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Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Art Market

Is TEFAF New York A Success? UPDATED

That depends on how you measure success.

There was a lot of doubt and even some worry that TEFAF, the world’s best art fair, would not be able to make a go of it here in New York, or that if it did somehow do that, the main fair in Maastricht would suffer. After two years in New York–both spring for modern art and fall for Old Masters and 19th Century art, with antiquities showing up in both–the doubters seem to be quiet, at least on one level

The high quality of art on display at the Park Avenue Armory this week (and through Tuesday, in case you have not yet been and can go) is the reason. While some dealers who had booths last year were shut out for this edition–24 of the 90 participants are new–and they complained, visitors benefited because the art on view really was of a higher caliber. My favorite booth was Wildenstein’s–which offered several Bonnards, and only Bonnards. David Zwirner had an excellent booth, too, matching works by Josef Albers with a wall of Morandis.

Those two stood out in part because they had a narrow range of work that left a big impression–but I didn’t see a “bad” booth in the entire Park Avenue Armory and virtually every one had something fantastic.

So, for fair visitors, TEFAF New York Spring is a big win. Likewise, TEFAF New York Fall.

It’s unclear how much is being sold, however–though I did see several red dots on the VIP day and some more on Friday, when I returned.

UPDATE: A press release issues on 5/6 said sales in the first two days were “significant” across the fair and cited several examples, including a Guston painting that went for $5.5 million and a Basquiat for about $5 million.

It’s also unclear if TEFAF is breaking even or making a profit. Though TEFAF itself doesn’t shoot for profits, its partner here in New York, Artvest, does aim to make money. And they are trying–in addition to the prominent new dealers in the mix, there are more partners and sponsors, there’s a bigger cultural panel program this year in an attempt to draw visitors, and they introduced the TEFAF Art Market report with a new focus on art financing. (At the moment it has not been uploaded to the TEFAF website, so I can’t tell you what it said. UPDATE, 5/6–it is now posted, and I’ll look when I have a moment.)

As for TEFAF Maastricht, I didn’t notice any falloff in quality this year, and contrary to rumors, the fair is not leaving Maastricht–it recently signed a 10-year agreement with the city to stay.

For art-lovers here in New York and visitors who can attend here, TEFAF New York is a huge success.

I’m posting a few pictures–a Matisse from Acquavella, a Bonnard from Wildenstein, two Morandis at Zwirner. 

 

 

TEFAF Maastricht: Changing, But the Same

The world’s best art fair–Tefaf Maastricht. whose 275 participating galleries show the art of seven millennia, all told–got underway last Thursday, as usual.

Fair organizers are keen to point out what’s different this year: for example, a smaller by-invitation-only crowd on its annual day of free-flowing food and drink, and another by-invitation only access day on Friday, with the public let in only beginning on Saturday. That seemed to work well, though it forced dealers to make an A list of their collectors for Thursday and a B List for Friday, who didn’t get any oysters, champagne or even orange juice. The upside was clear, though: less crowding led to actual conversations between dealer and client and possibly more sales.

Then there was a slight change in the fair’s booth layout, with not every great space occupied by the same dealer every year, and the presence of some new, younger dealers on the main floor, such as Benappi Fine Art and Lullo & Pampoulides, a two-year-old Old Master gallery that showed in Tefaf’s Showcase section in 2017.

In the Modern section, two big new dealers include Emmanuel Perrotin and Massimo De Carlo, who if not young are young in spirit and offer very contemporary works.

I don’t go to Maastricht every year–this was my first visit in five or six years–so it was difficult for me to ascertain whether the presence of Tefaf in New York since 2016 was affecting attendance by Americans. The dealers were not unanimous about that–one told me that American attendance was off by 80 percent, while others claimed it had not been affected at all. My guess–it’s down, but not too badly. I do believe that fewer U.S. museums escorted groups of their patrons, though some, like the Museum of Fine Arts-Boston, were there. A few regulars have, I hate to say, clearly aged out and can’t make the trip anymore.

On the other hand: I did see many American curators and I know some purchases were made by them–undisclosed at this point.

Another change: while the quality was as usual very good, no one painting, or two, became the talk of the fair. None jumped out. I’d seen some pictures/objects at Tefaf New York either in 2016 or 2017, too, so not everything was as “fresh to market” as dealers like to claim. One of my favorite drawings at the fair, a Canaletto, had been sold recently at Sotheby’s but hung here with a much higher price.

The object that was creating a stir was at Parisian dealer J. Kugel’s stand–a 17th Century German baroque clock that stands 26 inches tall and includes representations of the Four Seasons, Minerva, Death as well as the planets, which rotate every twelve hours. But Americans could only look at, not buy, the $9.2 million piece—it’s carved from ivory, which cannot be imported into the U.S. (It’s not really my taste, though I do appreciate the artistry involved.)

That’s posted below, and here are a few pieces that caught my eye. Top to bottom: A Pilgrim as a memento mori, attributed to Baltasar Permoser, c. 1685; The Holy Family, oil on copper, Jacobo Zucchi; Coronation of the Doge, Canaletto.

