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George Condo

George Condo

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Of all the figurative painters working today, few if any can match George Condo’s CV for artistic heritage and bragging rights. He worked for Andy Warhol in the ‘Factory’, jammed with and was a friend to Basquiat and now designs albums for Kanye West and handbags for Kim Kardashian.

The Queen, by Condo the work is called ‘Dreams and Nightmares of the Queen’ 2006

Born in Concord, New Hampshire, USA in 1957 Condo’s work spans nearly four decades. He studied Art History and Music at Lowell in Massachusetts before moving to Boston where he worked in a screen-printing shop. He joined a band in Boston called ‘The Girls’, through which he met Basquiat in 1979 while performing on the same bill in his band ‘Gray’. Long story short, Basquiat persuaded Condo to move to NY in 1980 and the rest is history. Condo’s previous screen-printing experience got him the gig in the ‘Factory’ working for Andy Warhol. He worked there for nine months and reportedly only met Warhol once. He was also involved with ‘diamond dusting’ pictures as well as silkscreen-printing. Andy Warhol subsequently bought several paintings from one of Condo’s first NY shows in the early 80’s.

Nude and Forms, the current world record holder, sold at Christie’s NY May 2018, for $6.6 million

Both Warhol and Basquiat where strong artistic influences on Condo’s work at this time. However, over above these two as he emerged as a figurative painter, was and still is, Picasso. A key difference is that unlike Picasso who painted figurative images of real people and things, Condo’s images all emerge from his imagination. In an interview with the Guardian in 2013 he is quoted as saying ‘I describe what I do as Psychological Cubism. Picasso paints the violin from four different perspectives at one moment. I do the same with psychological states; four of them can occur simultaneously. Like glimpsing a bus with one passenger howling over a joke they’re hearing down the phone, someone else asleep, someone else crying – I’ll put them all in one face”.

‘Day of the Idol’ photo courtesy of Sotheby’s, sold twice, Sotheby’s NY May, 2018, $2.7 million , then again at Christie’s NY, November 2019, for $ 3.7 million.

He’s also influenced by old master painters such as Rembrandt and Degas. The colour field and abstract painters such as deKooning and Rothko and will add in elements and colours from these artist’s work into his.

It was Condo who painted Kanye West’s 2013 Christmas gift to Kim – a Hermes Birkin bag featuring three nude women and an angry green monster. Not quite what the couple were expecting, it was once rumoured to have been destroyed. When inevitably it was posted on Instagram, followers were not amused, ‘holy shit balls that’s ugly ‘ said one!

Hermes Birkin exclusive design by George Condo – gifted by Kanye West to Kim Kardashian

Condo moved to Cologne and then Paris where he spent 10 years between 1985 and 1995 remaining entirely focused on imaginary characters until the 2000’s. In 2006 he painted a portrait of the Queen, who has a long neck, gerbil like cheeks and a Crown and he also did the five interchangeable covers for Kanye West’s 2010 album (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), one of which appears to depict Kanye naked and straddled by a winged naked female. Prior to this, his imaginary characters would have multiple pairs of eyes, teeth and all sorts of other ‘additions’. Ralph Rugoff, the curator of the 2011 Hayward Gallery Condo retrospective show wrote that Condo’s portraits amounted to an ‘anatomical orgy’.

Red Head sold Philips NY in May 2018 for $ 1.5 million

The Art Market’s response to Condo’s work exploded during the Spring/ Summer sales of 2017 to the same period in 2018. Condo had become perhaps the most coveted artist on the secondary market in those 12 months, thanks to both the tiny quantity of his output and a belief that buying his work was a surefire investment that could or should pay off. Over the 2017/18 period Condo, set and broke his own record at auction three times.

Henry Moore

Henry Moore, Prolific Artist

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Henry Moore was born in Castleford in 1898 into a Yorkshire coal mining family. His rather didactic father felt that his children should never follow him into mining and saw education as the way out.

