Jamie Henderson, D.G.,’s Post

This Renoir still life "Nature morte a la grenade" painted between 1890-1893, was offered at auction this past May as 'after Renoir' with an estimate of $1,000-$1,500. It's provenance begins with the famous art dealer Etienne Bignou, and in 1943 it is exhibited in NY at the "Renoir" exhibition at Dalzell-Hartfield Galleries. After being sold by Sotheby's London in 1965 it ends up with M.Knodler & CO., in NY who in 1969 sell it to John & Frances Loeb. The Loeb collection was sold by Christie's NY in 1997, where this painting, lot 110, sold for $794,500. So what happened? How does a painting that brought in over three quarters of a million dollars 27 years ago, end up with a questionable attribution and the lowest of estimates? It has gone through the hands of prestigious dealers and collectors, and somehow the most recent owner (if there is one) ends up at an absolute loss? Something is not right about this. There's no arguments as to why this might not be the original Renoir, which is illustrated in the bibliography and matches this to a T. Whoever the most recent buyer is, they obviously believe it too, because after an online bidding war they got the lot for $37,500. I am certain we will see this come up at auction again soon, with an estimate in the low millions, at one of the big auction houses. But in the meantime, it would be very interesting to find out where it was between 1997 and 2024 and under what circumstances it was completely devalued and offered at the online auction in May?

Thank you to our friends at Antiques & The Arts Weekly for covering these two sales (see attached article below) as they are all too often overlooked in favor of those with ‘big ticket’ items. Our young team puts a lot of effort into making these auctions a success and they do so with considerable thoughtfulness and enthusiasm. I am particularly pleased with the performance of our popular Art + Design auctions. Earlier this year, and with an eye on the current market, we restructured our Fine Arts program to feature six Art + Design auctions, three each in Philadelphia and Chicago. We are also considering holding one in our Palm Beach saleroom early next year. The most recent Philadelphia offering achieved great success, as you can read in the article, as did an earlier one held for the first time in Chicago which reached a similar total. In each case, our mission is to support and promote the indigenous artists and craftspeople working in or associated with each region - and to introduce their work to a wider population of collectors both nationally and internationally. The Chicago Imagists in Chicago or the New Hope School near Philadelphia are both good examples. It is gratifying that this approach is being so well received within the arts community as well as the broader one. Prints and multiples also predominate in these auctions and we are constantly growing this side of our market and seeking suitable consignments as it is a collecting area that is currently enjoying great interest and success. “Good for you” you may say, “but how does this all benefit me?” If you are starting out as a collector, or have an interest in becoming one, particularly in the Modern & Contemporary field, these auctions provide an ideal forum for you to dip your collecting toes in the water. The price points are affordable, the work stimulating and attractive and the auction process, which has been with us for centuries, is really quite simple - and oftentimes fun and exciting! Please visit our website - www.freemansauction.com. And feel free contact me here should you have any questions. Additionally, if you are interested in art from earlier periods you may wish to visit our first online auction of American & European Art which closes on Sept 17th. Hurry, hurry - the clock is ticking… #contemporaryart #contemporarydesign #auction #art #design #prints #multiples #antiquesandthearts #philadelphia #chicago #newhopeschool #chicagoimagists #craft

Untitled, 1984, by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, could sell for $18 million at Sotheby's in May. A central painting to come out of the brief, productive collaboration between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the mid-1980s will be offered in May at Sotheby's with an estimated price of about US$18 million. Both Warhol and Basquiat have become auction heavyweights in the decades since their respective deaths in 1987 and 1988. Warhol’s record was set in 2022 with the $195 million sale of Shot Sage Blue Marilyn at Christie's, while Basquiat’s was established in 2017 when his 1982 painting Untitled fetched $110.5 million at Sotheby's. -------------------------------------------------- Now buy Blue chip art with Zurani. We are your partner in art. Contemporary art has proven to be an attractive alternative asset class with absolute solid return potential. From 1995 to 2020, it has shown an annualised price appreciation of 14.0%. This mid-teens appreciation rate makes a compelling case for including art in an investor’s portfolio. #artinvestment #zurani

With Rene Magritte’s L'empire des lumières (1954) guaranteed to sell this week at Christie’s in the region of $95 million, it was a foregone conclusion that the high end of the November Evening Sales would be markedly different from May, when the the three big houses were led by the sale of Basquiat’s Untitled (ELMAR) at Phillips for a comparatively low $46.5 million. The Magritte flew last night, fetching, with buyer’s premium $121.1 million, over $40 million above the artist’s previous auction record, set at Sotheby’s in 2022 for a painting of a similar subject. The price, among the highest realized at auction for a postwar painting, is still not remarkable in absolute terms; in the past decade we’ve become accustomed to nine-figure results for major works. However, at a moment of correction in many market sectors, the strength of the Magritte sale suggests that the market for masterpieces may operate by its own logic and largely apart from trends seen elsewhere in the market. If one were to wonder how the five $100+ million lots in the November 2022 Paul Allen auction would fare in today’s market, the Magritte sale may point to an answer. The Magritte’s realized price of $121.1 million is squarely within the range of the highest prices in Allen; more specifically, it would have been the third-highest sale in that auction, after Cezanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire ($137.8 million) and slightly above Van Gogh’s Verger aves cyprès ($117.2 million). One might even extrapolate from the strength of demand for the Magritte that the paucity of highest-end consignments in recent auctions appears largely to be a supply-side matter. Also selling this week for more than the above-mentioned $46.5 million Basquiat were Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half (1964) for a record-setting $68,250,000, offered by Christie’s sans guarantee with an estimate in the region of $50 million, and Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (1914-17) for $65.5 million at Sotheby’s.

