What have you heard about how the economic meltdown is affecting the visual arts market? The first place to look is auction house results and we are getting a fairly clear message.
For several years the prices of art have been climbing steadily. As with the rest of the investment market, there has been something of a boom. However, predictably over the last couple of months, Australian art sales have not been doing so well. The economic downturn does seem to be affecting the Australian art market, with more than half of the works, including several major paintings, failing to sell at Sotheby's auction and that of Bonhams and Goodman, both held about six weeks ago.
Internationally the story is similar though with one or two exceptions at the highest end of the market. After a huge boom in art prices with many records being broken, last month’s London auction sales were down, with many works being passed in at Christie's and Sotheby's contemporary arts sales and the levels down by at least a third.
New York sales are considered to be the litmus test for the mood of buyers and the prices they are willing to pay. At the NY Sotheby’s sale this week, works by Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso and Degas were sold for much lower prices than expected. However, there was still at least one record broken. The 1916 work by Kazimir Malevich, “Suprematist Composition” went for US$60 million, a record auction price for this artist.
The Malevich was one of 45 works that sold that night. Twenty-five others failed to sell, mostly without a single bid. Sale prices that night were a third to a half lower that the estimates set before the current crisis.
Another important indicator is the number of guarantees made by the auction houses to sellers, whether the work sells or not. To offset its risk, Sotheby's has cut its guarantees this year by about a quarter.
One of the possible negative repercussions for artists in Australia is that, just as the resale royalty legislation is due to come into force, the resale prices are dropping. However, given that the model being proposed will only apply to resales of works first sold after the legislation comes into force or to the second resale for works that are already owned by a buyer, the market may have fluctuated up and down several times by the time artists see any royalties become due to them. But this may change: it is still a work in progress.
All this means that artists and dealers will have to work even harder to achieve sales of art work. A good way to start thinking about this is to read the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)’s latest publication Getting Art There: an artist’s marketing manual. The new updated and expanded edition is now available hot off the press. It provides a wealth of useful information and advice. It also can be used as a work book to produce your own marketing plan. $45 or $34 for NAVA members.
While we are talking about buying things, since Christmas is coming up fast, you might like to think about giving a gift of a NAVA publication to your artist mates. The new edition of NAVA’s best selling book Money for Visual Artists is a comprehensive listing of Australian awards, prizes and professional development opportunities. $35 or $25 for NAVA members. To purchase these books or other publications of your choice, go to www.visualarts.net.au/shop/publications
You may also choose to sign yourself or your friend up as a NAVA member or to give a donation in a friend’s name (a card notifying them of your gift will be sent to the person you nominate). A NAVA Christmas should be an artist’s first choice.
Finally the latest news on the hottest art topic of the year - artists working with children - is that the Australia Council has published on its website, the main issues raised in response to its call for submissions about what might be appropriate for inclusion in its own funding protocols. The ground covered included issues of freedom of expression, censorship and the challenges to regulating artwork, consent by a child, warnings, existing legal frameworks and comparative protocols in other jurisdictions and audience access. The Council says it will make a draft of the proposed protocols available for public comment some time in November.
To read more go to www.australiacouncil.gov.au/news/news_items/children_in_art_summary_paper_released/summary_of_responses