Reclining Figure, Festival 1951
Bronze, 230 cms wide.
Sold in June 2016 for £24,722,500. This is the current world record price for a Moore bronze

Moore had shown an early talent for sculpting and drawing at junior school and had made numerous very creditable pieces from clay and stone. He passed the entrance exam for Castleford Grammar School at the second attempt thus joining some of his siblings already at the school. The wide breadth of subjects taught there exposed him to medieval sculpture which attracted his interest straight away and he was encouraged to study, copy and draw pieces. He was also asked by the Headmaster to carve a School Society plaque and also a roll of honour for pupils who were serving in World War I.

Reclining Figure, 1982
Bronze, 246 cms wide.
Sold for $11,000,000 in Nov 2017

Moore joined the War effort in 1917, very soon after joining he was gassed and subsequently hospitalised until 1918, thus keeping him safely away from any further hostilities. On leaving military service in 1919, he received a servicemen’s grant which gave him enough money to study Fine Art at Leeds School of art. Between them, Leeds Art Gallery and the School of Art gave him easy access to see and study the many Modern works of art in their respective collections. This had a profound effect on Moore’s personal and artistic development and he became strongly influenced by the work of Brancusi, Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier Brzeska and Frank Dobson. These influences pulled Moore towards the almost forgotten traditional carving method known as ‘direct carving’ in which the imperfections of the material and marks left by the carving tools, became part of the finished sculpture, the process is referred to by sculptors as ‘truth to material’ . In actively pursuing this method Moore was resurrecting a then nearly four hundred year old carving tradition stretching back to the Old Master sculptors Canova and Bernini.

Mother and child with apple, 1956
Bronze, 72 cms high.
Sold for £5,010,500 in February 2014

Later in his career when casting his sculpture in bronze, Moore found that in his hands bronze was not an antithesis of stone or wood carving: carving, scraping and grating his plaster models allowed him to create texture in his finished bronzes that matched anything he could achieve in his stone or wood pieces. In fact Moore paid great attention to the patination of his bronzes and supervised the process personally whenever possible, especially on large scale works where it is evident that many of his patinas suggested natural textures and weathering.

Large 4 piece reclining figure, 1972
Bronze, 402 cms high.
Sold $3,300,000 June 2006. Since 2006 prices have increased and I would now expect this piece to make nearer to $10 million

Following his studies at Leeds, Moore moved to Hampstead where he took on part time teaching work at the Royal College of Art while continuing working on his sculpture. He later took up another teaching role at the Chelsea College of Art where he began to develop more abstract work.

He was part of the organising committee for the international surrealist exhibition in London in 1936, where Roland Penrose purchased one of his Moore’s new abstract mother and child works, carved in stone. Penrose displayed his new purchase in the front garden of his house in Hampstead, much to the annoyance of the local residents who ran a two year campaign to remove the piece!
In 1938 Moore met Kenneth Clark who championed his work from this first meeting onwards.

Reclining Figure, 1982
Bronze, 246 cms wide.
Sold for £3,625,250 in Feb 2006. Again the value of this piece has risen significantly since 2006, another from the same cast sold for $11,000,000 in 2018

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Chelsea School of Art was evacuated to Northampton, so Moore resigned his teaching post and began working on powerful drawings of Londoners sleeping on the London underground all commissioned by Kenneth Clark, now the Chairman of the War Artists Advisory committee. When the Moores’ Hampstead home was hit by shrapnel Henry and his wife Irina moved to a farmhouse called Hoglands, set within in a hamlet called Perry Green, just outside Much Hadham in Hertfordshire . This house and the surrounding land became a home, studio, gallery, workshops and display area for his work for the rest of his life. Over time his continued financial success in selling work enabled him to acquire adjoining land nearby and buildings for use as studios and exhibition spaces. This large rural site now houses the Henry Moore Foundation galleries and study centre, where you can take a tour of Hoglands, walk the grounds and gardens, and visit the galleries and studios which are all open to the public.

Family Group,1946
Bronze, 44 cms high.
Sold in June 2017 for £3,861,000. In 2008 another from this same edition sold for $4,000,000

After the war, following several miscarriages Irina had a baby daughter, Mary who was born in March 1946. Two years prior Moore had lost his mother and these two events drew him to focus on one of his most successful and enduring themes, the Mother and Child. Also in 1946 he made his first visit to America to attend a major retrospective of his work held at MOMA in New York. This exhibition was a huge critical and popular success and his fame spread rapidly across the US. He was taken on by an art agent in Los Angeles who advised many Hollywood moguls and actors. His work was bought in quantity by Betty Warner, a very wealthy and influential socialite and collector in LA and the wife of Jack Warner of Warner Brothers pictures was also a strong influencer.

