Leading the field
Bulding on the key successes of the past, we sum up the hot collecting areas that are driving the auction market right now…
Twenty four years ago, an average auction hitlist might have included a piece of fine Georgian furniture, some continental porcelain and an Old Master print from the 17th or 18th centuries. These days, fashions have changed and we’re mad for all things 20th or even 21stcentury. Post-war furniture and lighting, contemporary paintings, limited- edition prints and photographs, studio ceramics and chunky 1970s jewellery are tops.
STATEMENT PIECES
‘Minimalism has had a big e ect on demand at auction,’ explains Harvey Cammell, deputy chairman of Bonhams. Most of us want a cleaner, leaner look influenced by the pared- down hygge lines of Scandinavian style that has been so popular in recent years. We also desire statement pieces that make an impact in a room scheme, rather than a large and unwieldy collection – a dynamic vase to display, perhaps, a black-and-white photograph of a Hollywood star for the wall, or a practical piece of e ortlessly elegant Danish furniture.
On the art front, international collectors are leading the way. Meredith Etherington- Smith, creative consultant at Christie’s says: ‘ This market is global, and so many Impressionist and modern paintings are already locked up in galleries or museums that wealthy buyers are seeking out trophy paintings by contemporary artists.’ At this level, the auction world is still a very glamorous place where auctions are as much theatre as sales.
CONTEMPORARY ART
The biggest change in the auction market in the past two decades, and the fastest growing sector for value, is post-war and contemporary paintings. Wealthy buyers just can’t get enough of art’s big names, such as Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Cy Twombly, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Louise Bourgeois, Je Koons,
Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Hockney, to name but a few. In May of this year, a 1962 Twombly, Leda and the Swan – a sister painting to one found in MoMA – sold at Christie’s New York for $52.9m (£39.2m).
MID-CENTURY FURNITURE
There’s no slow- down in the demand for mid- century furniture and lighting, either – especially if it’s Danish and from the likes of designers Hans Wegner (creator of the ‘ Wishbone’ chair) and Louis Poulsen (creator of the ‘PH 5’ pendant lamp), with the designs of Brit makers Ercol, Robin Day and Ernest Race popular, too. Prices start from around £100 at regional auction houses. There’s also plenty of opportunity to gawp at modern iconic designs, such as the record-holding ‘Lockheed Lounge’ aluminium and fibreglass sofa, designed in 1990 by Marc Newson, that sold for £2.4m at Phillips in 2015.