Post by sleepboy on Sept 2, 2008 7:21:44 GMT -8
Article here.
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The outcome of Sotheby's auction of new works by Damien Hirst is crucial to the overall confidence of the contemporary art market, according to a report published today by the research company ArtTactic.
The research was compiled by the London-based company's founder Anders Petterson before the ``Beautiful Inside My Head Forever'' sale of material from Hirst's studio that Sotheby's expects to fetch at least 65 million pounds ($117 million).
Petterson examined how Hirst's works have performed at auction over the last four years since Sotheby's October 2004 ``Pharmacy'' sale. That auction of the contents of the artist's defunct Notting Hill restaurant made 11.1 million pounds, more than double the 4.9 million-pound top estimate.
According to ArtTactic report, if Sotheby's 223-lot sale in London on Sept. 15 and 16 raises $150 million, it will match the total achieved from all of Hirst's auction sales between 2000 and 2008. If it performs below expectations, it could ``signal a wider contemporary art market in decline,'' said the report.
``It's a very important event,'' said Petterson in a telephone interview. ``It will set the tone for the autumn season of contemporary auctions and potentially further than that.''
ArtTactic predicted that the Hirst sale would perform well. In a poll it conducted among 51 market insiders, 78 percent felt the total would fall within Sotheby's estimate range, said the report.
``I'd be surprised if Sotheby's didn't sell at least 85 percent of the lots,'' said the New York-based art adviser Todd Levin, director of the Levin Art Group, in a telephone interview, when asked to comment on the report. ``Hirst and (his manager) Frank Dunphy are smart guys. Do you think they're really going to ask a question they don't know the answer to?''
Hedge Fund
Levin is the curator of hedge-fund manager Adam Sender's collection, which contains a large butterfly painting and vitrine piece by Hirst.
``I wouldn't buy Hirst at the moment,'' he said. ``But he's a historically important artist. I would buy him in the future if the quality and price-point is favorable.''
Both the Hirst pieces in the Sender collection were bought for less than $1 million, Levin said.
Since October 2004, the auction market for Hirst has seen an increase in average prices of 207 percent (or a 39 percent annual compound return), said the ArtTactic report. In June 2007, Sotheby's London sold Hirst's ``Lullaby Spring'' for a record 9.7 million pounds with fees to the Emir of Qatar, said the Art Newspaper.
`Price Ceiling'
So far in 2008, 30 out of 43 lots by Hirst sold at the lower end of their estimates, including 10 lots that failed to sell. Seven out of 16 Hirst lots priced at more than $1 million sold below their estimates, said the report. ``The market is hitting a new price ceiling,'' ArtTactic said.
Last week Sotheby's courted new international buyers for Hirst by holding VIP previews for the sale in the Hamptons and New Delhi. The artist himself did not attend either of these events.
``Hirst's brusque and hurried recorded message of 'Hi everyone, I am too busy to come to India' smacked of indolence and arrogance more than a friendly chatter,'' said www.calcuttanews.net on Aug. 31.
ArtTactic said that the Aug. 23 report in the Art Newspaper that Hirst's dealer White Cube was holding more than 200 unsold works in stock has the potential to upset his market. White Cube, in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News on Aug. 26, denied it had a ``mountain'' of unsold material.
``Hirst would do himself a favor in the long-term,'' said the report, ``by being transparent about his level of production. Keeping the market in the dark will only undermine the future confidence in his market.''
Hirst's Shops
Meanwhile, Other Criteria, Hirst's publishing company, has confirmed it will be opening a shop selling the artist's merchandise next to Sotheby's, London, by the end of the year. An advertisement at the end of Sotheby's catalog said Other Criteria is ``opening soon'' at 36 New Bond Street and 14 Hinde Street, Marylebone.
``We couldn't imagine a more fascinating next door neighbor than Damien and Other Criteria,'' said Patrick Van Maris, managing director of Sotheby's Europe, in an e-mail. ``We were thrilled when he decided to rent it. New Bond Street is arguably the best location in London and when Other Criteria opens in October, it will get even better and certainly even more exciting.''
