In this monthly series, we gather thoughts and highlights from Artsy’s in-house art experts on what they’re seeing, looking forward to, and enjoying in the art world this month.
London Friezes over
The mood in London over Frieze week was, frankly, all over the place. No one debated that the market is tepid at best. But how that manifested across gallery programs straddled the full spectrum of potential results.
Galleries with mature artists who are institutional stalwarts—but not investment-grade stock—seemed to be hardest hit. They had mostly pre-sold their booths to recoup investment in the fair with a handful of additional sales trickling in over the first few days. Emerging galleries fared better as collectors, like in past downturns, sought out lower (guilt-free) price tags to sate their art addictions. German dealers, meanwhile, were pleased with results that affirmed their disposition to operate conservatively even in the market’s hottest times, with the presumption that a crisis could arrive any day. Elsewhere, some multinational galleries that have expanded massively during the recent frothy market seemed downright nervous.
Ultimately the market is as bar-belled as ever. Collectors are seeking out well-priced blue-chip works and are still rabid for young artists whose momentum hasn’t slowed. It’s happy days for the likes of Pilar Corrias Gallery or Skarstedt (at the latter’s opening for Cristina BanBan’s solo show, collectors were said to be practically groveling for a mere PDF).
For the rest, there’s still some hope that winter won’t last too long if collectors can get past the psychological barrier of other friends not buying and realize that, at least in the world’s largest economy and art market that is the U.S., things are looking up.
—Alexander Forbes, Head of Galleries and Fairs, New York
Frieze London was quite an interesting experience this year, and it’s been intriguing to observe how collectors have changed their approach from 2022. Many collectors I spoke with at this year’s fair were more selective in their choices, especially when it came to secondary market works and editions.
Interestingly, a common theme among collectors was a perception that the editions market had become somewhat unpredictable. This got me thinking…is the market genuinely unpredictable, or are we just witnessing a new pricing reset?
When you compare the prices of certain blue-chip prints at auction to those available at Frieze Masters, there are some significant price gaps. This price difference has led many collectors I spoke with to act more price-consciously and refrain from making purchases altogether—a noticeable departure from their more impulsive buying habits in the past.
From where I stand, this shift towards more cautious collecting is a positive development for the market. It has the potential to create more stability in pricing, which can ultimately make art more accessible to a wider group of collectors. This move towards thoughtful and strategic collecting practices holds promise.
—George King, Senior Private Sales Advisor, London
The City of Light shines
“So, who has the better fair—London or Paris?” This is the question I heard the most from collectors and industry insiders during two rollercoaster weeks of European fair openings. If you really must know, Art Basel’s sophomore edition of Paris+ ranks at the top. The global art market is betting big on Paris, and there didn’t appear to be any sign of a slowdown amid a year of general pullback for the business. Top galleries continue to expand their international footprint with new branches in the city, including impressive new spaces for Hauser & Wirth and Mendes Wood DM, which opened around the time of Paris+. Private foundations are buoying the scene, too, with blockbuster exhibitions to be found across town. (You can’t miss the Mark Rothko retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton.)
Between all the buzz and parties throughout the week, the artworks exhibited at this year’s Paris+ hold their own.
Karma’s booth struck me as a strong example of sophisticated curation. In their group presentation, the gallery exhibited several small museum-quality works by Surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie, mid-size paintings by Andrew Cranston and Reggie Burrows Hodges, and abstract wire sculptures by Alan Saret. Each work has strong art historical undertones. Abercrombie’s tiny dreamlike fantasies show a clear through line to French Surrealism; while Cranston’s palette and interiors nod to Pierre Bonnard. Hodges’s foggy brushwork reminds me of Rothko’s blurred edges, while his figures seem in dialogue with the works of Kerry James Marshall. Saret’s intricate wire sculptures, meanwhile, are reminiscent of Ruth Asawa’s distinct formal language. The works seem stronger together, and the presentation lends a sense of confidence that is otherwise lacking in the broader market today.
—Caroline Perkins, Private Sales Advisor, New York
After visiting the art fairs in Paris, I gallery hopped around the 8th arrondissement and Le Marais to revel in the plethora of fresh work by contemporary women artists. In a city known for its long history of artistic inspiration through sensuality and desire, female artists are addressing and reinterpreting the legacy of male forebearers such as Édouard Manet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso, who found their passive female subjects in the Parisian brothels, cafés, and dance halls of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s a common thread in the works of Lisa Brice, Camilla Engström, and Issy Wood, all of whom opened their first solo exhibitions in the city during Paris Art Week.
Brice’s large moody canvases at Thaddaeus Ropac recast the famous Montmartre bar and artist studio scenes of the late 19th century with solely female subjects. No longer passive objects of desire under the male gaze, her female protagonists are now both gazer and gazed upon, artist and muse, patron and attendant. In one, a character from Manet’s 1882 painting A Bar at the Folies-Bergère tantalizes a crowd of women drinkers in a rowdy strip club. In another, oil paint clings and separates on a tracing paper surface, creating a smokey haze through which a languid female sailor gazes through sharpened eyes, seemingly on the hunt for a lover.
from Artsy News https://ift.tt/huR0OWG
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