The New York Sun, September 15, 2005
The Asian Art Boom Hits Town
By CARLY BERWICK

For two weeks each year visions of perfect Tang dynasty horses, Songera ceramics, and Gandhara Buddhas flit through the heads of collectors in New York. The major auctions of Asian art arrive each March and September, with this month traditionally acting as the tasting course to the spring banquet of Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Cambodian, and Pakistani art.

But over the past two years, each successive auction - from fall to spring, from New York to Hong Kong to London - has brought record sales of Asian art, one of the most dynamic collecting categories. Asia is being rediscovered once again, not only by the generation of Western collectors that succeeded the gin-and-tonic set, but by the continent's own inhabitants, who suddenly have money to burn and cultural patrimony to reclaim.

This fall each house has three packed sales. Christie's expects to sell between $20.9 million and $29.1 million, while Sotheby's predicts sales of $23-$30 million.

Chinese art alone covers at least 15,000 years, so there's no lack of regional and historic obsessions to plumb. Tiny but fierce Han warriors? Milky-white Song bowls made in northern Ding kilns? Artfully cracked Gestyle vases? Modern watercolors with daring brushy abstractions? All here. The growing market for Chinese art is being fueled in part by increasingly wealthy mainland collectors eager to claim parts of their pre-Communist heritage, as well as by American collectors fearful of missing out. Last spring the Chinese government asked the U.S. to consider an import ban on works made before 1911. No decision has been reached yet.

Regardless, sales at the New York Chinese art auctions continue to tick upward. The head of Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art at Sotheby's, Joe-Hynn Yang, points out that last year's total for the department was $11.7 million, while this March alone saw sales of $13.3 million. He estimates Chinese sales of $12 million this month, plus an anticipated $5 million for a separate sale called Arts of the Buddha. Christie's March sales of Chinese art were $13.4 million, a $3.2 million increase over the previous year; the estimate for their sale this month is $9.8 million to $13.8 million.

While the mainland Chinese collectors are definitely a force, Mr. Yang said, "their pocketbooks are a little con-strained by the convertibility of their currency, so other people active are those whose economies are tied into China, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and America." And while Chinese collectors typically focus on anything Imperial, other buyers are more catholic in taste.

At Sotheby's these "new emperors," as Yang describes them, can linger over bronzes dating to the beginnings of the Western Zhou dynasty in the 12th and 11th centuries B.C.E. A rare rectangular bronze wine vessel with cover is estimated at $350,000 to $450,000. Two Ming vases come with solid provenances. One, decorated with lychee and loquat clusters, is from the estate of Laurence Rockefeller, who used it as a lamp covering for years. It is estimated at $300,000 to $400,000.The other, once owned by renowned collector J.M. Hu, features finely articulated scenes of a waterbearer la-boring before a scholar astride a horse. It is estimated at $100,000 to $200,000.

Christie's also has plenty of ancient bronzes, Ming vases, and Tang horses the height of a small child. But ceramics look especially strong. Several dozen luminous porcelains on offer were consigned by Maryland doctor Ignacio Rodri-guez and his wife, Lolita, who started collecting Chinese porcelains in the 1980s with an emphasis on modern-looking, monochromatic Qing and Ming dynasty works. A small 17thcentury brush washer, for example, boasts a dusky peach glaze and iris shaped low curving shape. It is estimated at $50,000 to $70,000.

"The field has changed a lot in the past 25 years," Dr. Rodriguez said. "Knowledge has grown exponentially." He bought a rare 18th-century Ru-type, eggshell-blue brush washer from the sale of the J.M. Hu collection in 1985 for ap-proximately $8,000. Now it is estimated at $50,000 to $70,000.

Relative to other collecting areas, "porcelain from the Ming and Qing periods has gone up," Christie's department head, Athena Zonars, said. "It's always been a passion of the Chinese to collect great porcelain, and as they become wealthier, they continue that interest."

