The art market is hot. ArtTactic notes that global auction sales for Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips are up 230% in the first half of 2021 over the same period in 2020 – totaling $5.9 billion and surpassing 2019’s $5.7 billion. And that doesn’t include private sales, which were more than $850 million at Christie’s, up 238% from 2019 and 41% from 2020, with similar increases at the other houses.
As an art advisor, I’ve never had a busier year advising private clients, despite the need for videos and zooms to replace in-person viewings. Competition for what are considered the best artists is fierce, which is driving the high auction results and increased gallery sales.
Gallery and auction house popups in summer destinations, including the Hamptons, Aspen and Monaco, have successfully followed the demand in a way that no one had considered pre-pandemic. I was in East Hampton last month, and in 3 contiguous storefronts where I used to window shop while waiting for a table at Babette’s were a Basquiat show, a Warhol show and a Judd show – something I never would have dreamed possible. And those were only a fraction of the art exhibitions in town.
But as the summer comes to a close, art market participants are wondering what the landscape will look like for the rest of the year – myself included. I am cautiously optimistic and hope you are, too! It promises to be an exciting season and (with appropriate precautions) there’s no time like the fall to have a look around.
Right out of the gate, we have The Armory Show – the fair’s first edition since March 2020 – which opens to vaccinated and masked VIPs on September 9th. The fair will be followed on a weekly basis by multiple fairs and gallery weekends all over the world, thanks to postponements from earlier this year and pent-up demand from galleries and collectors alike. Crowds will be smaller due to limited capacities and a lingering hesitancy to visit in person, especially when it entails foreign travel. Consequently, the major fairs will still have online viewing rooms: the hybrid model is here to stay.
On the auction front, the hybrid model will become the norm as well, with the auction calendar remaining a bit unpredictable due to the increasing number of online-only sales and the houses still out of sync for their big, now hybrid, sales.
I still highly value seeing art in person and am planning to do so as much as I can, including (subject to travel restrictions) attending a number of fairs in a safe and protected manner. Here’s a list of highlights for the rest of the year:
· The Armory Show, New York: September 9 – 12
· Independent Art Fair, New York: September 9 – 12
· Art Basel, Basel: September 21 – 26
· SWAB, Barcelona: October 7-10
· Frieze London, London: October 13 – 17
· The Art Show, New York: November 3 – 7
· Dallas Art Fair, Dallas: November 11 – 14
· Art Basel, Miami: November 30 – December 4
Let me know if you’d like to meet me!
8/31/21