Value & Money

Fascinating to think about the art world and money. 

SO much money.

Such amazing art!

The current record  price for a painting is from an auction sale that occurred in 2006. The painting [pictured above] is No5 ,1948 by Jackson Pollock. The price was sold at US $ 140 million.


The 2nd highest price at auction is for William DeKooning's Woman III [pictured right] was sold in 2006 for US $ 148 million. This DeKooning was painted 1953.

The 3rd highest price was again from 2006, was for Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. [Picture left]. The painting was part of a group of five canvases recently returned to the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. The Nazis confiscated his paintings during the World War II, and after the war, the canvases were placed at the National Gallery of Austria in 1948.

What an amazing art auction year 2006 was.

What were you doing in 2006?

So much money, so much art. 

Did these paintings pass over into the world of cultural icons ie. The Mona Lisa ? Da Vinci's Last Supper?

In 2010 spring auctions, the Pablo Picasso painting, Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, sold at auction for $ US 106 million.[pictured left]
 Yes, only US $106 million. This painting was not on public view and will remain in another private collection.
One could only image what a record auction price this painting would have fetched back in 2006.

 
The most expensive sculpture at auction was Alberto Giacometti's L'Homme Qui Marche (Walking Man 1) set a record for the most expensive piece of sculpture was sold in February 2010. It sold for $US 98 million.[pictured below] This bronze is edition of 6 and was cast in 1961.


In most of the above sales, the pieces ended up in private collections. Some collectors loan work to museums and some do not.We may never see some artworks again. For our museum to remain strong , we must remember the importance of financially supporting our museums and the work they do.

Become a member, go to the exhibitions,contribute financially and most importantly, expose and educate yourself to more ART!

Now, in my opinion, the real value, for collectors, is in the art galleries who are surviving this economic downturn. We offer a wide variety of  quality artworks that are both accessible and  have value.

During these hard economic times the antique and Art world has repeatedly demonstrated exactly how  resilient they really are, making it evident in its potential for an area of investment. The type of investment in artwork is one of emotional investment, and perhaps economic investment.
If you had bought that piece of Art  before this economic downturn,  you would still have the artwork!

Remember to visit and support your local galleries.
Cheers

The other things artist do

Anne Belov

With thanksgiving, this week, I got to thinking about all the different activities and passions that we enjoy. The different ways we sustain our life styles of how we eat, play, work and nourish ourselves.

Most of the people I know are artists. This year has been difficult for many. The sales of artworks used to sustain artists financially and spiritually, but now some artists are finding themselves driven to other vocations to create revenue sources.


Anne Belov, a fabulous painter is exploring the cartoon/comic strip world of her creation, Bob the Panda and his adventures. It is amazing how a cute Panda and his friends have the funny struggles and adventures outside the zoo world. Anne is trying to get published.

Michael Dickter

Michael Dickter, another wonderful painter has been a part time graphics designer and architectural photographer and designer. He was the last freelancer to leave a large firm in Seattle. AS the real estate market is picking up perhaps so will his photography business. I am currently working on a project with Michael that has to do with waterworks gallery's upcoming 25th Anniversary. [More on that later].

Jaime Ellsworth

Jaime Ellsworth, another fabulous [yes I do repre sent a wonderful & fabulous group of artists] painter has recently completed a training course and has become a dog trainer of service dogs that work with people with disabilities. She is amazing with her generosity of spirit and love of animals. Jaime is the president of the San Juan Island Animal Shelter located here in Friday Harbor.

Sue Roberts

Sue Roberts, a fabulous sculptor is the creator of delicious chocolate caramels and turtles. For years, Sue created small batches of caramels and sold them to a small but loyal audience. This year she was able to rent a commercial kitchen and went into a small limited hand made production. The name of her company is Tickled Pink [sweet!] The gallery will have a limited supply of her fabulous chocolates for sale! How sweet!



We are all doing what we need to survive this year. Last night, I had dinner with Sue and we talked about this year. The year has elements that we support and other elements that have been difficult to digest. While we are both guardedly optimistic, we both felt the year has been about major shifts in our lives. Life style adjustments.

The ability to spend time and conversations with friends is tantamount to living in these times.

For Sue, she tried out being a chocolatier. Lots of hard work and a great product.

Does she want to continue on this path, decidedly not? She is a sculptor and will continue pushing out the edges of her works [metaphorically].

For me, the gift has been spending time getting to know them personally with Anne, with Michael, with Jaime and with Sue.

This is the time of year, to remember what where we were earlier in the year and to me be amazed that it is late November.

Winter solstice is a month away. With that in mind the days will start getting longer. The cycle renews itself.

We are grateful for the seasons and the changes they bring about.

I hope you share time with loved ones and good friends
I hope you share food and drink with loved ones and friends.
And most important now
I hope you share art with loved ones and friends.

Cheers

It may be art but is it stimulus?

Recently reading Sculpture Magazine, I read an editorial from the Chairman of the Board of the International Sculpture Center, Josh Kanter.
Josh proposes a case for looking at the ongoing argument of supporting the arts or not supporting in new light.

I too, think it is time to retire the argument. The arts are the soul of a creative society.


It may be art but is it stimulus? There has been a lot of press about the arts lately. Some articles focus on the funding difficulties facing nonprofits in the current economic environment, others on the dwindling number of nonprofits and the resulting loss of art opportunities for children and society. Still others discuss whether the arts—and public support—are stimulative.

However, I would like to argue for intellectual honesty in the discussion.

Is spending on the arts stimulative? What, after all, is stimulus?

To read the entire article more

The debate continues .
Published with permission of Sculpture Magazine.