Horse
Bronze, 13.8 cms high.
Sold in March 2020 for £32,500. Horses are rare subject matter for Moore bronzes, however I think this piece is elegant and nicely stylised and offered good value at this price

The last 30 years of Moore’s life were his most productive in every sense, he was incredibly busy making, exhibiting and selling work in all mediums, particularly bronze all around the world.

Mother and Child, 1929
Bronze, 10.2 cms high.
Sold for $5,000 in December 2019. This is the cheapest piece you can find, however its perhaps not the prettiest

By the early 1970’s he was making over £1,200,000 a year in income from sales of art alone. He was probably the first British artist of the 20th century to become a millionaire. However the downside was that as a UK tax payer earning this sort of money he was liable to pay 80% tax on his earnings In fact so significant was his tax bill that in 1972 he was publicly declared the single highest individual tax payer in the entire UK. This warranted a visit to Hoglands by the then Chancellor, Jim Callaghan to acknowledge his tax contribution, I noticed a photo taken of this meeting at Hoglands, Jim Callaghan is smiling broadly, however Moore isn’t looking quite so cheerful having just parted with £960,000 in income tax .

Mother and child, Relief, 1977
Bronze, 38.4 cms.
Sold in November 2019 for $10,000. There are a number of relief bronzes smiler to this which, although unusual, do offer good value.

Henry Moore produced a huge quantity of the highest quality work, particularly bronzes and he has a truly international reputation, so his pieces appear for sale around the globe, all the time. On any given day you can find something new coming up for sale somewhere in the world and I show a few examples below. One of the many truly remarkable facts about the Moore market is just how cheap his tiny bronzes are, in fact prices for bronzes range from as little as £5,000 for a small piece right up to £25 million for the largest pieces. In addition peace of mind is offered to buyers by the carefully curated complete catalogue raisonees listing with reference numbers all his bronzes, unique carvings, drawings and prints from all periods.

Caricature head, 1978
Bronze, 10.1 cm high.
Sold in November 2019 for $15,000

All Part of the Service!

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Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (British, 1727-1788)

 

A Day in the Life of David Dallas, Old Master Specialist

Last spring, I went to value a collection of pictures, in which there was reputedly an early portrait by Gainsborough painted in Suffolk in the 1750s.
The client believed the work to be by Gainsborough as it was a family descendant and heirloom, however they had no provenance for the work to authenticate it and had been asked by their insurer for a valuation.

Was the work worth £800 or £80,000 was the question?

So, it was arranged for me to visit the client at his home to view the works. When I saw the painting, I immediately recognised it to be by Gainsborough, it was not only by him but also in a perfect state of preservation in its original carved and giltwood frame.

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (British, 1727-1788)
Portrait of Mr Pattison, bust length wearing a brown coat and white stock

Happily, I know the current Gainsborough experts, Hugh Belsey and Sue Sloman, and arranged with the clients approval to tell Hugh of its whereabouts in time for him to photograph it and include it in his Catalogue Raisonne of the artists’ portraits.

Our client was delighted as this will enable future generations of his family to be able to confirm with authority that the work is in fact a work by Gainsborough and in the Catalogue Raisoone. This firmly establishes the painting in the current most authoritative work on the artist, adding lustre to its reputation, as an authentic Gainsborough and, therefore, enhancing its value.
This is all part of our service and at no added cost to the client.

Our team of renowned and internationally recognised specialists are available to assist you covering all areas of Art, Antiques, Silver, Jewellery, Watches, Cars, Books and Manuscripts and other valuable collectables.

We provide a personal, professional, friendly, discreet and completely confidential service providing independent Valuations for insurance, inheritance tax purposes, divorce and family division and providing independent advice on buying and selling.

The Importance of Consulting Industry Recognised Art Specialists

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Reports in the press recently about fake paintings loaned to a country house in Scotland and the London art dealer who paid £1m for a painting and proceeded to sell it on for £8m, highlight the importance of consulting recognised industry specialists when buying or considering selling. Unfortunately, these examples are only the ones in the press and not the works we see where clients have overpaid or the works are not right and we are the bearer of bad news.

