News & Insights Archives

The New York May Marquee sales concluded with around $2.5 billion worth of art sold across two weeks. With streams of new auction records and robust sell through rates, the market remains healthy against the backdrop of growing global economic and political uncertainties. There was, however, a sense of restraint compared to the frenzied bidding witnessed in the New York November 2021 sales. Moreover, four major single owner sales accounted for more than a third of these auction totals, proving they remain crucial to boosting volume.

_{Andy Warhol, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 1964. Courtesy of Christie’s.}

The first of these came at Christie’s with the Ammann Collection, the star lot of which was the Warhol Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964). Hammering at $170 million to Larry Gagosian, the work fell short of its unpublished $200 million estimate. With fees, however, it is now the second most expensive artwork sold at auction behind the Salvator Mundi attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Gagosian further went on to buy two paintings by Cy Twombly for $16.9 million (premium) and $21 million (premium), and a pink Franz West sculpture for $592,200 (premium). Trade bidding was heavy throughout the sale with Iwan Wirth also competing on several lots, as expected for a dealer’s collection. Regardless, the sell through rate of 94% felt particularly strong with no works in the sale guaranteed. It became the second highest single owner sale for Christie’s at $317.8 million.

_{Franz West, Untitled (Lemur Pink), 2008. Courtesy of Christie’s.}

The second part of the Macklowe Collection at Sotheby’s was also a major contributor for the May sales totals, at $246.1 million (premium). Combined with the results from part one in November 2021, the $922 million (premium) total has become the most expensive single owner sale in auction history, surpassing the Christie’s 2018 Rockefeller sale. Whilst bidding and results were less strong than the first part, this is largely reflective of the content rather than signalling a dramatic market shift, although there was a sense of waning demand compared to the heat of November.

Two more single owner sales at Christie’s from the Impressionist & Modern genres punctuated the fortnight of auctions, including the collection of Fashion retailers Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs. As a primary theme of this year’s Venice Biennale, the sale of this group of remarkable Surrealist works was exceptionally well timed, totalling $42 million (premium) against a pre-sale estimate of $19 – 30 million. The standout result was Man Ray’s Le Violon d’Ingres (1924) which sold for $12.4 million (premium) against an estimate of $5 – 7 million, making a new record for the most expensive photograph sold.

_{Man Ray, Le Violon d’Ingres, 1924. Courtesy of Christie’s.}

A group works from the Impressionist & Modern Collection of Anne H. Bass, also at Christie’s, saw healthy bidding for major paintings by Monet and Degas, whilst the two Rothko paintings both sold to the guarantor. The mood felt calmer compared to the hyperactivity during the recent Cox Collection auction, however, this is more reflective of the high price point of the lots, totalling $363 million (premium) across just twelve pieces.

The other sales of the week were broadly broken down into what has recently become the three main categories of the market, Impressionist & Modern, 20^th Century and then 21^st Century or ‘Ultra-Contemporary’. With intensity of bidding scaling up towards the latter genre, which has seen the largest market growth over the last two years. More than half of the lots in these sales were made up of female artists and several records were achieved across all three houses for artists including newly signed Gagosian artist Anna Weyant, Avery Singer, Yayoi Kusama, Simone Leigh, Christina Quarles, Howardina Pindell, Robin F. Williams and Lynne Drexler amongst others.

_{Anna Weyant, Summertime, 2020. Courtesy of Christie’s.}

Encouragingly there were also strong results for historically underrepresented artists including a major auction record for Ernie Barnes’s 1976 painting The Sugar Shack. The work performed well over its $150,000 low estimate at Christie’s in New York, selling for $15.3 million (premium) to Bill Perkins. A well-timed statement shortly followed this result, announcing that the estate of Barnes is now represented by two major New York galleries, Andrew Kreps and Ortuzar Projects.

Asian bidding continues to be a key factor which is helping to propel strong sale results, but the latest round of auctions demonstrated that this activity remains most zealous in the 21^st Century category, with less attention on more traditional lots.