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The outcome of Sotheby's auction of new works by Damien Hirst is crucial to the overall confidence of the contemporary art market, according to a report published today by the research company ArtTactic.
The research was compiled by the London-based company's founder Anders Petterson before the ``Beautiful Inside My Head Forever'' sale of material from Hirst's studio that Sotheby's expects to fetch at least 65 million pounds ($117 million).
Petterson examined how Hirst's works have performed at auction over the last four years since Sotheby's October 2004 ``Pharmacy'' sale. That auction of the contents of the artist's defunct Notting Hill restaurant made 11.1 million pounds, more than double the 4.9 million-pound top estimate.
According to ArtTactic report, if Sotheby's 223-lot sale in London on Sept. 15 and 16 raises $150 million, it will match the total achieved from all of Hirst's auction sales between 2000 and 2008. If it performs below expectations, it could ``signal a wider contemporary art market in decline,'' said the report.
``It's a very important event,'' said Petterson in a telephone interview. ``It will set the tone for the autumn season of contemporary auctions and potentially further than that.''
ArtTactic predicted that the Hirst sale would perform well. In a poll it conducted among 51 market insiders, 78 percent felt the total would fall within Sotheby's estimate range, said the report.
``I'd be surprised if Sotheby's didn't sell at least 85 percent of the lots,'' said the New York-based art adviser Todd Levin, director of the Levin Art Group, in a telephone interview, when asked to comment on the report. ``Hirst and (his manager) Frank Dunphy are smart guys. Do you think they're really going to ask a question they don't know the answer to?''
Hedge Fund
Levin is the curator of hedge-fund manager Adam Sender's collection, which contains a large butterfly painting and vitrine piece by Hirst.
``I wouldn't buy Hirst at the moment,'' he said. ``But he's a historically important artist. I would buy him in the future if the quality and price-point is favorable.''
Both the Hirst pieces in the Sender collection were bought for less than $1 million, Levin said.
Since October 2004, the auction market for Hirst has seen an increase in average prices of 207 percent (or a 39 percent annual compound return), said the ArtTactic report. In June 2007, Sotheby's London sold Hirst's ``Lullaby Spring'' for a record 9.7 million pounds with fees to the Emir of Qatar, said the Art Newspaper.
`Price Ceiling'
So far in 2008, 30 out of 43 lots by Hirst sold at the lower end of their estimates, including 10 lots that failed to sell. Seven out of 16 Hirst lots priced at more than $1 million sold below their estimates, said the report. ``The market is hitting a new price ceiling,'' ArtTactic said.
Last week Sotheby's courted new international buyers for Hirst by holding VIP previews for the sale in the Hamptons and New Delhi. The artist himself did not attend either of these events.
``Hirst's brusque and hurried recorded message of 'Hi everyone, I am too busy to come to India' smacked of indolence and arrogance more than a friendly chatter,'' said www.calcuttanews.net on Aug. 31.
ArtTactic said that the Aug. 23 report in the Art Newspaper that Hirst's dealer White Cube was holding more than 200 unsold works in stock has the potential to upset his market. White Cube, in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg News on Aug. 26, denied it had a ``mountain'' of unsold material.
``Hirst would do himself a favor in the long-term,'' said the report, ``by being transparent about his level of production. Keeping the market in the dark will only undermine the future confidence in his market.''
Hirst's Shops
Meanwhile, Other Criteria, Hirst's publishing company, has confirmed it will be opening a shop selling the artist's merchandise next to Sotheby's, London, by the end of the year. An advertisement at the end of Sotheby's catalog said Other Criteria is ``opening soon'' at 36 New Bond Street and 14 Hinde Street, Marylebone.
``We couldn't imagine a more fascinating next door neighbor than Damien and Other Criteria,'' said Patrick Van Maris, managing director of Sotheby's Europe, in an e-mail. ``We were thrilled when he decided to rent it. New Bond Street is arguably the best location in London and when Other Criteria opens in October, it will get even better and certainly even more exciting.''