Televisie

"Talita Teves is mede-directeur van Amsterdam Auctioneers, de nummer 3 van de Nederlandse kunstveilingmarkt. Ondanks de slechte economische verwachtingen en saneringen bij de Amsterdamse vestiging van Sotheby's verwacht Teves een goed jaar."

Caveat venditor

The Economist reports on the Yves Saint Laurent sale.

Buying Beauty

This paper investigates the evolution of prices and returns in the art market since the middle of the previous century. We first compile a comprehensive list of more than 10,000 artists and then build a dataset that contains information on more than 1.1 million auction sales of paintings, prints, and works on paper. We perform an extensive hedonic regression analysis that includes unique price-determining variables capturing amongst others: the artist’s reputation, the strength of the attribution to an artist, and the subject matter of the work. Based on the resulting price index, we conclude that art has appreciated in value by a moderate 4.03% per year, in real USD terms, between 1951 and 2007. During the art market boom period 2002-2007, prices augmented by 11.60% annually, which explains the increased attention to ‘art as an investment’. Furthermore, our results show that, over the last quarter of a century, prices of oil paintings and of post-war art have risen faster than the overall market. In contrast to earlier studies, we find evidence of a positive masterpiece effect: high-quality art makes a better investment. Our results are robust to alternative model specifications, and do not seem influenced by sample selection or survivorship biases. When comparing the long-term returns on art to those on financial assets, we find that art has underperformed stocks but outperformed bonds. However, between 1982 and 2007, bonds yielded higher average returns (at a lower risk) than art. Buyers of art should thus expect to reap non-pecuniary benefits rather than high financial returns, especially because the modest art returns are further diminished by substantial transaction costs.

Read more on prices and returns in the art market

Is anybody buying art these days?

The New York Times reports.

The jpeg market is over

The NYT reports on the crash in the art market.

The manner in which art is purchased will probably become more conventional too. In the flush years it was common for auction houses to sell to people who never actually saw a work live but bought simply based on an e-mailed image or a picture in a catalog. “The jpeg market is over,” Mr. Meyer said. “We’re getting back to selling art you really have to look at.”

Voor de liefde Gods

Damien Hirst's famous "skull" is now on view in Amsterdam. Click here for more information.

Sneak preview

The New York Times has a nice preview of the upcoming fall auctions in New York.

ARTIST: Kasimir Malevich
TITLE: “Suprematist Composition” (1916)
AUCTION HOUSE: Sotheby’s
ESTIMATED PRICE: $60 million
Sotheby's officials predict that this painting will fetch $60 million. Determined to offset some of the risk, Sotheby's has lined up a buyer who has contractually agreed to purchase the painting for an undisclosed sum. If someone else is willing to pay more, the original bidder will get a share of what is called the upside: the difference between what he was willing to pay and the higher price.

I would rather buy the Philip Guston though.