What Drives Value in the Art Market? The auctioning of two seemingly identical prints this week - one at Sotheby’s and the other at Christie’s - provides an intriguing case study to examine the factors driving value in the art market. - On December 4, 2024, Sotheby’s "Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Evening Auction" featured Lot 13: a drypoint print on laid paper by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn titled "Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves: 'The Three Crosses'". Estimated at £400,000–£600,000, the artwork failed to sell. - The following day, on December 5, 2024, Christie’s presented Lot 29 in its "The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn - Part II auction". This lot featured a seemingly identical drypoint print on laid paper by Rembrandt, estimated at £800,000–£1,000,000. The artwork achieved an impressive hammer price of £1 million. As highlighted by my esteemed colleague, Irina Kronrod PhD, although the two prints may appear identical to an untrained eye, their vastly different outcomes underscore the importance of several critical factors that drive value in the art market: the quality of the work and its rarity, its provenance, and its publication history. This case illustrates the complexities of the art market, particularly within the Old Master category. However, the same principles apply across all segments of the art market, emphasizing the critical role of expertise in navigating it. Understanding nuances such as condition, historical ownership, and scholarly recognition is crucial for making informed investment decisions. Source: Pi-eX MICRO Report: London December Old Masters Sales at Christie's & Sotheby's 2007-2024 #fineart #oldmasters #publicauction #christies #sothebys #Rembrandt

As a cataloguer, this highlights how vital details like provenance, condition, and scholarly recognition are in shaping an artwork’s value. Even subtle differences between seemingly identical works can lead to dramatically different outcomes at auction. #CaseStudy #Auction #ArtMarket #Cataloger #CareerInsight #Research

Contemporary York Instruct located the successful provide an explanation for at a Ny auction Thursday (Nov. 14) the arrange Dame Get away‘s one-third proportion of Roc-A-Fella Information turned into as soon as purchased. An anonymous gather from Albany entered the successful $1 million provide an explanation for, with the 2 closest bids coming in at $250,000 and $223,000, respectively. With the purchase, NYS hopes to turn the 33.3% stake to duvet Get away’s large tax debt of $8.7 million, The Put up reviews. A creditors provide an explanation for turned into as soon as outdated for the purchase, which elements there turned into as soon as no procure to front the $1 million. The utter can now additionally resell the percentage at no probability. Jay-Z & Damon Get away all through The 44th Annual GRAMMY Awards – Clive Davis Pre-GRAMMY Birthday celebration at Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States. (Record through J. Vespa/WireImage) Upper than $193,000 in unpaid shrimp one assist is additionally being demanded of the track tycoon, with the utter taking it out of the provide an explanation for cash. “The full auction is over however the paintings is probably not general,” mentioned lawyer Chris Brown, who represents two plaintiffs Get away allegedly owes cash. Mr. Get away’s legacy is now Contemporary York utter assets. I will be able to paintings with Contemporary York utter and Contemporary York Town as the following a part of ownership of the stocks.” The full auction turned into as soon as in the past postponed because of this of claims made through JAY-Z, who asserted ownership of Affordable Doubt, his first album and a blank asset for the company, would revert assist to him in 2031, regardless of who bought Dame’s one-third proportion. “Those statements are false and intensely adverse to the Town’s interests in ensuring that most of the people sale will generate sufficient finances to satisfy all provide shrimp one assist arrearages and solid long run shrimp one assist bills,” Gerald E. Singleton, an lawyer representing the Town, wrote within the letter to United States Justice of the Peace Decide on Robert W. Lehrburge in September.

Contemporary York Instruct located the successful provide an explanation for at a Ny auction Thursday (Nov. 14) the arrange Dame Get away‘s one-third proportion of Roc-A-Fella Information turned into as soon as purchased. An anonymous gather from Albany entered the successful $1 million provide an explanation for, with the 2 closest bids coming in at $250,000 and $223,000, respectively. With the purchase, NYS hopes to turn the 33.3% stake to duvet Get away’s large tax debt of $8.7 million, The Put up reviews. A creditors provide an explanation for turned into as soon as outdated for the purchase, which elements there turned into as soon as no procure to front the $1 million. The utter can now additionally resell the percentage at no probability. Jay-Z & Damon Get away all through The 44th Annual GRAMMY Awards – Clive Davis Pre-GRAMMY Birthday celebration at Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, United States. (Record through J. Vespa/WireImage) Upper than $193,000 in unpaid shrimp one assist is additionally being demanded of the track tycoon, with the utter taking it out of the provide an explanation for cash. “The full auction is over however the paintings is probably not general,” mentioned lawyer Chris Brown, who represents two plaintiffs Get away allegedly owes cash. Mr. Get away’s legacy is now Contemporary York utter assets. I will be able to paintings with Contemporary York utter and Contemporary York Town as the following a part of ownership of the stocks.” The full auction turned into as soon as in the past postponed because of this of claims made through JAY-Z, who asserted ownership of Affordable Doubt, his first album and a blank asset for the company, would revert assist to him in 2031, regardless of who bought Dame’s one-third proportion. “Those statements are false and intensely adverse to the Town’s interests in ensuring that most of the people sale will generate sufficient finances to satisfy all provide shrimp one assist arrearages and solid long run shrimp one assist bills,” Gerald E. Singleton, an lawyer representing the Town, wrote within the letter to United States Justice of the Peace Decide on Robert W. Lehrburge in September.

Auction estimates reflect factors like provenance, rarity, and publication history, as demonstrated by Christie’s estimate for Rembrandt’s The Three Crosses being twice as high as Sotheby’s lower estimate and 66% higher at the upper end, but the final value is ultimately determined by the market.

What drives value in the art market? This is a must read post by Christine Bourron