This then reminds me of a very sad story that happened nearly 50 years ago, when I worked on the front counter at Christie’s, King Street.

A middle-aged man came to the desk with a large canvas of Diana and her hand maidens, wrapped up in brown paper and string. He said it was his family’s ‘Rubens’ and he wanted it valued. By pure chance, Christie’s Old Master Department had just taken on Gregory Martin, who for the previous 10 years had been curator of Flemish paintings at The National Gallery and was a Rubens expert. He examined the picture and pronounced it an old copy worth £1000-£1,500. I went back downstairs with the painting, wondering how best to break the news. He took it very badly, the blood draining from his face and slumping backwards into a chair. I bought him a cup of hot sweet tea like you do for trauma victims and he told me the story of how the painting came to be his.
His father had died a year ago and as the elder son, he was allowed first choice from the collection. The ‘Rubens’ was undoubtedly the most significant thing in the castle, and he had always loved it, so that was what he chose. His younger brother got everything else, which amounted to a little over three hundred paintings. I just prayed his brother was the accommodating type.
If only he’d taken a second opinion from a recognised specialist in the field of Old Master paintings prior to making his final choice. Please don’t make the same mistake.

In the art world there are many different genres of works and consequently experts who are authorities in their chosen field. Here are a few of our specialists who help to showcase the breadth and depth of knowledge we offer to our clients.

David Dallas,
Old Masters Specialist

David Dallas joined Christie’s in 1969, where he was the youngest person in a Technical Department (Old Masters). He subsequently became deputy head of the Picture Department at Phillips Son and Neale and ended his auctioneering career as International Director (Global Head) of Old Masters at Bonham’s in January 2015.

In between he worked for more than twenty years with Johnny Van Haeften, specialising in Dutch and Flemish paintings of the 17th Century. He is a specialist in British Landscape Paintings 1750-1850.

He was for many years on the Vetting Committee of the Summer and Winter Art and Antiques Fair at Olympia and Chairman of the Picture Vetting Committee at Grosvenor House Fair and has also been on the vetting committee of Masterpiece. He is a trustee of the Reading Foundation for Art, a former Chairman of The Friends of Readings Museum and Gallery and an external advisor to the Collections Committee of Eton College.

Jonathan Horwich,
Modern British Art Specialist

Jonathan Horwich began his career in the art world in 1973 with the picture dealer Thomas Agnew. In 1976 he joined the picture department of the recently opened Christie’s South Kensington, where he valued and catalogued their many multi- discipline picture sales. He was involved in all aspects of ‘CSK’s business including their innovative ‘ Roadshow’ valuation days held at locations across the UK. Jonathan became a regular auctioneer from 1984 onwards and an Associate Director in 1985.

In 1987 Jonathan was recruited to join Christie’s in King Street as Director and head of the Modern British picture department. During this time Jonathan continued as an auctioneer and gained a strong reputation for the sale of single owner Modern British Art collections, including those of Frederick Forsyth , Peter Meyer and many others and also became recognised as an expert in Modern British Art. In addition to his role in Modern British at Christie’s, Jonathan was appointed head of British and Irish Art in 1998, International Director of the 19th European picture department in 2003 and Deputy Chairman in 2006.

After 22 years at Christie’s King Street, Jonathan joined Bonhams in late 2009 as Global Director of picture departments, where he continued his involvement with Modern British auctions, while at the same time building up Bonhams worldwide picture auctions. This included setting up Impressionist and Contemporary sales and departments in London and New York. In January 2016 Jonathan was recruited to join Phillips in London as a Senior Specialist Director with a focus on Modern and Contemporary British Art a position which he held until December 2018.
Jonathan is recognised as an expert in the Modern British field and maintains close links with experts and galleries and also keeps abreast of all current market developments, trends and issues. Jonathan has a particular interest in and knowledge of the work of L.S. Lowry. As a result he has appeared on ITV’s ‘ Looking at Lowry’ and a Lowry focussed episode of the BBC’s ‘ Fake or Fortune’ .

