The Russians Are Coming Fueled by Newly Rich Buyers, Sales Could Top $1 Billion;
A Sotheby's Pitch, in Cyrillic
By KELLY CROW
November 3, 2006; Page W12
Flush with riches from a global commodities boom, newly minted millionaires from Russia, China and the Middle East are emerging as a major force in the art market.
When the flagship New York auctions start Tuesday, international buyers are expected to add some drama and likely drive the sales to record levels. The major auction houses -- Christie's International, Sotheby's Holdings and Phillips de Pury & Co. -- expect their combined sales from the two weeks of auctions to pass the $1 billion mark for the first time, possibly reaching $1.1 billion. Last year, the fall sales brought in $764 million.
Charles Ray's 'Revolution, Counter Revolution,' at Phillips de Pury for up to $2 million
In an effort to appeal to newly wealthy buyers, auction houses are stepping up their global marketing efforts. After Andrew Lloyd Webber consigned a Picasso, his art foundation's "Portrait de Angel Fernández De Soto," to Christie's, the auctioneer asked the "Cats" creator to go to Moscow to meet with local reporters and collectors. (The piece, bought 11 years ago for $29 million, is expected to sell for as much as $60 million, with proceeds going for charity.)
Sotheby's printed a brochure highlighting its top fall offerings in Cyrillic for the first time and placed ads in Kommersant, a Moscow business newspaper. Its Russian painting experts have also been drafted to help promote the sales, and Russian-speakers will help field telephone bids. Also, when Sotheby's shopped its top lots in a round-the-world roadshow a few weeks ago, it skipped Zurich, a perennial standby, and headed to Hong Kong, Tokyo and London.
'Limitless Income'
"These newcomers are changing the makeup of the whole market," says Susan Dunne, an art dealer with PaceWildenstein in New York. "They have limitless income, and money is no object when chasing art trophies. So the auctioneers are making hay while the sun shines."
Klimt's 'Adele Bloch-Bauer II,' which Christie's expects to fetch up to $60 million
Already, the auctioneers have ramped up their international appeal by establishing standalone auctions for Russian, Indian, and more recently, contemporary Chinese art. Broadly speaking, the strategy is to get collectors hooked on buying art that hails from their own cultural heritage, and then broaden their buying tastes to include other, often pricier, masterpieces.
Eastern Europeans are proven buyers of masters such as Chagall, but the auctioneers are reminding clients that famous Russian collectors like Sergei Schukin once bought lots of work by Matisse and Picasso. During the Soviet era, the art-import borders were closed, of course. Now, those borders, and collectors' wallets, are once again wide open.
Element of Drama
In New York, their presence -- and buying power -- also adds an element of drama to these auctions. After the spring sales in New York, talk swirled for months over uncovering the still-unknown buyer of Sotheby's $95 million Dora Maar portrait by Picasso. The art world decided the buyer had to be Russian, although that hasn't been proved.
As new money flows in, a number of longtime U.S. collectors also are becoming sellers. Experienced collectors of 20th-century art including David Geffen are privately moving some of their holdings through dealers. In the past couple of months, Mr. Geffen has sold a de Kooning, a Jasper Johns and a Pollock for a total $285 million. Others, such as Michael Ovitz, are consigning minor prizes from their collections to the auction block this fall.
Kandinsky's 'Starnberger See,' at Sotheby's, $6-$8 million
"It's been a mad dash, but there's a tremendous amount of evidence that the appetite for art is huge all over the world," says David Norman, co-chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern department.
The auctioneers also are scrambling to suit shifting wish lists. New York collectors may still clamor after hipster contemporary painters during these sales, paying far above estimate for new favorites like Lisa Yuskavage, Cecily Brown and Barnaby Furnas. But the global nouveau riche prefers blue-chip standbys, so this fall Sotheby's and Christie's are playing up their offerings of classic icons, including Cézanne, Monet, Gauguin and Klimt. Still, observers wonder whether prices for art can keep climbing at double-digit rates.
Sotheby's has had to work harder on promoting this season, precisely because its Impressionist and Modern offerings are nearly devoid of blockbusters. Mr. Norman says his sale contains plenty of Expressionist variety. But to add pastoral punch, the auctioneer also pulled a few pieces from a coming 19th-century paintings sale, including a view of a woman in a flouncy white gown by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida. Sotheby's top lot is a Cézanne still life with melons, for as much as $35 million.
Berlin Street Scene
Christie's, on the other hand, has a number of Impressionist and Modern masterpieces, including Lord Lloyd-Webber's Picasso, a somber portrait of the artist's friend. The auction house also is selling a sparkling 1931 Berlin street scene by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, priced at up to $24 million; a rare Tahitian Gauguin for as much as $45 million; and a $93 million group of recently restituted paintings by Gustav Klimt.
