November 14, 2013

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

AROUND CULTURAL HERITAGE. EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Valuation and appraisal of assets

D. Pablo Melendo.
Pablo Melendo Fine Art Consulting

The last few years have been important for the art world market and for collecting. We have been able to appreciate a great change in the usual tendency of both the market and the collections towards modern and contemporary art as opposed to traditional art collecting and also the impulse of the local Art of the new economic powers that have emerged in this century. 

Francis Bacon, Three programs of study by Lucian Freud
It is the most expensive contemporary painting sold at auction in 2013 by Christie's NY ($142 million).
 

This change can be analyzed and we find what has fostered this transformation:
In the Traditional Art Market we found:
1.-Abundance of first-rate works of all categories: Antique and 19th century painting, Decorative Arts from antiquity to the present day. This status has been changing and this subject of works are scarce and rare to find.
2.- The prices were uniform, there was no "market", nor references to the art market.
3.- There was demand for all art subject : Archaeology, Antique, Painting, Decorative Arts, Books, Scientific Instruments, etc.
4.- We could speak of an undeveloped and unprofessional art market.
 

Hermen Anglada-Camarasa, The Café de Paris ( 1900)
At auction (2006) it was sold for 2,600,000 euros, the highest price ever paid for a work by this artist.
 

The current art market is characterized by:
1.- It is more demanding with the quality and authorship of the works, more competitive, solid and international.
2.- Greater demand for important works by established artists.
The scarcer these works are, the rarer they are in the market and therefore, the higher their economic value.
Motivation for this trend:
1- The scarcity of masterpieces of Traditional Art.
2- The specialized knowledge of this art subject .
3- The legislative difficulties of the different countries: Restrictions of exportability.
 

Christopher Wools' Apocalyse Now set the auction record for a young contemporary artist ($27 million). 

Faena of crutches
Miquel Barceló
Auctioned by Christie's in 2011 for 3,961,250 pounds.

L'homme qui marche, by Alberto Giacometti
It was auctioned by Sotheby's in 2010 reaching a price of 74,100,000 euros.

Zhang Xiaogang, The big family III
Auctioned for US$6,100,000 at Sotheby's Hong Kong in 2008