State of the Art Market

Overall the May auction season left the art world cautiously optimistic as we head into the summer. The Frieze and TEFAF Fairs reported strong sale results and the Day Sales at the auction houses showed strong sell-through rates.

The overall estimate ranges for the sales, compared to the total sale value, was where the most disappointment was found. Essentially if a few very high value works fail to find a buyer these numbers can make an otherwise strong sale result appear lackluster.

The press will always focus on a $70M Giacometti failing to sell as opposed to talking about the strength of the market for works under $500,000, but the smaller sales in aggregate divinate the tea leaves for the health of the overall art market.