Record contemporary art sales in New York

[03/05/2005]

 

Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips de Pury, the three largest auction houses, will offer a total of 1,209 contemporary artworks during their respective auctions in New York between 10 and 13 May 2005.

Sixty-one of these works boast estimates of over a million dollars. This figure compares with only 41 lots hitting this level at last year’s contemporary art auctions and only 14 in 2000. At the time, 11 of these reached this level after the auction frenzy. Of the 731 lots on offer, 234 were bought in, representing a no-sales ratio of 24.2%. Since then, in the face of an ever-growing demand, almost everything coming onto the market is now snapped up. In May 2004, only 13.6% of the 937 contemporary art lots failed to find a buyer. The average price of contemporary artworks sold at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips climbed from USD 112,811 in May 2000 to USD 227,372 in 2004, and therefore the value of the average basket doubled in four years.

This strong interest has also driven up prices significantly. Since May 2000, according to the Artprice Index based on data on repeat sales, prices of paintings by artists born after 1940 have risen by 58.1%. And prices of works by artists born between 1910 and 1930 have soared 85.6% over this period. This escalating prix index is not simply due to art works commanding higher prices.

The rise in the average price and growing sales generated during the contemporary art auctions can also be attributed to the improvement in the quality of works on offer. At the top end, there is an increasing number of works by young artists that are commanding prices in excess of a million dollars. Among them we note Mark ROTHKO, Maurizio CATTELAN and also Damien HIRST, whose price index has risen 530% since 1997! But the highest bids will once again be recorded in the post-war art segment. More speculative than ever, this segment has already made a tremendous comeback this year. Exceptional pieces by Mark ROTHKO and Willem DE KOONING capable of topping the USD 10 million mark are particularly eagerly awaited at Christie’s. Prices recorded in this segment are only 11% below May 1990-levels. At these prices, there is clearly a plentiful supply of works, and what’s more, estimates are generally optimistic.

However, one question remains: can the market really absorb all these works at one time?