Arts Feel Madoff Effect

Published in La Nacion
(Argentina) on 12 May 2009
by Alicia de Arteaga (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Joseph Locatelli. Edited by .

Edited by Robin Silberman

The auctions in New York hit a new ceiling for the art market. Sotheby’s wasn’t able to sell a portrait of Picasso belonging to William Achenbaum, victim of Bernie Madoff and head of the hotel group Gansevoort based in Miami Beach.

The Madoff effect is also being felt by Christie’s. The discreet performance of its closest competitor inspired a less ambitious policy on the part of the auctioneer of the property of François Pinault (FNAC, Gucci, Au Printemps). His experts sold a Picasso of the collection of Jerome Fischer, founder of the shoe company Nine West, with an estimated maximum of $18 million for $14 million.

Is it a sign of the times? The conservative bases and logical prices result in an optimal equation for recovering economies. As we anticipated, there were six hands up for an early landscape by Monet painted in Argentuil, that besides being beautiful, had the origin of the Havemeyer family. The piece sold for $3.4 million, twice its estimated price.

The results indicate that the shoppers have become selective. There are no longer the billionaires of the fast and easy check; the financial tsunami and Madoff have decimated them. A cat in bronze by Giacometti did not sell, but a painting by Mondrian, with a price estimated at $5 million sold for $9.2 million.

The geometric admired by the Argentine Luis Tomasello is rising. Two months back, in the auction of the Saint Laurent collection, The Louvre Museum bought a Mondrian for the new headquarters in Abu Dhabi. This is the kind of information that is quoted in the art world. Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires, American Express prepares to buy in arteBa, as in every year, a work of art for the National Museum of Fine Arts.


Las subastas neoyorquinas fijaron un nuevo techo para el mercado de arte. Sotheby´s no pudo vender el retrato de Picasso propiedad de William Achenbaum, víctima de Berni Madoff y cabeza del grupo hotelero Gansevoort con base en Miami Beach.

El efecto Madoff se hizo sentir también en Christie´s. La discreta performance de su más cercana competidora inspiró una política menos ambiciosa en la rematadora propiedad de François Pinault (FNAC, Gucci, Au Printemps). Sus expertos vendieron un Picasso de la colección de Jerome Fischer, fundador de la compañía de zapatos Nine West, con un estimado máximo de 18 millones de dólares por 14 millones de la misma moneda.

¿Signo de los tiempos? Las bases conservadoras y los precios lógicos resultan una ecuación óptima para economías en terapia. Tal como anticipamos, hubo seis manos en alto por un paisaje temprano de Monet pintado en Argenteuil, que, además de ser lindísimo, tenía la impecable procedencia de la familia Havemeyer. La pieza se vendió en 3,4 millones de dólares, el doble de lo estimado.

Los resultados indican que los compradores se han vuelto selectivos. Ya no están en escena los billonarios del sí fácil y la chequera pronta, el tsunami financiero y Madoff los han diezmado. No se vendió un gato de bronce de Giacometti, pero dobló el precio una tela de Mondrian, estimada en 5 millones de dólares y vendida en 9,2 millones.

El geométrico admirado por el platense Luis Tomasello está en alza. Dos meses atrás, en la subasta de la colección Saint Laurent, el Museo del Louvre compró un Mondrian para la nueva sede de Abu Dhabi. Este es el tipo de datos que cotizan en el mundo del arte. Mientras tanto, en Buenos Aires, American Express se prepara para comprar en arteBa, como todos los años, una obra de arte para el Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.

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