A view from Art Basel 2010

July 2010

This article was produced by leading international art advisory firm 1858 Ltd who provide independent and impartial advice to HSBC Private Bank clients in all aspects of the collecting process in association with the HSBC Private Bank art and design advisory team.

Exhibiting galleries in this years' 41^st edition of Art Basel were greeted by flocks of collectors in search of the next great work of art. The return of confidence to the art market swiftly translated into significant sales in the first day of the prestigious fair, setting a fever-pitch momentum for the remainder of the five day fair. The re-invigorated floor of Basel has art market commentators predicting that the sector will enter into yet another bull run in the next 12 months. While collector's appetites have returned, sales indicate that hunger has restored mainly for works of the utmost quality.

Louise Bourgeois Les Fleurs, www.artnet.com

Sales of highly sought after names such as Prince, Picasso and Bourgeois dominated the opening moments of the fair. Picasso's unique 1960 plaster maquette Perssonage soldfor $15 million to an unnamed collector; the sale follows Picasso's recent world record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

Artworks by the recently passed French-American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois (1911 – 31 May 2010) were reported to have also sold out quickly throughout the fair. An untitled 1996 installation of sewn mannequins hanging on a metal clothesline sold for $1.5 million and Les Fleurs - completed at age 98 and only months before her death - a remarkable set of 28 gouache on paper works also sold to an unnamed American museum for $1.5 million. Also of mention, one of Richard Prince's prolific nurse paintings - Student Nurse - sold for $4.2 million. Throughout the market downturn and recovery Prince and Picasso retained market confidence and with the event of Bourgeois' recent death, it appears her fame is rapidly spreading, already translating into sales.

Kapoor’s mirror work Cloud Gate in Millenium Park, www.forbes.com

On the Basel gallery floor, a relative absence of American buyers was observed with Europeans taking home most of the treasures from this year's fair. A demand for sculpture was also evident. Murakami made a significant splash with the sale his archetypal cute Yume Lion selling to a European collector for $1.4 million. Two recent circular mirror pieces by Anish Kapoor were each sold in the £500,000 ($742,000) range, even before the sculptures got unpacked for viewing.

Of course Basel would not be complete without the blue-chip art (of a recent vintage) by Damien Hirst, whose glitzy cabinet sculpture Memories of Love (2010), standing over five-feet tall in stainless steel and glass with 6,000 glass-and-lab gemstones, sold for £2.35 million ($3.49 million).

The purchases at this year's ART Basel demonstrate that collector's still have deep pockets for exemplary works. Whilst art market commentators speculate how the market will develop over the next year, most gallerists are thrilled to be witnessing an active floor despite economic uncertainty.

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