top quality, world class pictures and sculptures. The two major sales at Sotheby’s (the Evening Sale on 8^th February and the Single owner sale on 10^th February) saw excellent results. Christie’s did not have the bonus of a major single owner collection but still saw good numbers over the sale week.

Over the course of three evening sales and two day sales the total tally between the two houses in the Impressionist and Modern market (albeit inclusive of the Contemporary works in the Sotheby’s Single owner sale) was an astonishing £267m. Notable sales were plentiful with the top price ever paid for a Bonnard at auction for his sumptuous Terrasse a Vernon (£7.2m; $11.6m) which, as with all of these top prices, stemmed from the work’s freshness to the market and its signature coloration so typical of Bonnard’s palette. What did interest me was the fact that this was not a Nabis masterpiece – it is a late work of no massive art historical importance. So why did it make such a figure? Simply because there are so few of Bonnard’s great early paintings left to buy. A 1900 masterpiece would now make in the realms of £20m ($32m) on the evidence of last week’s price.

At Sotheby’s the remarkable sale of Picasso’s wonderful La Lecture was one of the highlights of the sale week. I thought that it would make more than £25.2m ($40.8m) although it had been offered publicly in 1989 and so lacked the buzz of a work not seen before at auction. In terms of composition they don’t come much better – the swirl of the black line emblematic of the period and the soft, sensual palette show Picasso at his most tender and devoted. Unlike the forceful, edgier images of Dora Maar (executed later in the 1930s) Picasso’s depictions of Marie-Therese Walter would probably appeal more to the new Russian and Chinese tastes as they exhibit a prettiness and beauty that tends to appeal to newer collectors.

The week’s biggest story was the ‘Looking Closely’ single owner sale at Sotheby’s, a sale of work probably belonging to the Swiss collector George Kostalitz who died last year. Such a collection as this is rare for its stunning eye and deep art historical savvy. The important works, those that were not decorative wall-fillers such as the numerous Chagalls, were small in size but vast in academic stature such as Dali’s Portrait de Paul Éluard, (a world record £13.5m; $21.9m) and Bacon’s Three Studies for Portrait of Lucian Freud (£23m; $37m). In this sale the big prices contradicted the market as a whole which has, in recent times, been drawn to ostentatious works of art by big contemporary names for big walls in big mansions. The market still caters for art history and cultural importance as well as grandiose displays of wealth. However, as with most sales of this nature the big numbers being made for the Dali and the Bacon were also good for the lesser known artists– prices were strong for the unfashionable Cesar, Manessier and even a small Gonzalez drawing fetched 7 times its estimate of £15,000 ($24,300) to be sold for £115,000 ($186,300)! That said the Gonzalez iron sculptures were deserving of their astonishing sale prices with two of the best I have encountered making prices well into the millions.

These sales highlight the persistence of the market in bidding high for quality, fresh to the market works of art. Given this trend there are a few clever collectors that seem to be underpaying for high quality paintings which have re-surfaced on the market after a few years. Works such as Barfleur by Signac (lot 16 at Sotheby’s) had been bought for £600,000 ($972,000) in 2004 and has just sold for £993,000 ($1.6m). I think that was a very intelligent acquisition when one considers that the inferior, smaller Signac, le Chenel, made $1m at Sotheby’s Day Sale in November 2010. There are opportunities for the wily collector out there and with decent advice there are plenty of great works of art available within a budget.

Contemporary Art Sales

The two houses had good, but not exceptional, sales on offer, Sotheby’s were overshadowed by Christie’s and their excellent Warhol Self-Portrait which made a handsome £10m ($16m). However, at Sotheby’s Richter’s Absraktesbild made over £7m ($11m) and three works by the Spanish artist Juan Munoz were of particular interest given the rareness of his works coming to auction, they fetched over £4.3m ($7m). There have been clears signals that the Contemporary secondary market is returning to health though perhaps not to the boom times of 2008. With the strong names such as Bacon and Warhol always guaranteed good prices some of the newer names fell by the wayside over the last few years. Julie Mehrutu’s stunning Ruffian Logistics, which was shown at the seminal 2005 show at the Hayward Gallery Africa Remix, made over £800,000 ($1.2m) but did not eclipse her previous auction record of over $2.3m in November. What really caught the eye was the Bacon and the Freud at Sotheby’s in their single owner sale – again, established names made the best money as people looked for good long terms investment in beautiful works of art.