Interview with Auction Star Simon de Pury

Click here to read a fascinating interview with celeb auctioneer Simon de Pury. Recently, he has been curating and heading up themed auctions. These have been met with mixed success, but his confidence in their potential is unwavering.

The Marriage of Art and Economics

Although art people think of themselves as cool and edgy, and economics people as nerdy and decidedly uncool, there are some rules of economics that apply directly to art. The most obvious? Supply and demand.

When people say that the art market is "down" as it was in 2008 and 2009, what does that really mean? It ties in directly to the laws of S & D. When the financial markets are shaky and people don't feel like they have as much money, their art budgets are some of the first things to go. That has a significant effect on local and mid-range gallery markets. What guides the larger market as a whole is what's going on at the major auction houses worldwide.

In the midst of an economic downturn, collectors understand that they won't get as much for their Rothko as they might during boom times. Quite sensibly, they hold off on putting it on the block until the market shows signs of recovery. As a result, auction houses are given fewer and fewer top-tier pieces to sell, and they're forced to sell more mediocre works. Collectors aren't stupid, and once they sense that the offerings by Christie's, Sotheby's, and their buddies are less than fabulous, they stay home. That means the prices achieved for those mediocre pieces are . . . well, mediocre. And the cycle of the downturn in art continues.

The good news is that 2010 seems to be breaking from 2009 in a big way. We're seeing the best works up for sale that we've seen in several years, and prices at sales so far this year are very encouraging. Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man achieved the highest price for any work ever sold at auction ($104.3 million) in London in February, and the Asian market has shown its robustness as the Hong Kong sales earlier this month. The first week of May will bring Sotheby's and Christie's Impressionist and Modern sales in New York, which will us a lot. Both of these have some impressive lots, so we'll be watching!

Boom Time in China

Last week, Sotheby's set a record with $256 million coming in from its series of Hong Kong sales. Not to be outdone, Christie's is hoping to sell $193 million during its spring season sales in Hong Kong. Why such a boom in the Chinese market? It's the old law of supply and demand. Click here to read more.

Everyone Loves a List!

Everyone loves a list, and I'm no different. Each year The Art Newspaper compiles masses of data to determine the most visited museums and exhibits of the year. What's interesting this year? The top four most visited exhibits were all in Japan, whereas London and Paris dominate the list of the top ten most visited museums in the world. Intriguing. Click here to check out the stats for 2009.

Add Art to Your Shopping Cart?

There are countless websites for art sales, and I've always wondered how successful they are. Now there's a new one out of Dubai, www.icanaffordart.com. Their goal of selling affordable original art to collectors is a noble one, and I wish them the best. But I think it will be tough. Even the best photographs cannot capture the rich textures and true colors of a piece; art is meant to be seen and experienced personally. It's not like going to J. Crew and enlarging the image of the cardigan you're thinking of buying. Enlarging the image of a 4' x 6' painting to fit on your laptop screen is hardly going to give you the same effect it will have once hanging in your home! Unfortunately, unlike cardigans, books, and music, I just don't think eCommerce and art are a match made in heaven.

Visiting Winterthur

If you're an enthusiast for American decorative arts, or even if you have any interest at all in American antiques, a visit to the Winterthur is a must. The former home of Henry Francis duPont contains over 60,000 antiques from the period between 1640 and 1860 . I was particularly excited to visit the house itself, but the galleries connected with the house museum are fantastically well organized and curated. The galleries actively engage visitors by comparing various elements and styles clearly and simply -- for example, the differences between claw and ball feet on furniture from New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

To visit the house itself, you have to take a guided tour. My one criticism is that the tours aren't as focused as they could be. I went on the two-hour "Living with Antiques" tour which I was promised was the most in-depth. I wish I could have chosen what area I wanted to focus on. I would have liked to have spent more time in the formal rooms and less time in the rooms focused on Pennsylvania German and folk arts, but I didn't have that option.

All in all, we had a great experience at Winterthur, and I would recommend it to anyone.