Jonathan serves as a Council member and Steward for the Artists charity, the Artists General Benevolent Institute (AGBI) and is a member of Chelsea Arts Club.

Ben Hanley,
Contemporary Art Specialist

Ben is an established contemporary art specialist. He began his career working in the Old Master and 20th Century markets before moving into the contemporary market. He has over 20 years’ experience working in the UK and international art markets.

A graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the Courtauld Institute of Art London, Ben has developed specialist level knowledge in Old Masters, Impressionist, Modern and Post War & Contemporary art. In addition to this Ben has extensive project management experience having curated and produced over 100 art projects spanning highly complex multi-venue festivals to smaller bespoke events. He has worked with governmental, institutional and commercial partners including the National Gallery, V&A, the Serpentine Gallery, the Courtauld Institute, Christie’s, Sotheby’s and the Russian Ministry of Culture.

Review of Old Master Sales in July 2019

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As we approach the start of a new auction season, with Old Master Sales happening in London in October, it might be interesting to reflect on how the last season ended.
The Old Master Sales followed the pattern of the last 10 years. Ever since the world’s financial markets crashed in 2009 buyers have been very choosy about what they want to take home. Masterpieces, which in this instance, means good/great paintings in excellent condition and fresh to the market thrive, whereas the more mundane paintings and anything that looks as if it has been consigned by a dealer, struggle.

Circle of Sir Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and his brother Lord Francis Villiers

The sale at Bonhams proved particularly difficult with the star lot, a set of The Four Elements attributed to Jan Brueghel the younger failing to find a buyer, which was also the fate of the Constable Oil Sketch of East Bergholt Common. Overall of the 60 lots offered, 25 were bought in, which is 42% of the sale total.

Thomas Gainsborough, R.A.
Going to Market, Early Morning

Christie’s was marginally more successful with 19 out of 50 lots in the evening sale failing to sell, which is 38%. Surprisingly, their day sale had a selling rate of 62.5% with 57 out of 152 lots being bought in. This sale was marginally more successful in percentage terms than the evening sale, which goes against the normal run of play. The most surprising lot in their day sale was a double portrait described as “Circle of van Dyck”, which made £323,250 against an estimate of £40,000-£60,000. More than one person believes in it, clearly!

Jusepe de Ribera
A Girl with a Tambourine (The Sense of Hearing)

Sotheby’s sales, which totalled £56.2m were the most successful for 5 years. The most extraordinary statistic of their evening sale was that there were more world records than bought in lots! Only 6 paintings failed to sell whereas, there were 9 world records broken, including ones for Gainsborough, whose “Going to Market, Early Morning” sold for £8.2m and Jusepe de Ribera’s “A Girl with a Tambourine” which sold for £5.9m, nearly twice the previous record.
The Sotheby’s sale is cause for optimism in the world of Old Masters, despite the current financial uncertainties.

Does Your Current Insurance Reflect Art Market Increases?

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Yayoi Kusama –
KOKORO (Heart), 1988

We asked our Head of Contemporary Art, Ben Hanly, to look at how values have changed over the past few years to illustrate just how important it is to have the value of your collection updated regularly. We think you will be shocked by the results!


David Hockney (British, 1937)
Pool Made with Paper and Blue Ink for Book, 1988
Lithograph, edition of 1,000
26.5cm x 22.5cm

2015 – £10,000

Now – £25,000


Yayoi Kusama (Japanese, 1929)
KOKORO (Heart), 1988
Acrylic on canvas
65cm x 53cm

2006 – £45,000

Now – £225,000


Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987)
Marilyn (no. 31)
Screen-print, edition of 250
91.4cm x 91.4cm

2015 – £175,000

Now – £300,000


Banksy (British, 1974)
Girl with Balloon, 2003
Spray-paint and stencil on canvas, edition of 25
40.5cm x 40.5cm

2015 – £175,000

Now – £600,000

To speak to us about an art valuation call us on 01883 722736 or email [email protected]

 

LS Lowry

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I have been involved in Modern British painting and sculpture since 1987 when I took charge of Christie’s Modern British department. This brought me into direct contact with the artists themselves, their families, friends and collectors, which I found totally absorbing and fascinating. My fate was sealed, and I think I became a Modern British ‘Lifer’ in 1988 when we held the Camden Town Group exhibition. However, little did I know back then just how large a part Lowry would play in my working life over the next 32 years.

