Photo auctions attract aggressive bidding: sotheby's strikes gold while Christie's sales are off

Art Business News, August, 2004 by Barden Prisant

What can we mere mortals take away from all of this?

Evidently, when it comes to marketing works of art, timing is critical. One expert opined that the sales were fueled by consignments from people fearing the uncertainty surrounding the November elections. Even now, there may still be such pessimists anxious to unload their possessions, and dealers might profit from identifying the ones in their own cities.

Also, it seems that a number of private galleries timed their own exhibitions to coincide with the major auctions, in order to "piggyback" on the excitement. Word has it that some of them fully sold out. Hence, when next season's major paintings sales roll around, it might not hurt for galleries to mount shows of visually comparable images, be they originals or multiples.

Did any lucky dealer out there happen to mount a show last May which included Picasso-esque images? If so, contact Joe Jancsurak, editor of ABN. Email: jjancsurak@pfpublish.com. Ph: (216) 750-0361.--K.P.