ArtMarket® Insight，艺术市场即时趋势报导

The TOP 10 artists [2008年03月13日]

Every year Artprice compiles a ranking of artists based on the total revenue generated by public sales of each artist’s work, with Pablo Picasso invariably taking the number one position on the market podium. Not so in 2007: after nearly 10 years, the champion of modern art has been dethroned by the guru of Pop art, Andy Warhol. Second in 2006, Warhol became the global market leader in 2007.More than just one name replacing another, this ‘event’ reflects a veritable sea-change in the auction world. While in the 1990s the very pinnacle of the art market belonged to the impressionists, particularly Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet, and then, after 2000, to the moderns with Pablo Picasso and Gustave Klimt, today, and possibly for some time to come, the market has hoisted contemporary art to the summit of the pyramid.

Narrative Figuration – The rehabilitation of a French movement [2008年03月10日]

After the Art Paris contemporary art fair (from 3 to 7 April), the Grand Palais will stage a much-anticipated three-month retrospective on Narrative Figuration (Narrative Figuration, Paris, 1960-1972, from 16 April to 13 July), a French art movement mirroring American Pop Art of the 1960s.

Contemporary art: the affordable art market [2008年03月02日]

First held in 1999, the ‘Affordable Art Fair’, as its name suggests, believes in art accessible to everyone. The fair focuses on contemporary works priced at under GBP 3,000 (around EUR 4,000) and its growing success has seen the principle extended to Bristol, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Sydney and Melbourne.The forthcoming spring Affordable Art Fair will see 120 galleries exhibit in London’s Battersea Park between 12 March and 16 March. To coincide with this event, Artprice takes a look at this market segment, in which today’s new collectors often take their first steps.

Russians at the first Paris School [2008年02月25日]

At the start of the 20th century, Paris was a veritable artistic capital and its momentum attracted artists from all over Europe and beyond. Art history tends to group these artists together in what is known as the First Paris School. Between 1900 and 1920 the group included a number of Russians living in the Montparnasse district, an area that was a hive of creative activity.

Francis Bacon, flying high – “All my paintings are accidents” … [2008年02月17日]

Francis Bacon’s assertion that all his paintings were accidents certainly reflected a chaotic personal life filled with confrontations, intense relationships and calamitous separations. The first shock occurred in 1925 when a violent confrontation with his father effectively separated him from his family. Bacon was 16 at the time. The second shock was aesthetic in nature and had a crucial influence on the young man: in 1927 a visit to an exhibition of Picasso’s works inspired him to take up drawing. Twenty years later, Bacon’s work was strewn with distorted figures depicting tormented bodies – the portrayal of contortioned human flesh producing an arresting psychological intensity.

China occupies 3rd place in the global market [2008年02月11日]

In the international rankings by sale proceeds, France, which is usually up in third place behind the United States and the United Kingdom, was deposed this year by China, thanks to the dynamism of a number of international auction houses. It should be said that this year no less than 75 sales in excess of the million dollar mark were achieved there, with a top price of HKD 66 million (USD 8.5 million) for a work by Cai Guoqiang, an all-time record for a contemporary Chinese work, followed by two modern artists Beihong Xu (HKD 64 million) and ChHen Chengbo (HKD 45 million).

Artprice’s market confidence index is morose in Europe and improving in the USA [2008年02月04日]

With just three months to go before the highly publicised Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in New York, Artprice has decided to reveal art market sentiment as indicated by analysis of its new market barometer: Art Market Confidence Index ®. The AMCI ® gives a reading in real-time and its fluctuations indicate the reactions of the principal art market players worldwide to specific events (stock market swings, geopolitical events, major auction news or any other news likely to impact the global economy).

Auctions in February 2008: the new rhythm of contemporary art [2008年01月29日]

New schedule! Traditionally the two giants of global art sales – Christie’s and Sotheby’s – organise their auctions of impressionist and modern art followed by sales of post-war and contemporary art in the same week.