‘The Village Street’ appeared in the Christie’s Review of the Year for the 1964-65 season having been sold for a then record price of 1,600 Guineas

‘The Village Street’ appeared in the Christie’s Review of the Year for the 1964-65 season having been sold for a then record price of 1,600 Guineas

I think it’s fair to say that L S Lowry is probably one of the best known 20th century painters in the UK, with his work being more easily recognisable to British people than many other national or even international artists. This wide recognition and easy acceptance have led to a healthy and consistently strong level of interest from private collectors over the last 60 or more years.
For the first-time art collector, Lowry’s signature pieces are immediately engaging and have a broad appeal. Typically, a first and second Lowry purchase would both be signature pictures, after which would follow less obvious works, such as a minimalist sea piece or a dreamlike, haunting, empty landscape. This interest in collecting a single artist led to the formation of some great collections, many of which I have had the privilege of either helping put together and or selling over the years.
Critical and financial success for Lowry, like so much in his life, came late. Although born in 1887, his first London exhibition at the Lefevre gallery was not until Autumn 1939, then again in 1943 and the third in 1945, when Britain had other things on its mind.

‘Northern Race Meeting’ which achieved £5,296,000 in 2018

‘Northern Race Meeting’ which achieved £5,296,000 in 2018

Lowry served the War out as a Fire Warden in Manchester and when life and exhibitions began again at Lefevre in the 50’s, buying Lowry pictures suddenly became very fashionable and fun and his exhibitions were sell-outs. So strong was the interest that at one point in the early 60’s Lowry’s prices at auction exceeded his then current gallery prices. As if to illustrate this, an article featuring a 1935 picture called ‘The Village Street’ (pictured) appeared in the Christie’s Review of the Year for the 1964-65 season having been sold for a then record price of 1,600 Guineas.
If the sixties marked the beginning for Lowry acquisitions and collections, then March 1995 and the Rev. Geoffrey Bennett collection sale at Christie’s, marked the beginning of a series of collection sales at auction. Bennett was followed by the Frederick Forsyth collection, 2002, Laurence Ives, 2004, Lord Forte, 2011 and the Thompson collection in 2014. All of these single owner, single artist sales helped to expand the market and to increase the awareness of Lowry and also spawned new collectors many of whom I have got to know well.

‘The Football Match’ sold for £5,641,00 in 2011

‘The Football Match’ sold for £5,641,00 in 2011

Although there haven’t been any significant collection sales since the Thompson sale in 2014, Lowry prices and interest have remained strong with top prices still being achieved for signature pictures such as Northern Race Meeting (pictured) in 2018, which achieved £5,296,000.
Equally many records still stand from 2011-2014 such as The Football Match (pictured) in 2011at £5,641,00 and Piccadilly Circus (pictured) at £5,122,000 in 2014.
Lowry painted and drew continuously throughout his long and very productive life, so happily there are still many new works out there still to be discovered. I have been fortunate enough to have seen hundreds of works by Lowry over the years through my work with collectors and involvement with the Lowry collection in Salford and I look forward to seeing many more…

‘Piccadilly Circus’ achieved £5,122,000 in 2014

‘Piccadilly Circus’ achieved £5,122,000 in 2014

 

The Art Market and Brexit

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With the final phase of Brexit looming ever nearer and no defined solution yet emerging, all sectors of the UK economy are thinking ahead nervously to discern what effect this messy divorce with Europe will mean for them – this is no less the case than with the UK Art Market.

The British art and antiques market is the third largest of its kind in the world with a global share of 22%, and a 65% share of the European Union’s art and antiques market. It represents total sales of over £10 billion annually and it is comprised of 7,850 businesses, providing direct employment for 41,420. The British art market is defined as being a ‘entrepot market’ in that it serves as a conduit for sales of artwork which are often imported into the UK solely to be sold here and then re-exported out of the country – one only has to look at the main Impressionist, Contemporary and Russian sales to demonstrate this, together with the top tier of international art fairs such as Frieze, Frieze Masters, Masterpiece and PAD. The Art Market is therefore particularly active and dependent upon cross-border trade.