_{Ernie Barnes, The Sugar Shack, 1976. Courtesy of Christie’s New York.}

Phillips, who have pioneered sales in this genre, reached a landmark moment with their highest sale total to date at $225 million (premium). This number was primarily driven by the sale of Yusaku Maezawa’s 1982 Basquiat. Acquired just six years ago from Christie’s for $57.3 million (premium), it sold for $85 million (premium), and is the most expensive work that Phillips has ever sold. The work likely sold to the guarantor as did a number of the top lots this season which were accompanied by bold estimates. This is a distinguishing trait which became apparent throughout the sales; bidding activity is thinning at the trophy level of the market in the current climate.

Regardless, with two fairs, TEFAF and Frieze, also opening during the same fortnight, the robust sell through rates and totals speak to a healthy market able to absorb the significant volume on offer. These were of course hugely supported by the substantial number of single owner sales, which will be vital in achieving similar levels of sales totals during future auction cycles.

_{Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982. Courtesy of Phillips.}

The Fine Art Group is honored to bring to market a curated selection from the extraordinary Alana Collection, to be sold at Christie’s New York on June 9^th.

Please join us for a panel discussion led by Christie’s specialists Jonquil O’Reilly and Ana Maria Celis and moderated by The Fine Art Group President Anita Heriot. We will take you through the most important lots in the sale and how Old Master Paintings form the bedrock of working practices of every contemporary artist today.

Being one of the most important collections of Italian Old Master Paintings, Sculptures, and Antiquities, The Alana Collection sale will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire museum-quality masterpieces from the Early Modern era. Highlights include extraordinary pieces by some of the most renowned artists of Art History such as Fra Angelico, Orazio Gentileschi, El Greco, Lorenzo Veneziano amongst others.

DATE

Wednesday, June 1st – 12PM EST

FORMAT

Live webinar

LENGTH

1 hour

*Guests will receive a Webex calendar invite through their registered email

OTHER WAYS TO JOIN

https://fineartgroup.webex.com/fineartgroup/j.php?MTID=me55429aee33be65f0a70ff9e225af44f

Wednesday, June 1, 2022 12:00 pm | 1 hour | Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Meeting number: 2631 718 2962
Password: AzG3FiA5ix4

Join by video system
Dial 26317182962@fineartgroup.webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

Join by phone
+1-415-655-0001 US Toll

Access code: 2631 718 2962

THE SCOOP #2 – May 20th, 2022

Welcome to the second edition of The Scoop! Read more for our take on the latest market fluctuations, recent NFT drops and auction results, and upcoming Web3 industry events in NYC.

CRYPTO MARKET

Bitcoin to USD

Ethereum to USD

CRYPTO COMMENTARY

We have seen a large flight from risk over the past week with markets down across the board from US equities to crypto and NFTs. The rise in interest rates is one of the core causes, with the Federal Reserve walking a fine line between getting inflation under control and tipping the economy into a recession. Continued volatility can be expected as markets digest the changes in the economic landscape, and it may not snap back quickly.

For those that are new to the crypto markets, wild swings in value are par for the course. Investors in this market should get comfortable with this level of volatility. Case in point – Bitcoin:

Looking at the Bitcoin’s roller coaster ride since its inception, one can see the magnitude of the swings has only grown. While its performance exhibits some correlation to traditional financial markets, Bitcoin’s price is primarily linked to its mining algorithm and so called “halving events”. (A Bitcoin halving event occurs when the reward for mining bitcoins is cut in half. This reduces the amount of Bitcoin in circulation, leads to an increase in demand and thus higher pricing.) The halving in July 2016 has produced Bitcoin’s first notable spike which combined with increased awareness in the financial sector propelled Bitcoin from pre-halving price of $647 to just below $20,000 in less than 6 months. And while the pricing has gradually come down over the next year Bitcoin settled at over 5x the pre-halving pricing. We saw a similar pattern during the most recent halving in May 2020 when on the day of the halving Bitcoin closed 634% higher and reached $60,000 for the first time. The next halving is expected sometime in the early 2024. In the meantime, we will be watching how crypto prices evolve with major catalysts being crypto regulation in the US and the geopolitical uncertainty surrounding Ukraine.

