Kobel's Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 30 2025

Handbags save the auction giant! George Nelson analyses Christie's half-year results for Artnews: "Christie's announced on Tuesday that its projected sales total for the first half of 2025 (H1-2025). The $2.1 billion figure, including fees, equals the sum it generated during the first half of 2024 (H1-2024). While last year's total marked a 22 percent year-on-year decline compared to the same period for 2023, Alex Rotter, Christie's global president, told journalists during a Zoom call that this year's plateau was partly down to ‘renewed interest’ in ‘pockets of 20th and 21st century art.’ Does this mean the market for modern and contemporary art is stabilising after a drawn-out decline? Not necessarily. Strong sales in its luxury categories counter the even-keeled totals in most of the art categories. Christie's sold almost 30 percent more handbags, watches, cars, and jewellery during H1-2025 than H1-2024, generating $468 million, or 22 percent of the $2.1 billion total.

Ursula Scheer's half-year review of German art auction houses has only been published online in the FAZ, but behind the F+ paywall (perhaps to encourage buyers of the printed Saturday edition to make another purchase): "However, the current half-year figures from the top-selling local auctioneers show that the new restraint is not a widespread phenomenon, but is mainly evident in certain areas – such as modern or contemporary works with top prices in excess of ten million dollars, as offered by the major international auctioneers in New York or London. In a comparatively small market such as Germany, which accounts for only two per cent of global art sales but shrank by only five per cent in 2024 – far less than the global trade as a whole – relative growth is even possible."

Alexandra Wach summarises the auction of the art collection of former Daimler Benz CEO Edzard Reuter and his wife Helga in Paris and Stuttgart for the Handelsblatt: "Overall, Nagel reported sales of 915,000 euros for the artworks from Reuter's estate that were auctioned. That is more than double the lower estimate, which according to the press department was 385,000 euros. However, Nagel did not manage to sell all of the items on offer. This was in contrast to Christie's in Paris, which seven weeks earlier had achieved a so-called white glove sale with fifty selected top works from the estate of the couple, who died in quick succession in 2024. The most expensive work there was Yves Klein's ‘Relief Planétaire terre’ from 1961, which sold for 1.6 million euros, followed by Lucio Fontana's ‘Concetto Spaciale’ [sic!] for one million euros. Christie's realised a total of 7.5 million euros with the premium works from the collection, which also included paintings by Pierro Manzoni, Günther Uecker and Enrico Castellani with six-figure proceeds.

However, according to an analysis by ArtTactic (only 195 British pounds), the global outlook for the auction industry is sobering, even if Karen K. Ho at Artnews tries to paint a rosy picture: "While much of the global auction market continues to be in a correction period, overall auction sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips for the first half of 2025 have fallen only [!] 6.2 percent and the number of lots sold rose 1.3 percent compared to the same time last year. While global auction sales fell 6.2 percent overall, sales of post-war and contemporary art dropped 19.3 percent to $1.22 billion, impressionist and modern art fell 7.7 percent to $989.5 million, and luxury sales were almost flat (down 0.5 percent to $805.9 million). There were big increases for design, decorative arts and furniture (up 20.4 percent to $172 million) and even more for Old Masters (up 35.6 percent to $171.2 million).‘ If a decline of ’only 6.2 percent" is supposed to be a good sign, the situation must be really bad.

The third-party guarantee, which major auction houses use to minimise their own risk and arrange advance sales of high-priced works, backfired on Phillips and the buyer, reports Eileen Kinsella at Artnet: "However, in this case, none of those particulars worked out as planned. During the November 19 evening sale, bidding on the Pollock, which had an unpublished estimate of $13 million, failed to reach the minimum, meaning that Mimran was obligated to buy it for the previously agreed-upon price of $14.5 million. [...] Luke Nikas, who is representing Phillips, said in a statement: ‘It's astonishing that Mimran believes he can bid like a billionaire and then hide behind the claim that he's broke. If Mimran didn't have a dollar to his name to pay for the artwork, as he claims, then he shouldn't have raised a paddle.’ Who would have thought that gambling products attract gamblers?

The venerable Art Show at New York's Armory is ‘taking a break.’ Daniel Cassady reports in Artnews: "The 37th edition of the Art Dealers Association of America's (ADAA) flagship art fair, The Art Show, has been cancelled, marking the first time in decades that the fair will not take place at the Park Avenue Armory. In an email to members on Wednesday reviewed by ARTnews, ADAA leadership cited a ‘strategic pause’ as the reason behind cancelling, adding that the board had made the decision ‘after careful review.’ The fair was originally scheduled to open with a benefit preview on 28 October. ‘While we understand this news may be disappointing, we believe this pause presents a meaningful opportunity to reimagine The Art Show with long-term sustainability and member value in mind,’ the email reads. ‘It allows us to evaluate how best to support our members, partners, and the broader arts community in an evolving cultural and market landscape.’

The crisis in the French art market is described in a study (PDF) by the gallery association CPGA, which Roxana Azimi read for Le Monde (paywall): "In addition to cost inflation, there is another phenomenon: the lack of younger collectors. “We are struggling to attract young people, while in other countries, such as China, the average buyer is around 30 years old,” notes Magda Danysz, vice-president of the CPGA, adding: “In France, too, priorities have shifted; it's more about the experience than the object.” […] The most worrying thing for Philippe Charpentier is the difficulty of securing the next generation in the long term. “No new player founded after 2015 has been able to change its size, expand internationally or enter the trade fair system,” notes the CPGA president. In the long term, this could lead to a shrinking market, a loss of diversity and an impairment of our ability to bring our artists to the international stage." However, one of the industry's problems may also lie in its fixation on this very trade fair system.