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Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, originally predicted that Britain would probably suffer a moderate Post Brexit downturn in the economy; this prediction now seems to be highly conservative with current estimates ranging from post-Apocalyptic melt down to a simple short-term realignment of the UK economy.

What is certain is that the strength of the Pound will continue to fall until clarity has finally emerged. This, in itself, is not universally bad for the UK Art Market as it makes purchasing UK goods cheaper for foreign investors – UK collectors, however, find it more expensive to buy internationally in the short term. The one category of high-value secondary art that will be affected negatively post-Brexit is art where the primary market is British buyers. Consignors may choose to wait for the Pound to stabilize and uncertainty to decline. The obvious category is Modern British Art of the 20th century. It is also possible that he Old Master market will be similarly hit in the short term as UK buyers make up a small but significant portion of the collector base.

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Having said this, it is not all doom and gloom for the UK market, typically UK collectors only represent between 10% of the total turnover at the main London Auctions – this figure includes purchases by foreigners living in the UK. Many Eastern European and Middle Eastern buyers will still prefer London over New York. Although it is true that some consignors may prefer to offer their works in New York rather than in London.

Post Brexit, London may indeed even emerge to be a stronger auction market compared to Paris and the rest of Europe as it should be free of EU regulations, particularly the Artist’s Resale Rights levy (ARR). This had final implementation in the U.K. in 2012, after six years of strong resistance by the government. ARR entitles creators of original works of art to a royalty each time a work is resold through an auction house or dealer for more than €1,000. It is levied at 4% on sales between €1,000 and €50,000, declining to 0.25% on sales at more than €500,000. ARR continues for 70 years after the artist’s death.

ARR has put the U.K. at a distinct disadvantage for art sales compared to dealers and auction houses in New York, Switzerland, or Hong Kong, which do not levy the charge. It has been suggested that the UK’s global art market share in post-war and contemporary (the sector most affected by ARR) fell from 35% to 15% from 2008 to 2013, due mainly to the implementation of ARR in 2006.

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Brexit or not, London will continue to be the preferred choice of residence for international Non-Dom Billionaires, many of whom are major art purchasers, and it is doubtful that a new government will do nothing to make the city or its tax advantages less attractive. London is a major centre for professional and financial services because of the rule of law, and attractive because of its cultural life and quality of infrastructure. The Brexit vote did not change any of this.

The uncertainty surrounding the whole Brexit negotiations has led to a great deal of money being transferred around the money markets to gold, US Treasuries and similar investments deemed a safe store of wealth. Historically, when financial markets are in turmoil, art is seen as a good store of long-term value, and a hedge against inflation and changes in the relative value of currencies. For iconic works, there’s a chance to to peg the purchase price against the future value of the US Dollar. The new financial fragility of the EU means that investors will be concerned about high-debt, high-risk member countries—notably Greece and Portugal, but also Spain and Italy. Borrowing for art purchases against assets in these countries may become more problematic and expensive so it is reasonable to expect that these national art markets will experience a downturn and will languish for a while.

In periods of uncertainly such as Brexit, art investors tend to moderate risk by investing in works by Blue Chip artists and more established genres rather than emerging artists since Blue-Chip artist are believed to be safer stores of value, even if the upside profit potential is less. Undoubtedly this will strengthen the high-end Impressionist and Modern markets, which are already the main players of the total market. This same trend will no doubt be experienced at the top end of the Jewellery and collectors watch markets. There is a consensus in the art market that this ‘flight to the better-known’ will be the case at least over the next year or two.

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In conclusion, as with everything surrounding Brexit, no certainly exists about how it will play out and the affect it will have on the UK Art and Antiques market – but in fairness, why would we expect there to be certainly following the messiest and most expensive divorce in world history? One thing is clear, in the medium to long term the Art Market will survive and adapt to any and all challenges thrown at it, but in the short term the domestic market will undoubtedly show signs of significant market contraction – but this, in itself, will potentially create new investing opportunities for collectors in the medium term.

