February 2008 From the Editor

Mark Rothko Daniel Richter An Uberdealer Invades Moscow Haunch Launch Tate Pats Itself on the Back, Plans Ahead Fall Forecast You Can't Take It With You Extreme Art

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In The Worth of Art (2), recently published by Assouline, Paris-based journalist Benhamou-Huet goes on to ask, “What would be the point of a record price if nobody knew about it, if the billionaire’s neighbor, a billionaire and collector himself, wasn’t tempted to do even better next time around?” One of the prevailing themes of the book—an interesting read despite some clumsy translations from the French and occasional forays into heavy-handed polemics—is that the current art market boom is driven as much by the public’s interest in spectacle as by its appreciation of the actual works. We in the press are complicit in creating this circus atmosphere by breathlessly reporting on the record prices achieved at auction across all categories and the record attendance by the rich and fashionable at contemporary fairs, not to mention highlighting the consignments by bold-faced names of works by marquee artists and elevating dealers’ profiles so high that any artists admitted to their stables instantly become superstars.

At one point, the book condemns Art+Auction’s role in this theater of the absurd by citing our May 2007 cover, which showed David Rockefeller posed in front of the Rothko canvas he would sell at Sotheby’s that month for a record $72.8 million, as if “the owner’s identity was more important than the painting itself.” Benhamou-Huet, who has written for this magazine, says the focus on the Rothko’s Rockefeller provenance is emblematic of a troubling market tendency in which “prices are guided by the star system.” She concludes by acknowledging that “this appropriation of the seller’s eye by the buyer” is understandable because “the new art consumers are rich, yes, but often inexperienced.”

For a more sober view of the new art consumer—and of the climate of the art market in general—readers should supplement Benhamou-Huet’s take with the report recently issued by The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF), the body that organizes the venerable art fair held each March in Maastricht. The International Art Market: A Survey of Europe in a Global Context, written by Clare McAndrew, compiles information from such sources as dealer organizations, leading auction houses and international trade databases to paint a picture of “the astonishing growth of the market in recent years, from a global value of  €26.7 billion in 2002 to  €43.3 billion in 2006.”

Few of the report’s findings count as real revelations—no one even marginally familiar with recent art world trends, for example, will be surprised that “fairs have become an increasingly important part of the art trade.” The figures supporting such observations, however, are fascinating. “In a survey of TEFAF participants in 2006, dealers reported that over 40 percent of their annual sales could be attributed directly to fairs, or to follow-up business, with some from outside the main art centres commenting that this could be as high as 90 percent.” Similarly, no one will be shocked by the fact that “one of the most significant global developments in terms of market share has been the rise of China.” But reading the data showing that the country has become “the fourth largest global art market [after the U.S., the UK and France], with 5 percent of world sales by value,” is eye-opening.

The report amply demonstrates that the art market doesn’t depend on the hype or color commentary of complicit journalists like me to unfold its endlessly involving story.

"From the Editor" originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's February 2008 Table of Contents.