Pieces’ prices surpass significance, scoff experts
LONDON — Lot 25 in the Christie’s auction, Looking Forward to the Past, in New York next month is likely to excite a lot of interest for one simple reason, and it’s not its historical significance nor even the universal fame of its creator. It’s all about the price tag.
Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger (Version “O”), painted in 1955 in homage to Franch artist Henri Matisse, is expected to break the $142-million US record for a painting sold at auction. If so, it will confirm that the top end of the art market has gone completely crazy.
The week before, Sotheby’s will sell Van Gogh’s L’allée des Alyscamps with an estimate of $40 million US, and Roy Lichtenstein’s The Ring (Engagement) with an estimate of $50 million US.
“The prices of so many of these artworks are disproportionate to their art historical importance,” says Josh Spero, the editor of Spear’s, a magazine that caters to the Picasso-aspiring classes. “It’s all about ‘ my Giacometti is bigger than your Giacometti’ now. Will you really get $140 million US worth of pleasure from it? I doubt it. But you know you had to outbid three U.S. hedge fund managers and a Russian oligarch to secure it.”
In some ways, nothing has changed. Auctions in the mid’80s saw huge sums handed over for Picassos, Cezannes and Van Goghs. Back then, the bidders wore black ties and worked on behalf of Japanese banks. Now, evening dress isn’t worn, and the buyers are from Dubrovnik to Dubai and beyond. But, 30 years apart, both are seeking not pictures but status symbols.
In recent years, however, as the number of global rich has increased, so too has the size of the luxury goods market.
It is not just the large number of very rich people that has helped swell the variety of status symbols available. It has also been caused by wafer-thin interest rates in the U.S. and Europe, making it impossible to earn a return on savings, and the slump in the eurozone, leaving few areas for investors to place their cash.
Last week, the Techno-Classica car show in Essen, Germany, saw hundreds of classic cars sold for eye-popping prices. But the super-rich no longer just want flash cars on their driveway and a Rolex on their wrist; they want a story to tell, hence the attraction of vintage cars, which come with a history.
Antonio Achille, partner at Boston Consulting Group and head of its luxury team, says: “What we observe is a natural evolution in the life of the consumer, moving from owning to being.”
One of the ultimate experiences is an exclusive holiday — and we’re not talking about a private tour of the Sistine Chapel (anyone can book that for about 300 pounds a head). The exclusive travel company Based on a True Story, “works in the realms of pure reality,” according to its founder Niel Fox. One 10-day holiday cost more than two million pounds for six adults and four children.
It involved creating an entirely fictional world for the youngsters to discover when they dove off their super-yacht. Swim to a private beach, and they would discover actors dressed up as characters from ancient Greek myths, encouraging them to find hidden gold. On another day they’d come across a firebreathing dragon on Mount Olympus (which, of course, had been closed to other visitors).
This quest for unique experiences has filtered down below the oligarch classes. Sarah Collinson, innovation manager at John Lewis, says: “We’re seeing people buying less into status symbols and more into experiences. Luxury is about treating yourself, maybe a mid-week beauty treatment or taking time off.”