Klimt versus Magritte: will the market regain its panache?

The art market has lacked panache this year, with major works not living up to expectations. Will the upcoming sales in New York act as a rebound or will they confirm the slowdown?

The prestige market has been slipping for many months.

Since the extraordinary success of the sale of the Paul G. Allen collection in November 2022, no event has been able to compete. The sale of the collection put together by the Microsoft co-founder reached a historic sales record of $1.6 billion in two evenings, with nine results each fetching over $50 million.

In 2023, six masterpieces – including two works by Gustav KLIMT – again exceeded this price threshold, but none have crossed this threshold so far this year. The premium market is running out of steam, and the first-half 2024 results confirm it: Fine Art auction turnover was down 24% in the United States, down 41% in China, and down 26% in the UK.

This substantially colder climate has been particularly unfavorable for the sale of masterpieces, as illustrated by the successive sales of two portraits of Gustav Klimt, the principal icon of Austrian Art Nouveau, just one year apart. However, the major market players are predicting a rebound in November…

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Lack of enthusiasm for an exceptional portrait by Klimt
Magritte work triggers optimism

Lack of enthusiasm for an exceptional portrait by Klimt

Whereas Klimt’s The Lady with a Fan (1917/18) reached $108 million in June 2023 at Sotheby’s in London, his Portrait of Miss Lieser  (Bildnis Fräulein Lieser) (1917) sold for ‘only’ $41.1 million at the im Kinsky auction house on April 24, 2024 in Vienna.

Expectations for this exceptional work were much higher with a high estimate of $53 million that even seemed modest compared with Klimt’s recent records. However, Portrait of Miss Lieser was acquired by a private collection in Hong Kong at the low end of its estimates.

Some of the price shortfall can be explained by the stylistic differences between the two paintings, as well as their respective provenances. But the main factor is clearly related to a change in the geo-political-economic climate. The increased caution of Russian and Chinese collectors has dampened competition between major international buyers, encouraging sellers to wait before putting their masterpieces on the market.

Read our articles:

• “The Portrait of Miss Lieser by Gustav Klimt”
• “Klimt Sale Between Record and Disappointment”

It goes without saying that the high-end market has not completely stopped. In London, Christie’s sold the painting The Close Friend (1958) by Belgian Surrealist painter René Magritte for $43 million. In Paris, François Pinault’s auction house achieved a new record at $29 million for a painting by Jean Siméon Chardin, Le Melon entamé (1760). In Beijing, China Guardian sold a set of letters from the grandmaster Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322) for $12.7 million.

Top 10 fine art auction results in H1 2024

Magritte triggers optimism

The prestige market could soon regain its glory thanks to René MAGRITTE because in three weeks New York’s highly anticipated autumn sales will begin and one of the flagship lots is an exceptional version of The Empire of Lights (L’empire des lumières) (1954) by the Belgian Surrealist master.

According to Christie’s (Mica Ertegun collection) this painting is nothing less than “the most important Surrealist work ever offered at auction.” The event is timely because this fall is the centenary of the creation of the Surrealist movement .

Magritte’s paintings have been reaching new heights for a number of years already, and those from this series of works are particularly coveted. In 2022, an Empire of lights painting fetched a record $79.3 million at Sotheby’s in London. This time, Christie’s is aiming even higher with a high estimate above $90 million. If it reaches that high, it would set a new record for Magritte and would considerably reflate the premium market.

Will the result contradict this year’s general trend and Klimt’s lackluster example?

We will find out on November 19.

Gustav Klimt – René Magritte – Surrealist movement – New York autumn sales – Art collectors