New York: The international art market jolted into high gear this week on both sides of the Atlantic.
In New York, collectors including CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, tennis great John McEnroe and Blackstone Group LP Vice Chairman Tom Hill flocked to fairs during the city’s annual contemporary-art frenzy known as Armory Week. In London, Impressionist and modern art auctions bounced back from last year’s doldrums as the US stock market rose to fresh records and non-British buyers benefited from the pound’s post-Brexit decline.
“There’s much more activity in the art market again,” said Philip Hoffman (pictured), chief executive officer of London-based Fine Art Group. “People are coming back who held back last year. The stock market in the US is helping. People feel richer and they are spending money on art.”
On the auction front, Sotheby’s was the biggest winner. A landscape by Gustav Klimt fetched £48m($59.3m) to lead the company’s £213.9m week -- a 69 percent jump from the equivalent sales in 2016. Christie’s tally rose 38 percent to £161.9m as the top lot, Paul Gauguin’s “Te Fare (La maison),” sold for £20.3m.
In the US, Wednesday’s VIP opening of the Armory Show marked the beginning of the major fair season.
The main event in New York was quieter than in recent years. Shortly after 11 am, Cooper and his entourage were the only people at the Jack Shainman Gallery’s booth showing bejeweled jackets by artist Nick Cave and a charcoal and pastel portrait of a young man by Toyin Ojih Odutola.
The aisles were almost empty in the first hour, but several works had been already snapped up thanks to previews on Artsy and early access by insiders. A prominent European dealer bought two works for about $3m from fellow exhibitors during the setup and at least two booths sold out before the fair opened.
