This Week in the Art Market – Friday 20th October
Art Market News, Editorial
From Frieze London's focus on established 'radical' artists to Shanghai's booming art & antiquities market, discover the latest trends shaping the global art landscape. Plus, get an inside look at the diverse tastes of the world's top collectors and how the base of art patronage is expanding in Mexico. A must-read for anyone invested in art's evolving marketplace.
Frieze London, a shift away from riskier investments in lesser known artists?
Frieze London: an art extravaganza at Regent Park boasting 130 galleries and a sweeping range of both established and emerging artists. This year, commentators noted a shift away from riskier investments in lesser known artists, with many collectors reverting back toward the careers of "late-career or deceased artists with "radical" qualities". Artists that fetched the best prices also had the most established reputations: examples include Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Gerhard Richter, Woldgang Tilmans, Louise Nevelson, Louise Bourgeois and Jack Whitten. Art Works were at the fair and we will be sharing a detailed review of the exhibition soon.
World's Top Collectors Reveal Favourite Picks
Few can boast to be as affluent and as ambitious as ARTnews' annual list of the top 200 collectors. In this article, ARTnews exposes some of these collectors' latest purchases this year, revealing the most up-and-coming profiles in the art market. Their interests are certainly diverse and reflect the cosmopolitan composition of the world's top patrons; purchased works include those by Colombian craftsmen, Indonesian weavers, Brazilian painters and Czech photographers.
See More: https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news/news/top-200-collectors-2023-art-purchases-1234681799/
Artsy Founder & CEO Shares Journey
In a unique and inspiring video interview, Artsy founder and CEO Carter Cleveland reveals fascinating insights from his unexpected success in the art industry. Seeking to make art knowledge more accessible to the public, Cleveland worked closely with existing galleries, artists and other industry players, strengthening the credibility of the then unknown organisation and elevating it to the ubiquitous online platform we know today.
See More: https://www.freethink.com/sponsored/artsy
Blockbuster Rothko Exhibition Opens in Paris
The Louis Vuitton Foundation has launched a monumental retrospective exhibition in Paris, presenting 115 canvases by the historic abstract painter Mark Rothko. His work is recognisable by massive rectangles of intense colours, a trademark that the painter developed in the 1950s and continued to utilise till his demise in 1970. The painter has since become a household name and a blue-chip label: one of his paintings, Orange, Red, Yellow (1961) was sold for a whopping 82 million euro in 2012.
Shanghai Art & Antiques Market Reports Strong Growth
Shanghai's Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism reports remarkable growth in the city's art and antiquities market. The trading volume of the market reached 12.85 billion yuan (1.9 billion USD) in 2022, a dramatic 44% increase from that in 2019. Total import and export values reached 10.28 billion yuan (1.6 billion USD), a 61% improvement from 2019. Much of this success can be attributed to the momentum caused by the China International Import Export (CIIE) and the Shanghai International Artwork Trade Week, the latter drawing more than 250 domestic and international art institutions into the city.
See More: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202310/18/WS652f92e3a31090682a5e94a9.html
Rising Levels of Art Patronage in Mexico
Since the pandemic, the base of art collectors in Mexico has expanded beyond elite business families, instead becoming much more accessible to ordinary Mexicans. In particular, young people from major cities like Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara have shown rising interest in art investment; this is likely due to recent art initiatives such as the art fair Zona Maco and the influential gallery Kurimanzutto which have revolutionised preconceptions of art collecting.
Ke Dong is a seasoned art writer and current double major in English Literature and Art History at NTU. Having worked with esteemed art institutions in Singapore, Ke Dong now regularly contributes his keen research skills, adept writing abilities and passion for art to the Art Works discourse.