The strength of the Indian art market, on the other hand, lies in contemporary works. "There's more interest in modern and contemporary art, not only Chinese but South and Southeast Asian," the John H. Foster curator of traditional Asian art at the Asia Society, Adriana Proser, said. "Some of the interest in contemporary is driven by people wary of buying tra-ditional art, as well as their personal interest."

Many wealthy Indians grew up with the 20th-century artists represented in the sales, such as Francis Newton Souza and Maqbool Fida Husain. To cater to Indian collectors, Christie's this month is opening a Mumbai office headed by Ganieve Grewal, a former Christie's specialist with established connections in Mumbai.

The highest estimates in the Indian and Southeast Asian sales at both houses are for 20th-century paintings. Tyeb Mehta's "Celebration" (1995) set a record for contemporary Indian art when it sold for $317,500 at Christie's in September 2002. The house is banking on another Mehta work, the graphical 1997 painting "Mahisasura" to bring $600,000 to $800,000, which would match the entire $650,000 total of Christie's first New York sale of modern and contemporary Indian art in 2000. At Sotheby's, V.S. Gaitonde's Turner-esque abstract untitled painting from 1961 is one of the priciest lots, estimated at $150,000 to $200,000. The entire Indian and Southeast Asian sale is estimated to bring $6 to $8 million, while Christie's projects sale totals of $7.6 million to $10.7 million.

Both houses still feature plenty of multi-armed, carnally inclined Hindu deities. The elephantine god of knowledge, Ganesha, looks particularly benevolent and luminous in a 12th-century marble sculpture at Christie's, estimated at $60,000 to $80,000.At Sotheby's the same figure can purchase a striking sandstone sculpture of a 10thcentury celestial goddess, whose headdress is a mango tree and whose abundant breasts seem to promise opulent times ahead.

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The International Herald Tribune, September 10, 2005
Newcomers chase stars of the future ;
High estimates doom others to failure
Souren Melikian

This is the second of two articles on the state of the auction market.

Concealed by the golden fog of rising world record prices, the harsh realities of an inflationary art market are making life unexpectedly difficult for auction house specialists (vendors keep pressing for higher estimates) and for dealers who try to catch the eye of the new buyers with new money. These all chase future auction stars.

Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern art sale, in which three world records were set June 20, should have been an unqualified success. It was for some, but unfortunately not for all.

One quarter of the pictures offered failed to find takers, and within minutes of the first record, established for a Signac at l3.64 million, or $6.6 million, three Impressionist landscapes bit the dust. Yet the artists could not have been more famous and the works that came up were good.

A pastel close-up of two ballet dancers adjusting their hairdos, by Degas, was the first casualty. The composition is bold, and the color scheme, with greens and reds, unusual. The pastel, auctioned as part of the Degas estate in 1918, had been out of the market since 1937. This is a textbook description of the perfect auction picture. Almost.

There was just one tiny problem: the estimate, set at l1.2 million to l1.8 million. For a work with a stamped signature supplied by the estate at the artist's death (which makes most new buyers uncomfortable) and no longer in its pristine bloom, this was too high by a third. The pastel was doomed.

The following lot, another Degas, should never have been allowed to fail. The sketch in oil and charcoal of two jockeys exercising their horses in a wide-open sunset landscape is beautiful. It too had a stamped signature and had long been out of the market. The National Gallery in Washington deemed it good enough to include it in its memorable 1998 show, "Degas at the Races." The estimate, alas, was again pegged at l1.2 million to l1.8 million far too high for a small panel, which is sparingly colored. It crashed unsold.

The Degas failures illustrate the overestimation engendered by the widespread illusion that world records and other hyperinflationary prices at the top end of the market must somehow pull up the entire price structure. This simply doesn't happen. If anything, the reverse effect can be observed.

By focusing attention on star pictures, record prices make the rest look glamourless in the eyes of many new buyers. A number of delicate works that take a connoisseur's eye to be appreciated and a wealthy man's budget to be bought are thus increasingly at risk even when the estimates happen to be plausible.

