Art finance

SOTHEBY’S are to continue with their strategy of focusing on their top-end clients while reducing lot volumes below the $5000 level.

The opening night of TEFAF Maastricht (March 13-22) was as impressive as ever: if anything the quality was better than at recent stagings, there was no sign that people were staying away, while exhibitors in the traditional sectors were quietly optimistic that business could be done.

THIS year's 22nd staging of TEFAF Maastricht, which starts on March 12 with a day-long vernissage, will be scrutinised more than any other for signs of how the international art market is coping with global recession.

SOTHEBY’S latest figures showed just how deeply they were hit by the art market slump since October, with revenues for their final quarter sales cut by more than half to $166.2m. Profits for the year are down 87 per cent.

THE global art market grew by 11 per cent to £40.1bn over the last year, according to the survey just published by The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF). The report, prepared by leading art economist Dr Clare McAndrew, is the latest in a series of major studies commissioned by TEFAF that act as a focus for the launch of their annual Maastricht fair – the world’s top such event.

THE annual survey from LAPADA, the UK’s largest art and antique dealer association, shows a largely stable market compared with the previous year, but with one or two significant changes.

CHRISTIE’S year-end results for 2008 show that Europe, including the UK, is currently their premier global market in terms of sales, with a total of £1.24bn compared to £1.02bn in the United States.

THE flagship art sales in London saw a good take up last week after estimates were cut by as much as 40 per cent from their boom levels.

SOTHEBY’S and Christie’s have all but abandoned guarantees for lots at auction. When asked their policy for the coming year, the salerooms said that they were almost entirely eliminating the practice, although they did not rule out using it completely.

SALES in 2008 in Paris saw Sotheby’s and Christie’s occupy the top two spots for the first time – and open up a significant gap on the rest of the field.

For some years now it has been traditional to hold a major auction of antique glass in the immediate run-up to the festive season.

Overall sales figures for art and antiques salerooms outside London were largely down for 2008 – but most ended a difficult year with better than expected results. For a table of the provincial salerooms' totals click here.

THE year came to an end with gold prices reaching an all-time high in Britain.

Hedge funds operating in the art market are shifting their investments from the medium to the short term. That is the view of Randall Willette, managing director of Fine Art Wealth Management Ltd, who was a keynote speaker at the 2008 Art Investment Conference at the London Business School.

A banking firm with offices in Moscow, New York City, and Vienna, has announced the formation of an art investment hedge fund with a difference.

THE 2007 Dealers Vs Auctioneers charity football match raised more than £10,600 in aid of Breast Cancer Haven.

Early works of art might be seen as something of a Cinderella area of the market, somewhat left behind when compared to contemporary and Asian art or even some other traditional fields.

Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks has issued a public statement taking a strong stand against the guarantee system following the November art sales in New York and London.