'Self-Portrait,' by Warhol, at Sotheby's for $3.5-$4.5 million
Guy Bennett, the head of the Impressionist and Modern art department, says Christie's is simply reaping the benefits of nurturing relationships with sellers world-wide. But at least some of the credit is due to recent court proceedings. Seven of Christie's top lots are the result of restitution cases, wherein artwork confiscated from Jewish collectors by the Nazis is deemed stolen by the courts and returned to the collectors' heirs. Christie's restitution experts closely follow such cases, Mr. Bennett says. Five of these works are also guaranteed, taking out the risk for sellers. (The auction house essentially pledges a price to a consignor, and in return, gets a larger cut -- sometimes as much as 40% -- of any profits above its promised sale price.)
Winning these big-ticket paintings certainly hasn't come cheaply. Both auction houses have tied up a bundle of their own cash to win consignments for these sales. Sotheby's has signed guarantees for 48 lots featured between its two evening sales, staking at least $40 million of its money in the contemporary sale alone. Christie's has guaranteed 43 lots between its evening sales for at least $150 million, much of it tied to the four Klimt paintings.
Does all this spell a lower profile for future sales of postwar and contemporary art? That's unlikely. Auction houses are offering reams of art by Andy Warhol. Sotheby's still expects to sell as much as $199 million of newer art, including a swirling portrait of a reclining nude by Francis Bacon (estimate: as much as $12 million) and several turbulent abstracts by de Kooning. Christie's also has six works by de Kooning. Overall, its contemporary take could reach $279 million.
艺术品市场迎来新买家
2006年11月03日20:24大 | 中 | 小
随着全球商品贸易繁荣发展带来的巨大财富，俄罗斯、中国以及中东地区的新生百万富翁们逐渐成为艺术品市场的一支生力军。
下周二，纽约秋季拍卖活动即将拉开帷幕，预计众多国际买家将为这轮拍卖带来更多色彩，并有可能把销售额推向新高。佳士得(Christie's International)、苏富比(Sotheby's Holdings)以及Phillips de Pury & Co.等主要拍卖行在为期两周的拍卖活动中有望将拍卖总额首次推高到10亿美元大关之上，甚至达到11亿美元。去年，秋季拍卖会的进项总计是7.64亿美元。
为了吸引那些新富，各拍卖行加强了在全球各地的宣传力度。在音乐剧《猫》的创作者安德鲁?洛伊?韦伯将其艺术基金会的藏品－－毕加索(Picasso)的《迪索多的肖像》(Portrait de Angel Fernandez De Soto)－－委托给佳士得后，这家拍卖行请韦伯前往莫斯科与当地媒体和收藏家们见面。（《迪索多的肖像》于11年前以2,900万美元的价格购得，预计其售价将高达6,000万美元，所得收入将全部捐给慈善机构。）