In the Sotheby's sale, no one tried to bid on the poetic view of the Seine at Bougival painted by Sisley in 1874, the year of the first Impressionist Exhibition. It remained unsold at l260,000. Done in the melancholic mood that characterizes a whole strain of early Impressionism, the landscape has subtle tonalities and great charm, but no special place in history. It went unheeded.

Some later commented that Impressionism is no longer in fashion. The reality is less comforting for the auction house. Great Impressionist art has all but vanished from the market. The pictures that come up largely consist of the duds left aside after decades of hunting for Impressionist art. When, at intervals, delightful works in a minor key pop up, they get lost in the morass. That day, there just weren't buyers with eyes sufficiently trained to see Sisley's delicate riverside view and a bank account sufficiently large to pay the minimum l320,000 it would have cost, had it sailed past the reserve price.

Later, a view of Pontoise, painted in fresh springtime hues by Pissarro in 1878, went for l1.12 million. In May 1992, the price at Sotheby's New York had been $1.95 million. This year's score was considered disappointing, because the lower end of Sotheby's estimate was 20 percent higher. In truth, the picture was not cheap. While it is lovely, it hardly calls for instant museum display. The problem is that hyperinflation in the art market is now reaching such heights that commentators and even some professionals lose all sense of proportion when they talk about "disappointing" prices.

As a result, the art market is more risky than ever for those operating in it without much experience of art and of the way the system works.
There was a telling incident in Sotheby's June 20 sale. A picture done by Renoir around 1912 shows two young women washing laundry against the backdrop of a blurry landscape. Their reddish Neanderthal faces with low foreheads and their arms like inflated sausages do little to redeem the weakening technique of an artist on the decline. The Renoir was about to crash when an 11th-hour bid rescued it from failure. The price was l1.63 million, just under $3 million, less than the $4.95 million that its consignor paid in November 1993 at Sotheby's New York, where it was blatantly overpaid.

The buyer may have then reckoned that with Renoir's work getting scarcer all the time, he could not go wrong in acquiring a picture of unquestionable authenticity, even one that is not terribly good.

The very opposite is proving true. When works of any kind get extremely scarce, the only buyers left are museum curators or a few top-grade collectors, all looking for the occasional masterpiece or rarity. The greater number no longer reacts to the art, which has slipped off their radar. It sells if very cheap or enhanced by factors unrelated to aesthetics.

Therein lies one of the reasons that a historical context now hugely enhances the value of paintings. If your eye cannot tell you if a picture is good, your intellect may still respond to the aura of history surrounding a famous character or a place. Virtually all the latest record prices were paid for works that had just that. When history wasn't there to boost them, prices merely matched expectations. Some very fine works even came to grief.

The July 7 sale, where Sotheby's sold for a mind-boggling l18.6 million Robert Walpole's Canaletto recorded at 10 Downing Street in a 1736 inventory, also included a pair of attractive Roman cityscapes by Antonio Joli more attractive than the Canaletto, some would argue. They could be had for l848,000.

The bird's-eye view of the Piazza del Popolo is a sheer enchantment, and its match, a view of the Tiber with the Castel Sant'Angelo, was Joli's most popular subject in his lifetime. Both retain English giltwood frames of the 1840s. Sotheby's plausibly suggested that they were acquired by a Briton on the Grand Tour in the 18th century. But as we do not know when or by whom, the price for the Jolis remained reasonable.
In fact, Sotheby's Old Master sale on July 7 bore striking analogies to the Impressionist and Modern session of June 20. The proportion of failures was the same, roughly a quarter of the pictures.

Some good pictures by rare artists, not enhanced by history, failed to sell. The portrait of a man signed by Gerrit van Honthorst and dated 1631 fell at l190,000. Two lots down, a St. Jerome signed by Jan Sanders van Hemessen in 1548 went nowhere. While its condition was not ideal, rarity should have saved it no more than 20 signed and dated Van Hemessens have been recorded. But the late Flemish Mannerist, hardly seen at auction, now only rings a bell with specialists. Had the estimates been slashed by half, it might have caught the attention of some university museum with limited resources.

As rarity increases, the auction game will become even more exciting for those who know. Here and there, they will pounce on fine opportunities unrecognized by most. For the others, the art market, strewn with pitfalls, will resemble Russian roulette.

