January 2006
The Cottelston Bulletin
Michael S. Sellinger
Exuberance - 2005 was a year in which contemporary art auction records were shattered. The year swiftly started with The Gates and never slowed down. Business at Art Basel Miami in December was so brisk that despite 30% more exhibitors, sales across the board doubled. While the hunger of American private collectors for modern and contemporary works fueled the market, the new rich of Russia, China and India flexed their financial muscles, particularly in indigenous art.
Through Public Art projects such as The Gates , one of the most visited and talked-about art projects the year, the art world continued to expand its horizons and educate new patrons. For 16 days in February, orange became the new black, again, as Christo and Jeanne-Claude's saffron-colored extravaganza took over miles of New York's Central Park with 7,500 gates. While some complained, most enjoyed and the art world grew.
A fixture of the art-world calendar since 1895, the Venice Biennale had two major milestones: for the first time the curators were female and China had a pavilion. Curated by Rosa Martinez and Maria de Corral, the Biennale was generally well-received, though it did provoke some debate: Christopher Knight of the L.A. Times called it "the most thoughtful and, in several instances, bracing Biennale in ages," but Carol Vogel of The New York Times , lamented that it was "a confirmation rather than an exploration of who's hot in contemporary art."
While China's importance in the art world continued to build with its presence in the Biennale, Russia arrived on the art world stage with Russia! at the Guggenheim. The show celebrated 800 years of Russian art and the freedom that Russian artists now have to sell their work and participate in international art shows like the Venice Biennale. The interest in Russia was further boosted by the newest addition to art investment funds, the Thornton Fine Art Investment Fund, which will focus exclusively on Russian art and was seeded by the Russian billionaire who in 2004 bought the Forbes' Faberge collection.
Art collecting surged as fair after fair reported high attendance figures, as well as mind-boggling sales, while the auction houses sold $800 million worth of contemporary art. According to Artprice, prices for contemporary art increased 40 per cent in 2005 and Artnet's Fine Art Auctions Database, reported that new auction records were set for more than 3,800 artists in 2005, with a impressive number of artists breaking $1 million-dollar barrier for the first time.
With the growth in the art market it is hard not to get caught up in the excitement. But remember "... at the end of the day, buy what you love. Buy it because you want to live with it." Michael Sellinger quoted in The Miami Herald .
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