Art & Finance Newsletter #35 - What is the difference between daytime & evening art auctions?
I've heard murmurs that the protests occurring in HK could have a negative effect on the upcoming Fall auction season and potentially Art Basel HK as well.
Fingers crossed a peaceful way forward will emerge soon.
Onto the art market...
Difference Between Daytime & Evening Art Auctions?
There are two key differences between day and evening auctions: the number of lots and the value of the works sold. An evening sale tends to have much fewer lots (or works being sold) than a day sale, and these lots tend to sell at much higher price points. For instance, at Sotheby’s contemporary art auctions in London in June, the day sales total came to £14 million (around $17 million) across 204 lots, while the evening sale drew in £69.2 million(around $85 million) with just 42 lots. Due to the sheer number of lots being sold, day sales can stretch upwards of five hours in length, while most evening sales last less than two hours.
There isn’t a formalized price cutoff to determine whether a work ends up in a day or an evening sale—meaning that works sold during the day could be estimated to sell at a higher price than some of the smaller works offered in the corresponding evening sale. Auction house specialists think carefully about which type of sale might best suit an artwork. A work sold at night competing against a star lot could go unnoticed or underappreciated, while selling that same work during the day could garner much more attention, both from the bidders and from the auction house’s marketing apparatus.
Evening sales tend to be much more formal affairs, as befits the prestige around the works being sold. Both types of sales are open to the public, but the major auction houses require prospective bidders to register for an evening sale beforehand to get a seat. Since day sales are generally much longer than evening sales, it’s more common for participants to come and go as they please, creating a more relaxed environment.
Artsy - Difference Between Daytime & Evening Art Auctions
Paris Court Denied Restitution Request
A Paris court has denied a request by Claire Touchard, a descendant of the Jewish French dealer René Gimpel, to return paintings she says were stolen from him during World War II.
The court ruled that there was not enough evidence to determine whether the three paintings, all by Fauvist painter André Derain, had been looted. Instead, the works of art will remain in place at the Modern Art Museum of Troyes and Marseille’s Cantini Museum.
Gimpel acquired the three Derain paintings in 1921, when he was a major Paris dealer who also operated galleries in New York and London. Pictures taken at the time show the works—A View of Cassis, Chapelle-Sous-Crecy, and Pinewood in Cassis, all done between 1907 and 1910—in both his home and on the walls of his gallery.
When the war broke out, Gimpel took his family to the south of France but could no longer return to his home and gallery in Paris and had no access to his art collection. He reportedly sold paintings through his housekeeper and a relative who was still living in Paris.
German officers allegedly seized paintings that Gimpel attempted to have shipped to him in southern France. The dealer then tried to sell other paintings through galleries that promised to conceal his identity. He managed to sell some paintings at prices well below market value, which under French law is considered a “forced sale” that equates to illegal plundering.
However, it is unclear whether the Derain paintings were among those that Gimpel sold under duress. He later died at the Neuengamme concentration camp in Northern Germany.
“The family failed to prove those specific paintings were still in his possession during the war,” attorney Beatrice Cohen, the lawyer representing the Troyes Modern Art Museum, told France 24. She said that while there is no doubt that Gimpel purchased the paintings at the Hôtel Drouot auction house in 1921, there are some inconsistencies regarding references in his stock ledger with respect to sizes and titles.
Artnet - French Court Denies Restitution Request
Burglary Ring Used Social Media
Police in Houston have nabbed the perpetrators of a burglary ring that orchestrated the theft of valuable artworks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Authorities believe that those responsible for the robberies, which also included jewelry, computers, and guns, were using social media to identify and target their victims—an increasingly common tactic for sophisticated criminals in the internet age.
“It’s certainly a widespread problem, and media coverage has highlighted the extent to which is this is a growing trend,” said Jordan Arnold, executive managing director and head of private client services and strategic risk and security practices at K2 Intelligence, a New York- and Los Angeles-based corporate investigations firm, in an email to artnet News.
At least seven individuals have been arrested in connection with the Houston crimes, according to the local ABC affiliate. “Some of the suspects are people involved in the burglary itself, others are involved in storing the stolen property, and others are involved in selling the stolen property,” said a Houston Police Department representative during a press conference last week.
The victims are believed to include Houston mayoral candidate Tony Buzbee, whose home was robbed by art thieves in February. He is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the return of his stolen art. According to a 2018 article from the Houston Chronicle about an art gala Buzbee had hosted at his home, his collection includes Andy Warhol‘s Birth of Venus (After Botticelli) (1984), as well as works by Picasso and Monet. (“Even the security hire couldn’t resist snapping photos of two Monets just outside the formal dining room,” the article enthused.)
K2’s Arnold advises people with artwork, jewelry, cars, and other valuable collectibles to be mindful of what they make public on social media, though given the pervasiveness of social media in today’s world, that can be something of a challenge. “We have many clients who rely on social media for branding and marketing themselves and their businesses,” he acknowledged. “It’s really about striking the right balance between lifestyle and risk.”
Artnet - Burglary Ring Used Social Media
I'm sure your fall travel schedules are beginning to materialize and if you are planning to be in Shanghai or HK please do be in touch with me.
There are several events in Shanghai at the end of September and I'm very much looking forward to seeing those of you that will be visiting.
Also I will be sitting in on a roundtable discussion on the topic of Greater China & Wealth Management that is taking place in London this November. As the event's details are confirmed I will keep you posted.
Speak soon,
Blake