苏富比在其宣传材料上首次用俄语重点介绍了今年秋季的顶级拍卖品，并在莫斯科商业报纸《商人》(Kommersant)上投放了广告。另外，他们还聘请了一些俄罗斯油画专家帮助拍卖行开展推广活动，并请来会讲俄语的人帮他们处理电话投标。此外，几周前在对其顶级拍卖品进行全球巡展时，苏富比在行程安排中跳过了以往年年不落的苏黎世，直接前往香港、东京以及伦敦。
“新涌现的买家改变了整个市场的格局，” PaceWildenstein艺术品交易员苏珊?邓恩(Susan Dunne)说。“他们有花不完的收入。在捕捉艺术品的过程中，钱对他们根本不是问题。拍卖行纷纷抓住这个好时机。”
事实上，各拍卖公司已单独为俄罗斯、印度的艺术品以及中国当代艺术举办了多次拍卖会。这一举措大大地提升了他们在全球的吸引力。他们的策略就是先吸引来自这些国家的收藏家关注那些源自他们本国文化的艺术品，之后再把他们的购买品位引导到其他精品（它们往往价格也更高昂）。
实践证明，东欧人是夏卡尔(Chagall)等艺术大师作品的忠实买家，但拍卖行也提醒客户，谢盖尔?谢库金(Sergei Schukin)等着名俄罗斯收藏家也曾购买马蒂斯(Matisse)及毕加索的大量作品。在前苏联时期，引进艺术品的大门被关闭了。现在，俄罗斯及众多收藏家的钱包再次向其他国家的艺术品敞开了怀抱。
在纽约拍卖市场，这些买家的到来以及他们的强大购买力为拍卖会增加了不少戏剧色彩。今年的纽约春季拍卖会上，一个无名买家以9,500万美元的价格从苏富比手中拍得毕加索画的一幅朵拉肖像。此后数月，艺术品市场上关于这位买家身份的传闻不断。人们纷纷猜测这位买家一定是位俄罗斯人，不过真事答案目前仍未揭晓。
随着新资金的涌入，一些久负盛名的美国收藏家也开始变成卖家了。大卫?盖芬(David Geffen)等经验丰富的20世纪艺术品收藏家私下通过交易商出售了一部分藏品。过去几个月中，盖芬卖出了德库宁(de Kooning)、贾斯培?琼斯(Jasper Johns)及波洛克(Pollock)各一幅作品，售价合计2.85亿美元。迈克?奥维茨(Michael Ovitz)等其他艺术品收藏家则从他们的藏品中拿出一小部分委托拍卖公司参加今年秋季的拍卖会。
苏富比负责印象派以及现代艺术作品业务的联席董事长大卫?诺曼(David Norman)说：“这是一股疯狂的浪潮。但是大量证据显示，全球各地对艺术品的需求非常大。”
各家拍卖机构也在努力迎合各种买家的不同欣赏口味。纽约的艺术品收藏家在拍卖会上可能对当代新潮画家的作品仍有强烈需求，他们购买丽莎?尤斯卡维奇(Lisa Yuskavage)、赛斯理?布朗(Cecily Brown)和巴纳比?弗纳松(Barnaby Furnas)等新锐画家的作品时出价要远高于拍卖行的估价。但世界其他国家的新富们却喜欢购买经过时间考验的作品，所以苏富比和佳士得将在今年的秋季拍卖会上推出更多经典作品，如塞尚(Cezanne)、莫奈(Monet)、高更(Gauguin)和克里姆特(Klimt)的画作。不过，观察家们对艺术品价格是否还能继续以两位数增长将信将疑。
苏富比已不得不为宣传本季的拍品付出更多努力，原因是它本次推出的印象派和现代派绘画基本没有什么名作。诺曼说，苏富比此次将出售大量表现主义画派的作品。但为了给本次拍卖增加一些古典色彩，苏富比已将原本准备在不久后的一场19世纪画作拍卖会上推出的几幅作品提前拿出来拍卖。苏富比此次价位最高的作品是一幅塞尚的瓜果静物写生，底价高达3,500万美元。
而佳士得本季则推出了许多印象派和现代派的名作，包括劳德?洛伊韦伯(Lord Lloyd-Webber)的《毕加索》(Picasso)。这家拍卖行还将出售一幅基尔希纳
(Ernst Ludwig Kirchner)描绘1931年柏林街景的画作，估价2,400万美元；高更的一幅描绘塔希提人的稀世之作底价高达4,500万美元；最近被物归原主的一组克里姆特的画作底价是9,300万美元。
佳士得拍卖行印象派和现代派艺术部的负责人盖伊?贝纳特(Guy Bennett)说，该行多年来努力与世界各地艺术品卖家保持良好关系，现在他们正在收获果实。不过佳士得一定程度上也要感谢法庭。该行此次付拍的顶级画作中有7幅都是被法庭判令物归原主后拿出来拍卖的，法庭认定这些当年被纳粹从犹太收藏家手中没收的画作等同于被窃物品，应予归还原收藏者的继承人。贝纳特说，佳士得研究相关问题的专家一直在密切关注着这些案件的进展。这批画作中有5幅确定了保底价。(所谓保底价就是拍卖行保证卖家可获得的最低拍卖价，但设置这一价格对卖家也有不利之处，那就是高出保底价部分的拍卖所得会有相当一部分被拍卖行拿去，有时这个比例会高达40%。)
拍卖行能将这些名画收罗过来当然是花了大价钱的。苏富比和佳士得为此都垫付了大量资金。苏富比向其拍卖的48幅作品作出了保证售出承诺，仅为其中的当代画作就垫付了至少4,000万美元的自有资金。佳士得向其拍卖的43幅作品作出了保证售出承诺，并为此至少垫付了1.5亿美元，其中很大一部分都用在了克里姆特的4幅画作上。
这是否意味着战后及当代艺术家的作品今后将不被看好呢？那可未必。各拍卖行正在大量推出安迪?沃荷(Andy Warhol)的作品。苏富比仍希望推出价值高达1.99亿美元的现、当代艺术品，包括弗朗西斯?培根(Francis Bacon)的一幅肖像画(估价高达1,200万美元)以及德库宁(de Kooning)的几幅抽象画。佳士得也推出了6幅德库宁的作品。该行所推出当代画作拍品的总估价有望达到2.79亿美元。
Kelly Crow
