Artelligence Podcast

TEFAF Maastricht, the mother of all art fairs encompassing 7,000 years of art history, normally runs for multiple weeks in March. This week it re-opens for a shortened run. Noted as the centerpiece of the Old Masters calendar, and with Christie’s having held Old Masters sales in New York just a week or two before, I thought it would helpful to speak to William O’Reilly, who runs the New York office of Dickinson.

Founded in 1993 by Simon Dickinson, the firm boasts that it privately and discreetly handles a uniquely broad range of quality artworks, from early Renaissance masters through to blue-chip Contemporary artists. It is one of the very few firms that can truly say that.

 

O’Reilly began his career studying Arabic in school. He worked for Christie’s for 10 years rising to be International Head of Old Masters drawings. Since 2018, he has worked at Dickinson which is known for its gallery exhibitions and their curated art fair presentations at places like TEFAF. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Nate Freeman writes a weekly art column for Vanity Fair. He made the evolution from art world reporter for ARTnews, Artsy and Artnet to writing a weekly gossip column that profiles the most interesting characters in the art world. In this podcast, we talk about how he writes his column, what he expects to see at Art Basel, the fusion of the art and fashion worlds, New York’s hippest neighborhood Dimes Square, the temperature of art market based upon the May sales, the return of Larry Gagosian to the gossip columns, competition between the big four galleries, the fate of tastemaker galleries and why everyone is attracted to the worst behavior in the art market.

In her 17-year career at Sotheby’s, Gabriela Palmieri presided over the most valuable Contemporary art day sale ever held. She was involved in the sale of Adam Sender’s collection and worked with the estate of Allan Stone. Since establishing Palmieri Fine Art, Gabriela has worked on the Emily and Jerry Spiegel collection and the sale of Barbarlee Diamondstein-Spielvogel and Carl Spielvogel’s collection. She also advised on the Brillembourg-Caprilles collection and the sale of a major collection of Pictures Generation works along with her work for many other clients. 

In this podcast, we discuss the recent May sales in New York as well as her take on what collectors want in the market right now.

Andrew Fabricant became Chief Operating Officer of Gagosian Gallery a year before the global pandemic radically transformed the business of dealing art. In this podcast, Fabricant discusses the recent auctions in New York, the unexpected surge in the art market during the pandemic and what that means for the future of the art market as the global economy rebalances toward a post-pandemic world. We also delve into the opportunities and challenges involved in running an art-dealing enterprise with more than 300 employees, 19 locations and reputation as an aggressive sales organization. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

The May week of sales began with Andy Warhol's $195 million Shot Sage Blue Marilyn. That was the work everybody expected to be the most talked about lot of the week. But on the third night of sales, something extraordinary and authentic happened. A work by former professional football player and artist Ernie Barnes was offered for sale. Positioned at the auction house in a highly trafficked place, it had begun to stir interest. When the bidding began, that interest erupted into a war between an art advisor sitting in the audience bidding for a client and Houston trader Bill Perkins. In the end, Perkins paid $15 million for the lot originally estimated around $100,000. That was a lot more than he had originally intended to pay but much less than was he was determined to spend to get his prize. Bill Perkins joins us to talk about the experience.

LiveArt Market's Managing Director Rachel Hagopian discusses the approaching launch of LiveArt's exchange, The Trading Floor, where buyers and seller's will be able to match wishlist demand with supply. Hagopian also talks about the surprising entities that have benefited from the platform's anonymity and the growing interest interest in private sales.

May is the biggest auction season of the year. It opens with a huge set of sales at Christie’s.

In this podcast, we’ll speak with Christie’s Chairman, Marc Porter, about the brother and sister collectors Thomas and Doris Ammann. Johanna Flaum, head of the Contemporary department, tells us about Warhol’s Marilyn, the rare large Flowers painting, and a work by Francesco Clemente.

Max Carter, Head of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern department, talks about an early cubist Picasso bronze being deaccessioned by the Metropolitan Museum before going into detail on the extraordinary collection of Anne Bass.

Vancessa Fusco tells us about a $45 million Van Gogh landscape and two more Monets coming to market. Emily Kaplan details the Jackson Pollock drip painting Christie’s has on offer. Then she tells us about the many women artists whose work is included in the evening sale, especially a major work by Howardena Pindell who has seen million-dollar sales on the private market but little in the way of large prices in public auctions.

Finally, Ana Maria Celis walks us through an important Basquiat triptych, the return of a major Richter abstract that could reset that market and a work by sought-after artist Maria Berrio.

Christie’s sales begin on May 9th at 7pm in New York. Sales continue on May 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th.

Phillips Auction house has a reputation for creating markets for artists who don’t have a track record. Over the last several years, the house has grown rapidly to become a venue for a range of works including some of the biggest lots of the season.

In this podcast, we’ll talk to Phillips Basquiat expert Scott Nussbaum about the massive Jean-Michel Basquiat painting Phillips will be auctioning for Yusaku Maezawa. We’ll also hear from Deputy Chairman Robert Manley about a rare Calder mobile, an early Yayoi Kusama painting, a much in demand Helen Frankenthaler, and a bright red-and-yellow Rothko, as well as works by Hans Hoffmann and Carmen Herrera. It wouldn’t be Phillips if we didn’t also speak to Rebekah Bowling about the auction debut of Justin Caguiat, the largest work to come to market by Colombian artist Maria Berrio and another rare Amy Sherald painting.

The sale takes place in New York on May 18th at 7pm.

The sale of Harry and Linda Macklowe’s art collection was one of the most anticipated events of 2021. The first part of the two-part sale was held in November after a delay caused by the Covid pandemic. Sotheby’s had made an aggressive play for the collection. As Brooke Lampley points out in this podcast, a new team was in place with a lot to lose from a weak sale. In the end, the sale and the season saw prices beyond anyone’s expectations. On May 16, Sotheby’s will sell another $200 million or more in art from the Macklowe collection. These are additional examples of work by the artists the Macklowes had bought in depth.

Julian Ehrlich is the head of Christie's Post-war to Present sale. In today's market where artists are regularly bid high above their estimates, the mid-season Post-war to Present sale is a place for breakout lots. This season that happened spectacularly with the work of Lynne Drexler. But she's hardly the only artist to shine at Christie's. In this podcast, Julian talks about putting together his first sale at Christie's and how he reads the market.