With these being just a tiny sliver of what’s at Maastricht, you can see why it remains the best art fair.

Get Out And Go For A Walk!

It’s That Time of Year…

This is just a reminder: TEFAF is in New York again, at the Park Avenue Armory, opening to the public on Saturday and to collectors on Friday. And before that, as I mentioned last year at this time, dealers on the Upper East Side are hosting an art walk on Thursday night to kick off October Art Week. That begins at 5 p.m. Details about participating galleries are here, along with a map.

Before I left on vacation on September 30, I did a little piece about this for Avenue magazine online, headlined Art Walk Sexes Up the Upper East Side Old Masters.

If you for to either, or better yet both, you are sure to see some excellent or at least interesting art works. I’m posting a few here.

 

 

Sotheby’s Pumps A Nascent Market

It may have been just a matter of time: today Sotheby’s announced an inaugural sale of contemporary African art, saying that this market in recent years has undergone “a long-overdue correction.” Then the press release added, but “there’s still a considerable way to go towards addressing the underrepresentation of African artists, who account for just 0.01% of the international art market.”

It is not just El Anatsui, though he and Yinka Shonibare are perhaps the best known contemporary African artists. Their work will be in the sale, which will take place in London (?) on May 16. So will works by 58 other artists from 14 countries. Some works will tour to Paris, New York, Johannesburg and Capetown before the exhibition in London.

By way of further explanation, Sotheby’s said:

Modern and Contemporary African Art spans many different decades, themes, cultures and geographies– we’re not suggesting that the art included in our sale forms one cohesive body, but hope that the auction and our international exhibitions will provide a fresh platform for these artists, attracting the interest of new collectors and enthusiasts who have not yet explored this field.

Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s have sold in this category before, but I am happy about the dedicated sale–because I like much of the art I’ve seen coming from Africa, not because I believe in identity sales per se. Here’s the catalogue link, if you’d like to take a peek.

The sale mixed work by the “giants” who have “established auction prices over $1 million” with many “little-known artists who have never, or barely, appeared at auction before.”

“This is our opportunity,” Sotheby’s said, “to redress some of the current price anomalies; to identify those artists who we think currently undersell but have huge potential.” And to make some money, of course.

The two works I’ve posted here are by Aboulaye Konate, “Composition No.25 (Soleil)” (top) and Chari Samba, “Une Vie Non Ratee” (bottom).

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Sotheby’s 

Can You Spot the Fake?

It would be a good idea. As the FBI recently warned, speaking about the case of Michigan art dealer Eric Spoutz, who pumped at least 40 forgeries into the market over the past 10 years (h/t to ArtNet) (to learn to spot fakes, that is):

Although Spoutz has been sentenced, [agents] McKeogh and Savona do not believe they have seen the last of the fakes he peddled. …there could be hundreds more that were sold to unsuspecting victims. “This is a case we’re going to be dealing with for years. Spoutz was a mill,” McKeogh said.

So the exhibition that Winterthur recently unveiled, Treasures on Trial: The Art and Science of Detecting Fakes, comes at an opportune time. It presents more than 40 fakes or forgeries–fine art, couture, silver, sporting memorabilia, wine, musical instruments, antiquities, stamps, ceramics, furniture, and folk art–drawn from its permanent collection and public and private collections. Conservationists from Winterthur and other institutions have used scientific analysis and connoisseurship to expose these fakes: their analysis and the pertinent stylistic clues is presented alongside the objects to show the techniques used by forgers to try to fool experts and/or trusting collectors. Among the items on display is a Rothko painting that Glafira Rosales, the notorious Long Island art dealer, sold to the Knoedler Gallery.

I have not seen the exhibit–I’ve just read about it. But such shows–other museums have done this in the past–are always, in my experience, learning experiences. And in keeping with today’s trend to involve visitors, Winterthur’s show invites visitors “to investigate several unresolved examples and share their opinion about the authenticity of the object based on the available evidence.” The highlights in this, the final section, include:

  • A painting purported to be by master forger Elmyr de Hory (whose fakes have themselves become highly collectible).
  • A oil painting whose owner has been trying for many years to prove it a genuine work by Winslow Homer.
  • A vampire killing kit brought to Winterthur for authentication by the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Colette Loll,  the founder of Art Fraud Insights, LLC, a Washington, DC, based consultancy, co-curated the exhibition with Winterthur’s Linda Eaton, a textile conservator who also serves as the museum’s director of collections.

Pictured here (top) is a painting “believed to be by de Kooning” from a private collection. Here’s what the label says:

Discovered online and purchased for just 450 euros, this portrait of a young boy holding a ball is stylistically similar to Portrait of Renée [at right]. The children share the same haunting expression, posture, and awkward clutching of an object. The works are the same dimension and also share the same technique, with thick paint on the skin; the same use of shadows; traces of conté crayon; and the same lips, hairstyle, and eyebrows. This work was sold with no provenance; the seller simply claimed that it once belonged to a homeless man who wished him to dispose of his things.

And here is the de Hory, mentioned above.

What do you think of these?

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Winterthur (top)