As ever, it is the top end of the market which will weather the storm best with top examples by established artists attracting attention and achieving strong prices as investors diversify into these Blue-Chip works. Paradoxically, the strong prices that this alternative investing produce will no doubt inadvertently do much to help bolster global confidence in the art market in the medium to long-term.

Call us today to enquire about an appointment on 01883 722736 or email [email protected] or visit our website www.doerrvaluations.co.uk

Asian Art Valuations

The History of Collecting Oriental Works of Art

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Vase, made during the reign of the Emperor Qianlong. £53.1 million

Vase, made during the reign of the Emperor Qianlong. £53.1 million

In Europe the collecting of Oriental works of art goes back to the end of the 15th Century when Portuguese traders began to import Chinese porcelain and this fashion for exotic items from the Far East soon swept the whole of Europe with many countries vying to control the market.

Such was the popularity and value of Chinese porcelain that in 1717 Augustus the Strong of Saxony swapped 151 pieces of Chinese porcelain for 600 of the King of Prussia’s finest soldiers.

Other materials were also highly sought after by the Europeans including silk, lacquer and Jade.

In the middle of the 17th century the civil war in China led to a shortage of Chinese goods and so the Western traders approached the Japanese to produce similar items, whilst back in Europe many people were trying to produce wares in the style of the Chinese.

Until fairly recently the market in the West has been dominated by Europeans and North Americans, though the Japanese, who had also collected Chinese porcelain for over 1,000 years, were also buyers.

Recent Trends
In the 21st century the increasing wealth of a great many Chinese nationals has led them to try and buy back their heritage.

The best prices are paid for items made the for the domestic market, particularly those made for the Imperial Court, whilst pieces made for export to the West are largely looked down upon as being inferior.

Imperial porcelain from the 18th century is especially sought after for its high quality, which was often dismissed by Western collectors as lacking the soul and character of Ming and earlier wares.

The finest of these 18th century pieces make many millions of pounds, most famously the vase, made during the reign of the Emperor Qianlong, who ruled China from 1736 to 1795, which sold at a small auction in the Home Counties for £53.1 million.

In recent years the Chinese market has become much more selective as knowledge has increased amongst the dealers and collectors in mainland China, where a few years ago Chinese pieces were bought in an almost indiscriminate manner there is now a greater appreciation of the range of Chinese artefacts and their relative quality.

The high prices and subsequent publicity achieved by Chinese piece brought a considerable number of items onto the market and so the prices for more common pieces fell.

Another result of the high prices being paid for Chinese pieces has been that extremely good copies are now being made which has undermined certain sections of the market and means that provenance has now become of even greater importance than previously, with collectors looking for evidence that a piece has a confirmed history.

Because of strict limitations on the export of cultural items from China, once a piece has been bought and taken to China it can no longer leave the country creating a diminishing supply of good quality pieces in the West, one effect of this has been to broaden the range of pieces collected, pushing up the prices for Ming and earlier pieces, the increase in knowledge of Chinese collectors has also enabled this to happen.

1100 AD porcelain brush washer. £30 million

1100 AD porcelain brush washer. £30 million

 

Chinese porcelain plate, Qianlong period (1736-1795) £40 million

Chinese porcelain plate, Qianlong period (1736-1795) £40 million

Recently a porcelain brush washer from the Imperial Ru kiln, made around 1100 AD, 13cm diameter with a pale blue/green glaze and typical finely controlled cracking to the glaze, sold in Hong Kong for 294,287,500 HKD, around £30 million.

The entry of the Chinese collectors into the market has pushed many of the finest pieces out of the reach of Western Collectors, though there are still areas that are affordable and have not yet been greatly affected by recent events, Chinese export porcelain from the 18th century is still remarkably inexpensive with many attractive piece passing through UK auctions and fairs on a daily basis.

Values for attractive pieces often being measured in the tens and hundreds of pounds rather than the many thousands and even millions, it is possible to buy individual plates from the 18th century in good condition for less than £50, fine export examples with the most attractive and rarest decoration rarely cost more than a couple of thousand leaving a broad and interesting collecting area that is still surprisingly affordable.

Chinese porcelain plate, Qianlong period (1736-1795) £40 million

Chinese porcelain plate, Qianlong period (1736-1795) £40 million

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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