Market review: February's Impressionist and modern sales in London saw German expressionists take their turn to break records. Meanwhile, the inaugural art and antiques Dubai fair got off to a good start and Banksy did unexpectedly well in New York

Apollo, April, 2008 by Susan Moore

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At the February sales in London it seemed that the appetite for major works of art had never been greater or more global--and that the auction estimate was well-nigh redundant as an indicator of value. It seemed, too, that the price chasm between the best and the rest is widening, a factor which may explain the number of over-priced bought-in lots.

This season it was Sotheby's that seemed best to gauge the mood and taste of the day, with its tight and perfectly pitched Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale of 5 February, which realised a record 166m [pounds sterling], the auction-house's highest ever sale total in Europe. Whereas Christie's flabbier offering the night before had seen a quarter of its lots bought in, this sale was 88% sold by lot and 93% by value.

Most striking was the strength of Russian buying, with 15% of the lots at Sotheby's sold to those of Russian origin (up from 9% last year), including the top lot, Franz Marc's Grazing Horses III (Fig. 3) and probably also the second most expensive work, Alexej von Jawlensky's Schokko (Schokko with Wide-brimmed hat). These are strong, vibrant images produced by painters of the German expressionist school historically well-known in Moscow; indeed Jawlensky was a native Russian. Schokko set another auction record for the artist at 9.4m [pounds sterling], whilst the Marc doubled expectations to sell for a record 12.34m [pounds sterling]--more than twice the price it fetched in New York only five years ago. Whereas other Western buyers take into account benchmarks set in previous sales, the Russians--and the Asians--will just pay whatever it takes to acquire what they want. Unlike the Japanese buyers of the 1980s, who bought the big names regardless of quality, these new buyers are drawn to the rare and the exceptional. These are the fruits of Sotheby's opening an office in Moscow last May.

Around a third of Christie's Post-War and Contemporary evening sale of 6 February similarly failed to find buyers. Even so, the sale totalled 72.9m [pounds sterling] and found 26.34m [pounds sterling] for Francis Bacon's Trip tych 1974-1977 (Fig. 4), the highest price ever paid for a post-war work in Europe but just shy of the Bacon record. Offered at auction for the first time, it is the last in the series that the artist painted in response to the tragic death of his lover George Dyer. There were record prices too for Gerhard Richter, Lucio Fontana and Bridget Riley (1.4m [pounds sterling]). Richter and Fontana's records lasted only until Sotheby's evening sale on 27 February. Here, Richter's Candle, estimated at 1.8m [pounds sterling]-2.5m [pounds sterling], sold to a us private collector for 7.9m [pounds sterling]. The Fontana, Concetto Spaziale/La Fine di Dio (Fig. 5), a punctured canvas some 1.78m high covered with waterpaint, oil and glitter, was expected to fetch in excess of 4m [pounds sterling]; it went to a us art agent for a massive 10.3m [pounds sterling]. Once again, the top lot was a Bacon, Study of Nude with Figure in a Mirror, which sold at the low end of its estimate for just under 20m [pounds sterling]. Some 80% sold by lot and 93% by value, the sale totalled a massive 95m [pounds sterling]--the highest price achieved for a contemporary sale in Europe. Unsurprisingly, Sotheby's also announced that contemporary art was the biggest contributor to its business last year, with sales amounting to $1.3bn, double that of 2006.

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Dubai was once familiar to the art and antiquities trade as a place where one bought works of art rather than sold them. These days the reverse is true, with the contemporary Art Dubai now in its second year and Haughton International Fairs staging the Emirates' first high-quality art and antiques fair. The inaugural Art and Antiques Dubai, held at the Madinat Arena, 21-24 February, was a fascinating affair, not least because none of the 41 international exhibitors knew quite what to expect. A big draw was the Mathaf Gallery, Orientalist specialists who have been doing business in the region for almost 30 years; it sold around 10 pictures, with Franz Wilhelm Odermark's 1894 Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo being one of a group of items snapped up on the opening night and transported off by a princely private plane the following day.

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Indeed, the new fair was surprisingly well attended by members--or representatives--of royal or prominent families, not only from the UAE but also Saudi Arabia, Oman, Brunei and Kuwait. Expatriates of various nationalities also proved enthusiastic. Significant sales were rare, although Koopman, for instance, sold a royal silver-gilt tray by Joseph Preedy of 1802, a gift from George In to a godson, the Duke of Dorset, and Lesley Kehoe of Australia sold a striking contemporary Japanese screen by Maio Motoko, Passion/Dispassion, a lustrous surge with antique fabric remnants set against gold foil (Fig. 6). (Maison Gerard also sold a contemporary white plaster and resin screen designed by Marc Bankowsky.) Most of the sales were for pieces priced up to $100,000. The Ayyam Gallery of Damascus did well with contemporary Syrian art, as did Samina with Indian jewellery and Georg Jensen silver specialist Alastair Crawford also sold to various residents.