The season opens in Paris with the Salon du Collectionneur at the Carrousel du Louvre on Friday and in New York with the first major auction (of Chinese art) at Christie's on Sept. 20. Art lovers, look hard and watch your step.

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The New York Sun, September 8, 2005
Looking for Rising Stars in a Changing Market
By CARLY BERWICK

The world's two major auction houses both cleared more than $1 billion in sales in the first half of 2005. Christie's $1.65 billion worldwide haul of art was a house record and a 31.9% increase over the previous year; Sotheby's took in $1.3 billion in auction sales, which does not include private sales. Overall prices for art rose 13% in the past year, according toartprice.com, which tabulates auction sales.

But with the supply of Old Masters and Impressionist works tightening and the heated contemporary art market possibly peaking, the fall sales promise to solidify the rise to prominence of several less-heralded collecting areas. While the biggest dollar values still come in November, when the Impressionist and Modern and postwar and contemporary sales are held, those more inclined to buy low and sell high may find more compelling pieces in the season's bookends. Sales of Asian art in September and 20thcentury design in December are two of the most vital auction areas, filled with fresh masterpieces whose relative merits inspire whole new sentimental educations. Between those are the photography sales in October, the Impressionist and Modern sales in November, and the postwar and contemporary sales the following week, enlivened by single-owner sales of property from Geofrey Beene, Richard Avedon, Laurance S. Rockefeller, and Edmond and Lily Safra. Here's a look at the highlights of the fall season.

ASIAN ART
The first big sales of the 2005 fall season feature Asian art, a category that recently has posted huge totals. Christie's Hong Kong reported record sales of $90 million for 20th-century and contemporary Chinese art in May. Christie's worldwide sales of Chinese art works has risen 100% in the past year. New York sales of Chinese art for both Christie's and Sotheby's have recently started to reach $10 million, and Sotheby's New York has estimated that its September 20 sale of Indian and Southeast Asian art will bring in $6-8 million.

The new rich of the nations caught between full-blown capitalism and their pasts are following young hedgefund traders and Internet moguls as the collectors of the moment. This new international elite is well-traveled, well-moneyed, and just as eager for a rare Ming vase as a perfect Pakistani miniature.

"We see quite an increased participating from Chinese buyers," said Christie's spokesperson Bendetta Roux. "But there is also revitalized activity from Western collectors." Indeed, a 14th-century glazed jar from China - sold at Christie's London in July for $28.9 million, a record for an Asian work - was bought by a Western collector.

The Asian art sales during the week of September 19 will test how much further the market can go.

PHOTOGRAPHS
In any category, estates and cashedin investments present themselves to auction-house specialists with some degree of seasonal fickleness. But specialists in each department have differing rolodexes and areas of expert ise. Some de-partments are stuffed with specialists, some are leaner; some are headed by relative upstarts, some by seasoned names. And many of them have worked for the competition.

The October photography sales are emblematic of how department heads can subtly influence the material on offer. Christie's is offering a single sale of 40 Mapplethorpe Flowers on October 10, while on the same day Sotheby's is offering a collection of Modernist classics - from Alfred Stieglitz to Harry Callahan - assembled by Joseph and Laverne Schieszler.

Joshua Holdeman, the director of photography and 20th-century design at Christie's, used to work at Phillips de Pury, where former Christie's photography head Rick Wester now runs the department. Sotheby's, on the other hand, has more or less avoided the musical chairs: Denise Bethel has run the department for 25 years, and is noted for her expertise in daguerreotypes and Modernist photographers.

Mr. Holdeman has focused on contemporary photographers such as William Eggleston and Cindy Sherman, while Mr. Wester has particular knowledge of Modernist photographers. But any specialist today traffics in both sepia turn-of-the-century prints and postmodern conceptual works, even as photographers from Andreas Gursky to Diane Arbus make appearances in the major contemporary sales.

