Pop goes the art bubble
By
Staff Writer
Ruth Jackson Oct 24, 2008
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Norway 3 by Camilla Gray, available from Newbloodart.com
Last week, the economic crisis finally hit the art market. A Sotheby's auction of contemporary art raised £22m – well below a pre-sale estimate of £31m-£43m. Even Andy Warhol, "seen as one of the safest artists of the 20th century", according to The Times, failed to achieve his estimates. His Skulls work sold for £4.3m – £700,000 below its estimate. And even that price isn't an honest reflection of its value. It was bought by New York dealer Alberto Mugrabi, who already owns 800 Warhols and only bought the piece to protect his market, says Colin Gleadell in The Daily Telegraph.
In another jolt to the market, Lucien Freud's portrait of Francis Bacon failed to meet its estimate of £7m. The unfinished work is one of only two portraits of his friend that Freud has done. The other was stolen in 1988, making the low sale price of £5.4m even more surprising. "The poor sale is likely to be seen as the canary in the coalmine in the art world," says The Times. But it isn't all bad news. In fact the fall in values could be one of the few positives to emerge from the credit crunch. "The appreciation of art has become too tainted by its association with bloated values," says Gleadell. It's time to get back to loving art for its beauty, rather than for its resale value. A sentiment that is already being reflected at Britain's cheaper art fairs.
The Frieze Art Fair sells works for thousands rather than millions of pounds. It finished on Sunday with organisers admitting that it was quieter than usual, but there was an interesting change from previous years as market speculators were replaced by art lovers. "It is nice that it's going back to normal, and that it's time to talk about art again, instead of investment," says art dealer Claus Anderson in The Daily Telegraph.
And at the similar Zoo Art Fair, the focus was on new works rather than on overpriced established artists. "We've had a lot of major collectors who would normally have been looking at very established artists, coming to look for new, exciting younger artists here. Maybe the trend this month is that while overvalued works at the top and middle of the market have suffered, emerging art is fine," Nick Hackworth, director of London's Paradise Row Gallery, tells The Daily Telegraph.
So if you have a bare wall and a bit of spare cash – unlikely I know – then where can you buy cheap art? Newbloodart.com is an online gallery of emerging art with prices ranging from £50 to £3,000. They are holding a Christmas art fair in Chiswick from 20-23 November. Meanwhile, the Affordable Art Fair is taking place in London's Battersea Park this weekend, with paintings, sculptures, photography and original prints all priced below £3,000.
And while this is art to be bought because you like it, you never know – you might make some money down the line. For the Laugh of God, a parody by Peter Fuss of Hirst's diamond-studded skull, sold at London's Art Car Boot Fair for £1,000 last summer, only to re-sell for over £19,000 last week. And on 22 November you could get a Hirst or an Emin for just £40 when The Royal College of Art has its annual Secret show. You buy a postcard you like and after you've paid the artist is revealed. Some are by famous artists, others by RCA graduates. A Peter Doig postcard bought in 2000 sold for £16,250 at Sotheby's.
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