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PARIS, Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

On 29 June 2020, the charismatic Sotheby's auctioneer, Oliver Barker,

brilliantly orchestrated – alone in front of an audience of screens – the sale

of Francis Bacon's triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus (1981) for

$84.55 million. This result was particularly reassuring for the Art Market… and

was not without risk. In October 2017, Christie's had failed to sell Bacon's

Study of Red Pope 1962. 2nd Version (1971) in London… a painting that was hoped

to set an all-time European art auction record at over $90 million.

Following the cancellation of all the major fairs and spring sales, the

high-end art market is clearly hungry. Apart from a couple of top-quality

pieces offered in London auction rooms at the end of January (Tiepollo,

Mantegna) and at the beginning of February (Hockney, Magritte, de Lempicka),

the major collectors have had very little to chew on this year.

"There's nothing more frustrating than being confined without being able to buy

anything..." observes (somewhat ironically) thierry Ehrmann, President and

Founder of ArtMarket.com and its Artprice department… especially when you

consider that money in the bank is so 'expensive' these days ... Sure... this

is a problem that only the wealthy face... but it's one the auction houses have

understood. This summer, some of them opened shop in the Hamptons where a lot

New York collectors had taken refuge. Phillips presented a selection of works

there that will soon be auctioned. Despite posting a heavy turnover contraction

– down almost half for the first 8 months of 2020 – Phillips is back in 4th

place in our global ranking and, above all, it is clearly preparing for the future".

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1279037/Artmarket.jpg 

Collective work - Portraits of Richard Prince, Francis Bacon & Christo

(C) thierry Ehrmann 2020. Courtesy Contemporary Art Museum L'Organe / La Demeure

du Chaos / Abode of Chaos

[https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2020/09/Portraits-de-Richard-Pri

nce-Francis-Bacon-Christo.jpg ]

Phillips has also announced the creation of a brand new partnership with the

leading Chinese art auctioneer, Poly Auction, whose sales turnover reached $617

million in 2019. But Poly Auction had a very difficult start to 2020, taking

just $3.7 million in the first half (-99%), a situation it clearly hopes to

reverse as quickly as possible via this alliance with the British auctioneer in

Hong Kong, aimed at encouraging potential sellers to sell. "[This collaboration]

provides a unique opportunity for consignees to leverage the combined customer

base and marketing strength of two of the world's largest auction houses" (1) says

Jonathan Crockett, President of Phillips Asia.

Top 10 Fine Art Auction Houses (1 January 2020 - 31 August 2020)

(C) artprice.com

1. Sotheby's - $1.49 billion (-31%)

2. Christie's - $1.03 billion (-54%)

3 . China Guardian - $171 million (-31%)

4. Phillips - $164 million (-49%)

5. Xiling Yinshe - $76.3 million (+ 18%)

6. Bonhams - $54.5 million (- 32%)

7. Artcurial - $36.5 million (-30%)

8. Ketterer Kunst - $31.8 million (+ 5%)

9. Dorotheum - $27.1 million (-24%)

10. Mainichi - $22 million (-35%)

At the opposite end of the scale, some operators have apparently benefited from

the health crisis (Xiling Yinshe and Ketterer Kunst). The German auctioneer

Ketterer has posted 5% growth versus the same year-earlier period. With long

experience in online sales, it managed to maintain interest and trading

throughout the lockdown period, hosting one or two "Online-Only" sessions every

month between January and June. In July 2020, it conducted four physical sales

in Munich, taking a total of $29.5 million. In all, it was Ketterer's best

first-half period in its business history.

"We owe this success not least to our 65 years of experience," says Robert

Ketterer, auctioneer and owner of Ketterer Kunst. "We can interpret the signs

and immediately react to even the slightest market changes with great

flexibility, despite our very stable structures. As a digitalization pioneer we

have been successfully holding Online Only Auctions since 2007. In our 500th

auction an online bid in the millions was submitted for the first time ever."

Robert Ketterer continues: "Ketterer Kunst has become established as the

international specialist for art from the German language region. We know

exactly what potential buyers are looking for and always identify the perfect

auction setting for every single artwork. This is also reflected by the

continuous development of our auction catalogs and the Online Only Auctions, as

we do not just adapt structure and content to latest market requirements, we

also understand to stir desires with our unique range of quality objects."

In this delicate period of accelerated transition to digital business against

the backdrop of the health crisis, online sales are not yet the perfect

solution for all segments of the art market. They are not automatically

appropriate for all price ranges, all mediums and all artists. A more flexible

bricks & clicks approach combining the various sales channels (physical,

online, private) seems to be the best strategy in the medium term. And this new

approach to value creation seems to rely increasingly on an idea we have been

promoting for many years: selecting the right work from the right artist at the

right time, in the right catalogue, and, via the most appropriate sales channel.  

Copyright 1987-2020 thierry Ehrmann www.artprice.com - www.artmarket.com 

Try our services (free demo):

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About Artmarket:

Artmarket.com is listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris, SRD long only and

Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF.

Discover Artmarket and its Artprice department on video:

https://en.artprice.com/video 

Artmarket and its Artprice department was founded in 1997 by its CEO, thierry Ehrmann.

Artmarket and its Artprice department is controlled by Groupe Serveur, created in 1987.

See certified biography in Who's who (C):

https://imgpublic.artprice.com/img/wp/sites/11/2019/10/biographie_oct2019_WhosWho_thierryEhrmann.pdf 

Artmarket is a global player in the Art Market with, among other structures,

its Artprice department, world leader in the accumulation, management and

exploitation of historical and current art market information in databanks

containing over 30 million indices and auction results, covering more than

740,000 artists.

Artprice Images(R) allows unlimited access to the largest Art Market image bank

in the world: no less than 180 million digital images of photographs or engraved

reproductions of artworks from 1700 to the present day, commented by our art historians.

Artmarket with its Artprice department accumulates data on a permanent basis

from 6300 Auction Houses and produces key Art Market information for the main

press and media agencies (7,200 publications). Its 4.5 million 'members log in'

users have access to ads posted by other members, a network that today

represents the leading Global Standardized Marketplace(R) to buy and sell

artworks at a fixed or bid price (auctions regulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of

Article L 321.3 of France's Commercial Code).

Artmarket with its Artprice department, has been awarded the State label

"Innovative Company" by the Public Investment Bank (BPI) (for the second time

in November 2018 for a new period of 3 years) which is supporting the company

in its project to consolidate its position as a global player in the market art.

Artprice by Artmarket's 2019 Global Art Market Report published in February 2020 :

https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-art-market-in-2019 

Index of press releases posted by Artmarket with its Artprice department:

http://serveur.serveur.com/press_release/pressreleaseen.htm 

Follow all the Art Market news in real time with Artmarket and its Artprice

department on Facebook and Twitter:

https://www.facebook.com/artpricedotcom/  (4.9 million followers)

https://twitter.com/artmarketdotcom 

https://twitter.com/artpricedotcom 

Discover the alchemy and universe of Artmarket and its artprice department

http://web.artprice.com/video headquartered at the famous Organe Contemporary

Art Museum "The Abode of Chaos" (dixit The New York Times):

https://issuu.com/demeureduchaos/docs/demeureduchaos-abodeofchaos-opus-ix-1999-2013 

L'Obs - The Museum of the Future: https://youtu.be/29LXBPJrs-o 

https://www.facebook.com/la.demeure.du.chaos.theabodeofchaos999 

(4.5 million followers)

https://vimeo.com/124643720 

Contact Artmarket.com and its Artprice department

Contact:  Thierry Ehrmann, ir@artmarket.com

Source:  Artmarket.com