On the Block: Traditional Offerings, Bargain Prices
By Carol Vogel for the International Herald Tribune
Although Carol Vogel is primarily concerned with sales of Fine Art in her most recent article for the International Herald Tribune, she gives an insightful examination into the current state of the world’s major auction houses that has implications for their Design sales as well.
In the article she analyses the trends in the lead up to this season's major sales. These most notably include the general drop in prices, and how the selections on offer seem to reflect ‘the three D’s: death, divorce, and debt.’ According to Vogel, the catalogues are familiar and telling, filled with ‘well-known paintings and drawings by tried-and-true artists carrying estimates as low as sellers are willing to go.’
The auction houses are playing it safe across the board in both fine art and design. It will be interesting to see the results. So far Sotheby's November 4th sale of Modern Art in New York faired impressively well, bringing in over $181 million, which is over three times more than their equivalent sale in May. We will have to wait and see if sales in design can bring in similar improvements.
For highlights from the major upcoming design sales visit DeTnk’s Collecting Design Market
