01/10/2001

Despite Sotheby’s and Christie’s postponing their US art sales until October, the first auction to take place in New York since the World Trade Center attacks was held at Swann galleries on the 21st of September. The sale provided precious optimistic news for the art market. Two Modigliani drawings sold at $ 9,000 (€ 9,830) and $ 24,000 (€ 26,200) respectively. The second, Tête de femme, signed by the artist and inscribed “Paris”, was hammered within estimate, whilst a pen and ink drawing sold for just under estimate at $ 15,000 (€ 16,390). A drawing by Dalí sold for $ 8,500 (€ 9,280) twice its estimate, whilst a sketch by Bonnard sold on reserve for $ 3,400 (€ 3,710). Swann reported a 25% unsold rate, in effect a good result. A sense of the concern facing the art market was articulated by Christopher Burge, Christie's US honorary chairman, who admitted to the New York Times on the 27th of September that this “is a particularly tricky time - we've never seen anything quite like it…it is a shock. We've seen hard times when tangibles like art became a safe haven because people were frightened of other markets, but we've also seen times when art buying froze. It's really too early to tell.” That may be the case, but the Swann sale may indicate that times may not be as bad as they seem.