London Art Auction Fear Factor

ARTmostfierce is too tired to post a blog tonight (thanks to Jury Duty). I found this article from the NYSun worth reading.The rest of the article you can find on the link.
Enjoy!


London's Grand Finale
By Coincidence Sales Break A Pattern
By Marion Maneker

In London, the auction houses pride themselves on how quickly they dispatch their sales. In what amounts to a long weekend of activity, the London sales usually come fast and furious. New York houses, by contrast, draw out their marquee events into a two-week festival of art.

By sheer accident this February, the London sales, which resume tomorrow, have broken the pattern. Now, set against the uncertain state of the world economy, what used to seem like a one-act play has turned into a grand opera. With the auction cycle caught in a brief intermission, now is a good time to recap the ups and downs of the drama and preview the finale.

Two weeks ago, Sotheby's had a strong Impressionist and Modern art sale held in between Christie's two solid but uneven sales. The results added a little drama to the story. Christie's Postwar and Contemporary art sale hit a high overall number but had an uncharacteristically large number of unsold lots. Some big names — and smaller ones, too — failed to draw bidders. That's the sort of thing that makes the art market's stomach tighten into a knot of uncertainty.

Last week, though, Sotheby's gala (Auction) Red in New York showed the contemporary market's remarkable strength, even if dealer and co-sponsor Larry Gagosian was seen bidding on most of the lots. Nevertheless, star power met wall power — the sale beat high estimates and set a surprising number of records. Please click on the link below for the rest of the article.

http://www.nysun.com/article/71873