On the occasion of an exhibition in Paris, Ivo Kranzfelder describes the late market career of Artemisia Gentileschi for the Handelsblatt: "Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653) was a highly respected and famous painter during her lifetime, who at times maintained a large studio with employees, but at other times suffered from financial hardship. She worked in her native Rome, in Naples, in Florence for the Medici family, in Venice and in England for Charles I, for whom she probably painted the painting “David with the Head of Goliath”, which fetched £1.99 million at Sotheby's on 2 July."

The case of Ron Perelman explores the depths of art insurance, writes Riah Pryor in the Art Newspaper (paywall may apply): "Though the works were not physically destroyed, Perelman argues they suffered an intangible loss of value—what he famously described as their “oomph”—after exposure to the sprinkler systems and smoke. The insurers dispute the damage, as well as Perelman's claim that he never attempted to sell the works afterwards. But how does a market, increasingly professionalised, complex and litigated, quantify a quality as elusive as ‘oomph’? And why does it take seven years—and millions in legal fees—to do so? Part of the answer lies in the subjective nature of art valuation. Damage to a work is not always visible to the human eye. In many such cases, what is really on trial is evidence around how people reached conclusions or perceptions. It’s a challenge that is familiar from authenticity and attribution cases.”

A study by economists has attempted to draw conclusions about the economic conditions of different societies over the centuries based on paintings. Daniel Stähr presents it in Monopol: "The trio uses this data set to describe changes in social mood over the last 600 years. Some of the artworks reflect predictable events, such as wars or periods of extreme weather. However, the researchers also found historical moments that at first glance seem hardly relevant to art, such as the expansion of trade relations or the development of technical innovations. In short, the trio succeeded in telling the story of past societies through paintings. This not only provides new insights into economic development before the 19th century, when statistical data was scarce, but can also provide new information about which specific crises and events were actually responsible for the transformation of social structures. Gorin, Heblich and Zylberberg make the stories about the past that are hidden in paintings measurable."

Alexander Koch, co-founder of the Berlin gallery KOW and the major civil society project Neue Auftraggeber, talks to Georg Imdahl in the FAZ on 19 July about his new project, an artist advisory service: "The recipe for survival for young artists is to become visible. Social media does this for some – others do it quite differently. Many of the tools for attracting attention are quite traditional: engaging in exchange, taking an interest in other positions, connecting in networks and helping each other, exhibiting together and creating opportunities for this yourself. When you create common ground, even if it's just an invitation for coffee, spaces are created. A sincere, lively interest in what's going on around you: that's the best ticket to becoming part of a larger context, better, much better than hanging around Art Basel alone as a small artist." Koch's website brings together texts and lectures from the last 25 years or so.

I spoke with the two main players in the Artnet takeover, Rüdiger K. Weng and Andrew E. Wolff, for WELTKUNST Insider (60 days free).

Keep your eyes open when buying trophies! Hubertus Butin reports in the FAZ on 19 July on the practice of forgery of Renaissance objects, which was particularly widespread in the 19th century: "However, there are also works of art for which it is not possible to reliably date their creation to a specific century. This is particularly common in Renaissance-style handicrafts. In this context, Philippe de Montebello, then director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, announced some disturbing news back in 1984: 'It is highly probable that every major collection of Renaissance jewellery, metalwork and crystal will find that a disturbingly large proportion of its holdings date from the 19th century rather than the 16th or 17th century.' The art historian came to this conclusion after a collection of more than a thousand design drawings from the workshop of the Aachen goldsmith and forger Reinhold Vasters was found in the archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 1979."

The Klimt case remains confusing and exciting. In Der Standard, Olga Kronsteiner writes about possible legal consequences for the owner: "Things are now getting uncomfortable for the owner of the rediscovered Klimt painting of a West African prince. The Hungarian citizen who commissioned the Viennese art dealers Wienerroither & Kohlbacher to sell it is now facing criminal charges from the Hungarian authorities. [...] On Tuesday, the first results and consequences were announced: on the one hand, a procedure to place the painting under protection was initiated and a change in the law was announced. On the other hand, criminal proceedings have been initiated against the owner for misuse of protected cultural property, misleading the authorities and forgery of documents." However, the otherwise thorough editorial team at Der Standard appears to have accepted the photo accompanying the article without checking it, as the person on the left of the picture is not, as claimed, Eberhard Kohlbacher, but a visitor to the fair. In the FAZ of 19 July, Ursula quotes the Viennese art dealers who brokered the sale of the painting: "At the request of the F.A.Z., Wienerroither & Kohlbacher presents the facts differently. The authenticity of the work was only confirmed by investigations carried out by art historian and Klimt expert Alfred Weidinger, who was able to rely, among other things, on scientific analyses commissioned by the gallery. Previously, the authorship of the painting had been unclear. Weidinger carried out extensive research into the provenance and history of the painting. A complete scan of the Hungarian export licence was submitted to the Austrian Building Authority on 25 January 2024. In his report, Weidinger quotes the Hungarian Minister of Construction and Transport, János Lázár, as saying that it is not the task of the Hungarian state to contest property claims by Holocaust survivors or their descendants.

According to Katya Kazakina's research for Artnet (paywall possible), top art advisors Barbara Guggenheim and Abigail Asher are celebrating a messy divorce: "But after working together for 37 years, their blue-chip advisory firm, Guggenheim Asher Associates, has imploded, the Art Detective can reveal. The former partners are now locked in a bitter legal dispute, according to lawsuits filed in New York Supreme Court. Allegations of fraud, tax evasion, misappropriation of funds, abuse, and exploitation shatter the polished veneer of an ultra-high-end firm whose clients included celebrities like Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise and corporations such as Sony and Coca-Cola. The competing cases detail extravagant lifestyles at the pinnacle of the art market and shock with claims of incompetence and dubious business practices. It is not a pretty picture.