Art & Finance Newsletter #20 - Art Fairs are in the News
January has been absolutely jam packed! I hope your year is off to a robust start as well.
I am in Hong Kong this week on client work and meetings. If you are in town this week and would like to speak - shoot me a note.
On to the art market...
Taipei Dangdai Inaugural Fair
The fair floor of the inaugural edition of Taipei Dangdai (17 to 20 January) was a gentle hum its first two days, seemingly incongruent with its ample crowds and brisk sales. Dealers used to the boisterous scrums of Shanghai and Hong Kong fairs exclaimed at the respectful quiet and orderly queues, reflections of a society that, like its art market, boasts an underappreciated maturity.
“Taiwan’s economy is pretty stable. It hasn’t been great since the 1980s or 90s, but people here always see art as a reliable asset,” says Shasha Tittmann, director of Lehmann Maupin’s Hong Kong space, which previously exhibited at the long-running local fair Art Taipei six years ago, and is among the 90 galleries participating in the first edition of Taipaei Dangdai at the Nangang Exhibition Center in the Taiwan capital’s eastern outskirts.
Tittmann notes that Taiwan’s art market has warmed up to contemporary art since 2013. Collectors in Taiwan are “fantastic” and “very consistent”, she says, as they favour “a certain aesthetic, such as new media, works that are fresh, like Lee Bul and Angel Otero”.
Organised by Angus Montgomery, Tim Etchells and Magnus Renfrew, who is also the director, and backed by UBS, the inaugural edition of Taipei Dangdai (the Mandarin term for contemporary art).
The Art Newspaper - Taipei Dangdai Inaugural Fair
Art Stage Singapore Cancelled
There was surprise and dismay when organisers of the ninth Art Stage Singapore cancelled their government-backed fair in the week before its January 24 opening at the Marina Bay Sands complex. No reason was given but a statement from Lorenzo Rudolf, the fair’s president, says: “I am forced to immediately stop the preparations for Art Stage Singapore 2019 . . . The given circumstances, about which we shortly will inform you, unfortunately leave no other choice.”
The fair’s popularity seems to have been in freefall for a while — in 2017 it boasted 131 exhibitors, while this year only 45 were due to show. Still, those who were going — whether regional or international galleries — had naturally already organised shipping, flights and other logistics. “Organisers are going to have to come up with a coherent explanation. We go out of our way to go to fairs, because we make sales there, and Art Stage has historically been good for us. It’s disappointing, but I don’t think it’s indicative of wider problems in the Asian market, which is still going strong,” says the London and Hong Kong gallerist Tanya Baxter.
All the work that she planned to show at the fair, including pieces by Francis Bacon, David Hockney and Tracey Emin, arrived in Singapore on Monday, Baxter says. At time of writing, there was no comment from the fair about covering expenses. A separate Facebook group of local cultural businesses, called Art Stage SOS, has meanwhile formed to help those determined to travel find a way to show in town this week.
FT - Art Stage Singapore Cancelled
Gallery & Auction House Disagreement
It’s not every day that behind-the-scenes details of a multimillion-dollar art transaction are laid bare for all to see. But a messy three-way legal fight over Christie’s recent sale of a Francis Bacon painting valued in the eight figures has done just that.
A dissatisfied consignor who cried foul about the terms of the sale is now targeting both the auction house and the prospective buyers, dealers Christophe van de Weghe and David Rogath, in an attempt to halt what the consignor claims is an unfair deal. The consignor argues that somewhere along the way, Christie’s stopped representing its interests in order to curry favor with more valued clients.
It all started in late 2017, when South Korean art gallery One and J consigned a Francis Bacon painting to Christie’s for private sale. The title of the painting—which the gallery claims Christie’s had valued at $10 million—has not been disclosed in court papers and has been redacted in related exhibits so as not to diminish the work’s value, according to One and J’s petition.
As part of the deal with Christie’s, One and J used the painting as collateral for a loan, and the auction house advanced the South Korean business a total of $4.9 million. (It’s not unusual for major auction houses to loan or advance money when works are consigned for private sale or far outside of major sale weeks.)
Roughly a year passed; Christie’s had no luck selling the work. One and J also notes in the filing that during that time, it consigned an Andy Warhol painting for sale at Christie’s in Hong Kong with the understanding that the proceeds would be used to repay the loan. However, the painting was withdrawn shortly before the sale “based on a purported lack of interest,” according to the filings.
Artnet - Gallery & Auction House Disagreement
Hong Kong art fair season is on the horizon - March 29th - 31st.
If you are in Hong Kong, China, Singapore or the surrounding region and would like to organize private events or activities for your clients or colleagues during that week let me know ASAP.
Fair organizers have been inquiring with me on which fiduciaries, wealth managers, etc. would want to have special attention throughout the week.
Be in touch with any ideas!
Speak soon,
Blake