And all the other stars seem dim around you
The major fall art auctions may not have sold everything on offer, but collectors showed a renewed willingness to bid up top examples of artists’ work. (…) New York’s two chief auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s International, brought in about $596 million combined from their semi annual sales of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art in the past two weeks. The total surpassed the houses’ $409 million spring sales in May, a gain that could signal a measure of returning confidence in high-end art values. (…)
For auction houses, these sales also marked the return of the guarantee, a financial mechanism in which an auction house promises to buy a work if it doesn’t sell at auction. Guarantees offer potential sellers a risk-free reason to part with their best pieces, but Sotheby’s and Christie’s stopped offering deal-sweeteners after suffering an estimated $63 million combined loss from unsold guaranteed artworks last November.
Now, auction houses are gingerly stepping back into such deals, but they’re mostly shifting the risk to third parties, typically dealers or collectors who agree to pay the seller a prearranged price for the work if it doesn’t ultimately fetch a higher price at auction.
artwork { Robert Gober, Untitled, 1993–94 | Beeswax, wood, glassine, and felt-tip pen }