"Certainly Sotheby's has a certain strength in 19th century, while the current Christie's department has a certain strength in contemporary photography," said Leila Buckjune, the former director of Christie's photography department who now works at Howard Greenberg Gallery. "But it's so sale driven and season-driven. It really depends on the col-lection you get."

IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART
The 2005 fall season kicks off with minor sales of Impressionist and Modern works at both auction houses next week, but these are merely a prelude to the main event in November. In two weeks, a half-billion dollars worth of art changes hands with the quick rise and fall of paddles. Impressionist and Modern art still sells more than contemporary, despite its dwindling hold.

Sotheby's has traditionally been stronger in Impressonist and Modern holdings, with its spring 2004 sales bringing $314 million in two days. Among the lots was Picasso's "Garcon a la Pipe," which sold for $104 million. But last spring, its lackluster evening sale totaled $91 million, while Christie's evening sale the next night pulled in $143 million.

This season, Sotheby's will look for redemption with an Impressionist and Modern sale featuring works by Leger, Renoir, Bonnard, and Dali. Sotheby's is also strong in single-owner property sales, and it follows its Impressionist and Modern sale with two days of furniture, art, and Faberge boxes from the Lily and Edmond Safra collections, expected to bring in $25 million. (Phillips discontinued its Impressionist and Modern art sales in New York in early 2003.)

POST WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART
New York is the capital of contemporary art, outstripping the London auctions in dollar value.And Christie's is the juggernaut, having bested its own record by taking in $133 million in a single sale of contemporary art last spring. The department is led by Amy Cappellazzo and Brett Gorvy, and was augmented by last year's addition of Laura Paulson from Sotheby's; recent hire Jennifer Vorbach boosts the department to 11 strong.

This season Christie's has an imposing collection of postwar art consigned by the heirs of Lee V. Eastman, featuring a rare group of de Kooning paintings to be sold in its November 8 evening sale. Last spring, the house's record-breaking postwar and contemporary sale was built around a similarly strong group of New York school paintings from the Jonas collection.

At Sotheby's, Anthony Grant rejoined the contemporary department this summer, after running PaceWildenstein and then his own gallery for several years. Another Sotheby's contemporary specialist, Matthew Carey-Williams, has departed for Gagosian Gallery, leaving the total number of specialists at six. This season, Sotheby's has secured a massive, guil-lotine-like stainless steel David Smith sculpture, "Cube XXVIII Gate 33," estimated to be worth $8-12 million, along with Andy Warhol's 1964 "Jackie Frieze," estimated for the same amount.

Phillips, whose contemporary department is run by Michael McGinnis, cultivates its edgy image by bringing such future stars as Daniel Richter and Neo Rauch to the blocks early and then selling them for many times their estimates. Phillips launches the week of contemporary sales on November 7 with its sale of works assembled by hard-partying socialite Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, who bought such artists as Richard Prince, Andreas Gursky, and Martin Kippenberger.

20 TH CENTURY DESIGN
Sotheby's department head, James Zemaitis, is a symbol of the energy - and money - attending recent furniture and design. Youngish at 36, tall, and fond of pinstripes, he projects an avant-garde enthusiasm for 1970s pop furniture and postmodern chrome experiments. Mr. Zemaitis came over from Phillips in 2003, and his December sales last year totaled $15.3 million, highly successful for the category.

Last spring's 20th-century design sale at Christie's brought in $6.9 million, but nearly half was accounted for by a Carlo Mollino table that not only broke $1 million - a substantial mark at a 20th-century sale - but went on to sell for $3.8 million.

"There's a fresh take from all the houses," said Lee Mindel, of the architecture firm Shelton Mindel & Associates. He was the underbidder on the gazelle-like wood-and-glass Mollino table. "I wouldn't equate success or image of the house with net prices," he added.

Phillips, for instance, produces lavish catalogs, suggesting good design knows from good design. Sotheby's sales, says Mr. Mindel, "seem to take a few more chances now." The design sales follow Art Basel Miami Beach in the second week of December, picking up on the raucous, kitschy momentum typically let loose in Miami.

 

 

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Matthias Arnold
(Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
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