Art Market Rallies in 2010

The art market as previous years have shown tends to mimic the trends of the global economy. Thus, while 2008 and 2009 were possibly the worst years in this decade for art, 2010 is witnessing an upswing as fortunes in stock and other allied markets improve.

The main indicators of this resurrection of the art market are the auction results for art since the beginning of 2010. While galleries are still not very transparent in their dealings, the auction houses present a complete transparency and pricing and hence allow for comparisons between the years as well.

International Art Market

Internationally, Christie’s and Sotheby’s are considered the primary auction houses. Both have registered marked improvements in 2010 both in terms of number of lots sold as well as the hammer prices of artworks. Records are now being broken again as art is reinstated in the news columns. A publication by OSIAN’s Art Market India Report (AMIR) reveals the market share of Christie’s has increased to 38.7% from the corresponding share of 27.2% from Jan 1 to March 27 2009. Sotheby’s increased its market share from 22.9% in 2009 to 23.7% in 2010. The total auction sales in 2010 were to the tune of Rs.105.11 crore compared to Rs.45.07 crore in 2009.

In May 2010, at the end of the Impressionist & Modern Art sales on 4 & 5 May, Christie’s and Sotheby’s posted a combined revenue higher by 205% compared with the previous year’s total and their combined results from the Contemporary Art sales (11 and 12 May) were nearly 230% better than the previous year. The bought-in rates were much lower than previous years ranging between 6% (Sotheby’s Contemporary Art sale) to 22% (Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art sale). Twelve new records were set including a new world record for a work of art at auction, for Picasso’s lascivious painting of Marie-Thérèse Walter entitled Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, at $95 million which was auctioned at Christie’s. On 11^th May 2010, in the Contemporary Art segment, Christie’s sold 74 contemporary works for $202.3m with only 8% of the works offered remaining unsold. The following day, the 50 lots sold by Sotheby’s generated total revenue of $166.2m with only 6% of the works offered remaining unsold. As a result of these proceedings, Artprice’s confidence index (the AMCI) has stabilised at around 24 points.

Chinese Art Market

Even Chinese art is doing well with a painting by Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), one of China's best-known 20th-century painters, being sold for a record 100.8 million yuan ($14.8 million), at a spring auction of China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd. on 17^th May 2010, the highest auction price ever for any modern Chinese painting or calligraphic work. According to Shi Guanyu, an analyst with the Art Market Monitoring Center of Artron.net, a well-known website that focuses on Chinese art, “the 2010 China Guardian spring auction sent a strong signal to art markets in China. A price surpassing 100 million yuan for an ancient or modern painting or calligraphic work has opened a new era, and once it has been opened, there are new expectations. Prices for Chinese works—ancient or modern paintings or calligraphic works—still have some room to grow.” His words were proved true by the sale of a calligraphy scroll by Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), a well-known calligraphist and poet in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), which fetched 436.8 million yuan ($64 million) at the spring auction of the Poly International Auction Co. Ltd. On 3rd June 2010, a world record price for a single piece of Chinese artwork.

With the oil price gaining strength the market expects a return of the buyers from the Middle East, Chinese and Russian investors are further expected to boost the current effervescence of the art scene.

Indian Art Market

Closer home, the Indian art market has been mirroring the global trend. According to Neville Tuli, founder-chairman of OSIAN’s Connoisseurs of Art, “the Indian art market has witnessed a period of consolidation in 2010 and the coming months will see further strengthening. In the coming months, buyers will witness resurgence in demand for the best of art works by the leading masters in India.” Saffronart increased its share to 19.8% in 2010 from 17.5% in 2009.

The summer online auction by Saffronart has been a resounding success sending strong signals through the Indian art market. “Fifty-three per cent lots sold for above the higher estimate, and 10 lots sold for over a crore each, pointing to a broad level of interest across the auction,” says Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and Co-founder of Saffronart. Amongst the artworks that captured the buyer’s interest and made art history were Jehangir Sabavala’s “The Casuarina Line” which sold at Rs 1.7 crores far exceeding the pre-sale estimate of Rs. 50 lakh, a record for this artist. S. H. Raza’s “La Provence Noire” went under the hammer at Rs. 3.3 crore the highest fetched by the auction house in this season’s sale, followed by an untitled work by Subodh Gupta which sold for Rs. 2.2 crore. M. F. Husain’s untitled work fetched the highest value sold via mobile, at Rs 1.06 crores and another of his work “8 horses” sold for Rs. 2 crores. While an untitled work by V. S. Gaitonde fetched Rs 1.5 crores, N. S. Harsha’s “We Don’t Know Why We Are Stitching Plants” went for Rs 1.27 crores. Gaitonde, Souza and Akbar Padamsee were among the 10 lots which fetched over Rs. one crore in the two day sales on June 16-17. 73 of the total 90 works on offer were sold successfully, grossing a total of Rs. 30 crores.

The reports and results from across the globe point to the recovery of the art market. One can only hope that galleries that were forced to take a sabbatical, such as the Bodhi gallery which had closed all its international as well as Indian branches, will soon again become major players in the art field and emerging artists who were forced to lie low will get their due.

~ Razvin Namdarian

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