Artprice is launching “Art Market Confidence Index”®, a real time index which measures how confident art market players are feeling. [2008年01月27日]

This real time confidence index is built on the same theoretical bases as the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan which is a benchmark for global stock markets

The speculative bubble in the art market reaches its peak in November 2007 [2008年01月21日]

The art market recorded a 7th consecutive year of price rises in 2007. The annual increase at global level amounted to +18%. It was accompanied by Fine Art proceeds of USD 9.2 billion, an increase of 43.8% over the year, swelled by the proliferation of million-ticket sales, auction hammers having come down on 1,254 sales of over USD 1 million in 2007, compared with 810 in 2006. 2006 had already recorded an unprecedented number of transactions and 2007 was an exceptional vintage.

Artprice Engine® is launched [2008年01月14日]

On 15 January 2008, Artprice is launching Artprice Engine®, the search engine at the heart of the Artprice Catalogs Library®. Artprice holds the largest archive of auction catalogues in the world (290,000 catalogues dating from 1700 to the present day). Artprice has also added to this resource through the acquisition of major art market information databanks (Bayer, Mayer, Mireur, Van Wilder, etc.).

French Impressionism [2007年12月30日]

While they were denigrated at first, these days the French impressionists enjoy an unparalleled reputation. Influenced by the scientific discoveries of their day, particularly by Eugène Chevreul’s law of colour contrast, they juxtapose their colours in free brush strokes, paving the way for abstract art.

XVIIth century still life paintings – the golden age of Northern Europe [2007年12月19日]

The XVIIth century was a golden age for still life painting in Northern European countries from which two themes emerged: table settings and floral compositions. The paintings of the XXIIth century Northern Schools have proven a profitable refuge, with price levels rising by +85% in a decade. It is also a field of informed collectors who are hugely selective.

François Boucher – the Libertine century in vogue [2007年12月13日]

One of the foremost artists of the XVIIIth century, François Boucher’s (1703-1770) rise to art market fame was rapid since, by the time he was twenty, his work had been awarded the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome.

Richard Prince [2007年12月09日]

The Richard Prince retrospective, showing at the Guggenheim museum in New York between 29 September 2007 and 9 January 2008, proved a sale-boosting tribute, with Prince prices rocketing in November!

Modern sculpture at a high [2007年12月06日]

In the modern period, prices for sculpture have been rising faster than those of painting, with the price index for sculpture reaching a new high in 2007, growth of 100% in 15 years!

Sotheby’s invites Bacon to Paris [2007年12月03日]

After the 2001 auction reform, a number of French auction houses feared they might find themselves relegated far behind the leading international auctioneers. Faced with this possibility, some even chose to merge as did Artcurial- Briest-Le Fur-Poulain-F.Tajan and Tajan, in order to be able to stand up to Sotheby’s and Christie’s more effectively.

Swiss modern art [2007年11月29日]

Notwithstanding the international appeal of works by Alberto Giacometti and Paul Klee, Swiss artists are most popular at home.

Cy Twombly – Passion at work [2007年11月26日]

Cy Twombly rubbed shoulders with the expressionism of the American abstract artists during the 1950s but remained an artist on the fringe. His works appear like graphic eruptions, combining writing, drawing and numbers. They seem to be scribbled in haste, animated by a creative urgency exhibiting the unconscious… A complusive imperative which alludes to the automatic writing of the surrealist artists.

Contemporary art in New-York – Confidence reigns… [2007年11月19日]

Art market players had been worried by the idea of a market downturn after the mixed results from the impressionist and modern art sales in New York on 6 and 7 November. However, one week later, the strong sales in the contemporary art sector proved that the market remains buoyant.

Photographic summits [2007年11月15日]

From November 15-18, the Carousel du Louvre will be hosting the 11th Paris Photo, an essential event for collectors of vintage, modern and contemporary photos. On this occasion, 83 galleries will be presenting their selection. At the same time, Parisian auction houses like Piasa, Artcurial and Ader are organising various thematic sales. On the other side of the Channel in London, Sotheby’s and Christie’s are presenting a few hundred photos. This is the opportunity for Artprice to examine one of the most fashionable sectors on the market.