_{Living Architecture: Casa Batlló by Refik Anadol}

WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

We’ve seen a lot of big drops pushing blockchains to their limits recently. High demand in a small amount of time often results in what is called a gas war, our buzz word for this issue.

GAS WAR

Every time you make a transaction on a blockchain network, there will be a network fee which is commonly referred to as ‘gas’.
Under normal circumstances gas fees can range from $10-$200 on the Ethereum network.
In instances of extreme demand where transaction speeds matter, fees can amount to thousands of dollars.
The gas war comes when many users increase their gas fee to pay for priority in the transactions queue and beat others to the sale.
Ultimately, those who do not increase their gas will end up paying a gas fee and while receiving the token they were attempting to purchase.
Planning purchases for when network activity is low can save a significant amount of money in fees.

_{Mother of Technology by collaboration between Madonna and Beeple}

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Fine Art Group will have team members head to New York city this June from the 20th to the 25th. They will be attending events NFT NYC, an annual industry event, and ETH NY, a hackathon featuring highly talented developers, and speaking to some of the best in the business. If you would like to connect, please reach out to our Digital Assets Specialist, Greg Adams.

NFT BLUE-CHIP COLLECTIONS

Top 5 Collectible Collections

Top 5 Photography Collections

NFT COMMENTARY

From a large sale at Christie’s to Madonna and Beeple’s collaboration, it has been an exciting couple weeks for digital assets. Refik Anadol’s Living Architecture: Casa Batlló sold for $1.38 million in Christie’s 21 Century Evening Sale. It was the only digital offering in the sale alongside pieces from Monet, Picasso, Warhol, and Basquiat. This hallmark sale among elite names brings this new medium further into the spotlight. However, demand was limited, and there had been hope for a larger sale price.

We are still absorbing the complex new work from Madonna and Beeple, Mother of Creation. Their launch on SuperRare was well received with all pieces receiving sizeable bids. Ever since Beeple changed the art world with his $69 million sale of Everydays: The First 5000 Days, collectors have been looking for his next big thing. With the proceeds going to charity, this certainly had a lot of eyes on it, even if it was somewhat uncomfortable to view.

With the recent broader market pullback there are two layers of movement: the underlying Ethereum is lower presently and on top of that we’re seeing a lull in floor prices across many PFP (profile pic) markets. What is interesting is we’re seeing some resilience and even upward movement in the Art Blocks Curated collection and photography space. Editions of 1/1 art is showing itself as possibly a resilient investment during downturns.

For example, in the Moonbirds NFT collection, the average price was down around 20% over the past two weeks with many transactions and volatility.

_{*Opensea.io; Vertical bars are volume}

In comparison we have Chromie Squiggles, a collection curated by Art Blocks. We saw an initial spike in transactions and value from those exiting riskier positions, but after that there was very little movement. Holders seemed unwilling to sell and ultimately were rewarded for their patience, with a 32% increase in average price.

FRESH & UPCOMING DROPS

While there isn’t much to note with many projects on hold, one that stands out: Following up on its successful Damien Hirst NFT projects, Heni are launching a new edition series by graffiti artist MadC entitled Color Rhythms. The series will feature 1,000 unique NFTs which were created by generative algorithm, but were hand selected by the artist. Another innovative element is the use of machine learning in naming of the individual NFTs – the name of each work is linked by AI to a movie character or another pop culture reference. Moreover, each image is stored on a decentralized storage system, IPFS. This project uses Palm blockchain instead of Ethereum, the main cause being less energy consumption. The application for the series closes on May 24 and each NFT is priced at $1,000.

NFT ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Cath Simard

If you want adventure, look no further than Cath Simard. From Patagonia to Iceland, she has traveled the globe capturing enthralling landscapes. Simard made her biggest splash in September of 2021 with her #FreeHawaii photo project. She took a picture on the island of Oahu that went viral when she originally shared it online. While the recognition of her photography was valuable, the work also became the most stolen photograph she had ever taken. Instead of chasing down thieves for copyright infringement, Simaud chose to hold a unique and disruptive sale in the NFT space. She sold the photo as an edition of 1/1 NFT for around $300,000 and also notably released the rights to the image and a high-resolution file of it to the public, making it so anyone could use the photograph without paying a licensing fee.

