Reflective Log: What Sold at Frieze London & Frieze Masters

Internet Source: Artsy. Article by Alexander Forbes, 8th October 2016, Available from  https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-what-sold-at-frieze-london-and-frieze-masters

Key points & reflections:

• "To the credit of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips, London’s auctions succeeded in painting a picture of the market in rebound against this backdrop, thanks to a handful of record-setting sales and many more above-estimate results." (Forbes, 2016)

• "Like many markets at this moment of unsteadiness, the art market is heavily focused on underlying fundamentals. That means scrutiny of an artist’s CV, the collections in which his or her work is held, and, for secondary market pieces, provenance. And it’s good news for certain sectors of the market that had more recently languished while attention focused only on the new and young." (Forbes, 2016).

• "“Over the last 18 months there’s been a movement away from the new, fast, and young and onto great modern artists who, when seen in the right light, look contemporary and relevant. Maybe there’s an inherent value in that maturity and a conservatism creeping into the market,” said Taylor, who pointed to the wall of works by Hans Hartung that make up the back of his stand at Masters but could just as easily have been made by a young artist showing at Frieze London’s Focus section." (Forbes, 2016) - A comment on the accessibility of art? 

• Things that affect the art market at the moment - Brexit, U.S election, negative interest rates, concerns about global economy.