The market shows signs of flagging [2007年11月08日]

On 7 November 2007, following an incredible 78.8% rise in three years, the New York art market seemed to show its first signs of running out of steam as the media-friendly “Impressionist and Modern Art” auction at Sotheby’s ran into a market correction, turning over just USD 269.7 million. Only two years ago, this would have seemed a fair result, but this year, given the expectations of the auctioneer, it smacks of disaster. The 76 lots on offer had been expected to fetch a staggering USD 355.6 million to USD 494.2 million, based on low and high estimates.

Louise Bourgeois – Art as redemption [2007年11月08日]

Her oeuvre is celebrated in an exhibition at London’s Tate Modern until 20 January 2008, which continues at the Paris Pompidou Centre from 5 March to 2 June 2008, before moving to the United States.

Louise bourgeois is one of the senior figures of contemporary art. At 96 years old, she continues to produce her introspective and cathartic work, which explores human relationships, their suffering and frustrations.

Georges Seurat – drawings [2007年11月06日]

Leading light of neo-impressionism and father of pointillism, George Seurat is being honoured by the MoMA (New York) until 7 January 2008 with an original exhibition entirely dedicated to his drawings. The exhibition strikingly reveals the technique Seurat used for producing black and white drawings on paper with an exceptional degree of luminosity. Indeed, it was one such drawing Portrait d’Aman-Jean that got the artist his first and only appearance at the Salon officiel in 1883. The following year, his painting entitled Une Baignade, Asnières was refused by the Salon!

Gustave Courbet – between realism and scandal [2007年11月05日]

Born in Ornans in 1819, Courbet absorbed the painting trends of his era before liberating himself from the academism and the romanticism of his youth. Although his first works were characterised by sentimentalism, by 1848 his paintings had evolved towards a form of “austere” realism. Henceforward, the artist’s vision gained freedom as it moved away from idealisation towards nature in a broader sense.

The New York sales at new highs [2007年10月28日]

On 6 and 7 November the two key sales of the auction season will take place in New York. Sotheby’s and Christie’s have assembled for the occasion a selection of important works by Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Cézanne and even Franz Marc. To date, pre-sale estimates from the two auction houses have never been so high.

Jeff Koons – The promise of a foretold success [2007年10月24日]

During the 1980s, Jeff Koons appropriated everyday consumer items such as vacuum cleaners, basket balls or various knickknacks. Unlike Duchamp who, with his ready mades, did not seek aesthetic delight in exhibiting mundane objects, Koons glorifies mass-made products in a Pop aesthetic. The American artist aimed to reach the widest possible audience in opting for popular culture…and the bet paid off. He is now not only one of the artists commanding the highest prices but also one of the most controversial!

CONCEPTUAL ART – The mind to the fore! [2007年10月11日]

As Leonard de Vinci was already affirming, back in the XVth century, art is ‘Cosa mentale’, a thing of the mind. Five centuries after this premise, artists gave the concept precedence over the realisation of the work and the skill of the artist. The work became witness to an idea. Officially born in the 1960s, the conceptual trend is still around today, its tone neutral and the message clearly to the fore.

Surrealist photography – convulsive beauty [2007年09月27日]

Surrealist photography was officially born in 1924 with the movement Manifesto by André Breton. The thirst for new experiences which inspired the surrealist oeuvre sustained the exploration of the photographic medium in various forms. Man Ray’s solarization involving exposing the negative to light, Raoul Ubac’s brûlages, Pierre Molinier’s photomontages or André Kertész’s mirror effects are all examples of techniques which de-realise subjects and objects, giving them an element of mystery…Surrealist beauty is irrational and coincidental, marvellous and convulsive.

Video art – the moving image [2007年09月19日]

The artist, according to Wassily Kandinsky’s time-honored expression, is ‘the child of his time’. So what could be more normal than to appropriate contemporary technologies, in addition to the images and ideas of one’s era. The boom of television during the 1960s awakened artists, in the United States as in Europe, to the possibilities of a ‘video art’. For nearly fifty years, artists have been exploring the many qualities video has to offer in terms of manipulating the image, narrative power and the temporal dimension.