Most recently, Simaud sold her piece Continuum through Sotheby’s in April 2022 for approximately $60,000. She continues her travels in Peru while creating new photographic works.

NFT & CRYPTO NEWS

READ PAST ISSUES OF THE SCOOP

The Scoop #1 – May 4th, 2022

Disclaimer

Information in this report is compiled from a number of sources; The Fine Art Group does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. The Fine Art Group shall not be liable for any errors or inaccuracies in this report or for any actions taken in reliance on information or opinion contained in this report. The Fine Art Group are under no obligation to update or keep current the information provided herein. Information in this report is provided solely for information and marketing purposes and is not to be construed as investment advice or a personal recommendation, nor as legal, tax, regulatory, accounting or any other specialist technical advice. Capital is at risk when buying or selling the types of assets discussed in the report, and any decision to do so is solely at the risk of the buyer or seller. Prior performance is not indicative of future results. Neither The Fine Art Group nor any of its directors, officers, employees, or agents accepts any liability for any loss or damage arising out of the use of all or any part of this document or reliance upon any information contained herein.

The report contains hyperlinks or references to third-party advertising and websites other than The Fine Art Group website. Any such hyperlinks or references are provided for your convenience only. We have no control over third-party advertising or websites and accept no legal responsibility for any content, material or information contained in them. The display of any hyperlink and reference to any third-party advertising or website does not mean that we endorse that third-party’s website, products or services. Your use of a third-party site may be governed by the terms and conditions of that third-party site and is at your own risk.

To celebrate our alliance with Schwartzman& and the opening of our new offices in New York City as well as a kick off of the Spring 2022 auction season, our Executive and Advisory Teams hosted a special cocktail evening.

NYC OFFICE

535 West 22nd Street
4th Floor
New York, NY 10011

STATE OF THE ART MARKET: INSIGHTS INTO THE SPRING 2022 AUCTION SEASON

Our Art Advisory Team gives an overview on the current state of the art market and comment on the Spring 2022 auctions.

State of the Art Market: Insights into the Spring 2022 Auction Season

Watch on YouTube

The Scoop: A Bi-Weekly NFT & Digital Art Newsletter by The Fine Art Group

INTRODUCTION FROM PHILIP HOFFMAN, CEO + FOUNDER

The Fine Art Group’s team has always had a finger on the pulse of the global art market in order to give our clients the highest quality guidance in this dynamic marketplace. Over the last year, we have watched as a new generation of art exploded in front of our eyes in the form of digital art and NFTs. We expect this new medium to alter the landscape of the art world while being an important source of growth and opportunity for many of the market players. To continue to provide best-in-class service, our clients expect us to provide coverage of this growing industry. After much due diligence, The Fine Art Group may gradually incorporate NFTs into all of the services we currently offer.

Just like many of you, I have become overwhelmed at times with the explosion of information coming from this new market segment. With new collections, artists, and platforms popping up every day, the goal of Greg’s newsletter is to cut through the background noise, complexity, and focus on the most critical information and commentary on this space. We plan to provide updates on the most relevant market trends, highlights on projects that deserve our clients’ attention, and briefs on the significant developments in the related worlds of technology, risk management and financial innovation. 

Furthermore, we will launch a dedicated section on our website designed to provide education and serve as a resource library for our clients and partners. As this market is evolving rapidly, so will this newsletter, and we appreciate any feedback that will help us serve you better. I look forward to seeing where our new line of business takes us and helping our clients achieve their goals in this rapidly expanding market.

CRYPTO MARKETS

The three blockchains we will be tracking are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Bitcoin has been around the longest as a standalone asset and serves as a bellwether for the crypto markets, due to many of the smaller networks following its price movement. Ethereum and Solana are more transaction-based and serve as the backbone of the NFT ecosystem. Ethereum is the gold standard, with Solana being a close second. The majority of NFTs are hosted on these two networks.