Kobel's Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 26 2023

Christoph Heim makes a series of demands in the Tagesanzeiger to Art Basel. Some of them sound somewhat out of touch with reality, others seem entirely justified and should give the Swiss food for thought: "A core issue of this 'going public' is ticket prices. In order to become more firmly rooted in Basel, Art Basel, which is at home on all continents, should transform itself in Basel after the first preview days from a trade fair into a public fair not only for collectors but for everyone. [...] Let's take the Venice Art Biennale as a comparison, which offers day tickets for locals for 20.50 euros [...] At this price, one is treated to a curated selection of the latest art in Venice, where Art Basel charges three times more and, with its chaotic art offering, only follows the sales logic of the gallery owners. The other reason for a substantial reduction in admission prices is the state financing of the fair, almost 40 per cent of whose share capital is made up of Basel taxpayers' money. The city cannot invest a total of 58 million in 2020 and 2022 in a company that systematically excludes the majority of the population from its offerings through its pricing policy. Inclusion of a diverse audience, as the state writes into the specifications of its subsidised museums and theatres, must also apply to Art Basel." However, the Basel Theatre also regularly offers discounted tickets at 10 francs only to people up to 30 years of age; the regular ticket price is 30 to 65 francs, depending on the event. In addition, the theatre regularly receives public money for its operation, the exhibition company only exceptionally, in order to absorb the mistakes of the management.

London seems to function without the Swiss, observes Vivienne Chow on a visit to the Treasure House Fair for Artnet: "The fair brings together 55 exhibitors showcasing a vast range of fine art, antiques, and other collectibles to the south grounds of London's Royal Hospital Chelsea. With solid foot traffic and some early sales closing on Thursday's opening day, the fair appeared to get off to a solid start. But more importantly, to both the fair organisers and exhibitors, is the fact that Treasure House may sustain the art-collecting momentum in the U.K. capital after Swiss fair operator MCH Group abruptly canceled Masterpiece London earlier this year."

Stephanie Dieckvoss visited the fair for the Handelsblatt: "The exhibitors come mainly from England. Many of them are familiar to visitors from fairs like Tefaf or Frieze Masters. Their number is small because the fair was put together so late. However, you can't tell by looking at it. Although there are enough London dealers with modern English art, the fair image is captivating with elegantly furnished interiors with art and furniture. This is the dealers' way of making the coexistence of old and new palatable."

Various providers of fractional ownership as a new popular investment model are presented by Abby Schultz at Barron's: "Fractional art ownership is relatively new and there aren't a wide array of offerings, so individuals should be aware they need to rely on their own research to get comfortable with the legitimacy of whatever platform they consider, including the expertise of its staff and its access to quality art at good prices. There are also extra costs. Masterworks adds about 10% to its purchase price for a work before selling to investors to cover expenses involved in buying and holding the painting, Lynn says. It also charges a 1.5% annual management fee and 20% of future profits; Mintus adds a 14% commission to its costs for acquiring an artwork, but Ozmen says it will return up to 5% of this cost to investors if a work is sold within four years. It charges a performance fee of 20% of profits when a work is sold, but no annual fee." The article is based on the example of an investor who reports a (!) successful exit. The similarity of the model to the well-known art fund is mentioned, but not the fact that almost all of these vehicles have been dissolved due to proven unsuccessfulness.

The EU has cleared the way for the reduction of VAT on art, now it is up to the German legislator, demand Birgit-Maria sturm and Silvia Zönrer of the BVDG in the WELTKUNST (paywall): "It is now up to the national legislators to reintroduce the tax reduction for the art trade in their countries. In Germany, this requires the cooperation of financial and cultural policy. The government of the traffic light coalition can now prove that it is serious about 'strengthening the cultural industry' and 'supporting free cultural venues such as galleries' - as it says in its coalition agreement. It's urgent! The deadline for implementation is 1 January 2024 [...] By the way, resentment against the art market, which was presumably the cause of the old, fatal tax directive, must be dispelled. [...] Art is cultural property - regardless of whether it is sold by authors or art dealers. Reduced VAT was even introduced for digital media and Berlin's famous Berghain won it for its ticket sales. Should digital mass media and clubbing be 'more culture' than original works of art?"

documenta 15 remained within budget, reports dpa. However, at 42.2 million euros, the budget was also higher by about the amount that the previous edition, with an approved budget of 34 million, had run up in deficit (7.6 million).

Can a private museum in a dictatorship send a political signal? Yes, believes Ingo Arend after visiting the Istanbul Modern for Monopol: "It would be to overestimate the importance of a private art museum if it were now declared to be politically significant. The Istanbul Modern was and is an upper-middle-class elite project. Nevertheless, its reopening sends out an unmistakable signal. On the one hand, houses like the Istanbul Modern or the Arter art museum of the industrialist Koç family in the Dolapdere district compensate for the lack of state art policy. The Turkish Ministry of Culture has always been concerned with little more than tourism and the maintenance of historical excavation sites in Asia Minor. Without Bülent and Oya Eczacıbaşı's passion for collecting, many of the country's incunabula of modern art might have been scattered to the winds long ago. Their patronage follows the need for prestige and distinction, but also helps to safeguard the country's cultural heritage. The Turkish art scene is also critical of this kind of patronage. The feeling of being dependent on the benevolence of oligarchs, whose economic practices often contradict their cultural magnanimity, is unpleasant.

The painter Flora Yukhnovich (33) is now represented by Hauser & Wirth, reports Tessa Solomon at Artnews. We look forward to Yukhnovich handbags, Yukhnovich dresses and Yukhnovich bedspreads from the Hauser & Wirth shop in Somerset.

The KUNSTZEITUNG will be discontinued. "After 27 years, Gabriele Lindinger and Karlheinz Schmid, publishers and editors of the KUNSTZEITUNG, are ceasing publication of the free publication - of necessity," says the website. "Issue 306 of KUNSTZEITUNG (which will be distributed from 5 July 2023) is to be the last." Apparently, it is not possible without lamentation: "The editors of the KUNSTZEITUNG had previously repeatedly and in vain pointed out the tense situation and the lack of or insufficient support from advertising customers." It goes on to say: "Although Lindinger + Schmid gave clear signals and cries for help at all levels, whether federal or provincial, whether economic or cultural departments, the politicians did not want to grant any support. Thus the KUNSTZEITUNG was not supported with a single cent from the 'new start' budget of the Minister of Culture (BKM)". And even further: "Their understanding of journalistic work, shaped by the attitude that the press has to act as a corrective, did not allow them to give in to the recently massively increasing pressure. 'Better to stop than to bend', Gabriele Lindinger and Karlheinz Schmid said in unison." However, the biweekly newsletter Informationsdienst Kunst will continue to be available for an annual subscription of 296 euros.

Finally, a bit of gossip: Artnet's steam chatterer Kenny Schachter and Belgian art collector Alain Servais don't seem to like each other very much, Schachter's insulting comments in his Art Basel review suggest: "The pomposity of that ascot-wearing hot-airbag (he'll surely stipulate in his will to be buried in a neckerchief) showed no abatement with his nonsensical comment in relation to the unwieldy installations in the Unlimited section of the fair, including a giant mattress shop by Guillaume Bijl: 'It's never the fault of the fair, it's the fault of the buyers,' he said. Galleries are going to bring what they think they can sell." In reality, there was next to no sellable fare in the Unlimited section other than a stupid candy-striped computer-generated glass cross by Gerhard Richter.'" It is better to stay out of such mud-slinging, but it is probably news to the exhibitors there that there is no selling at Art Unlimited.