Adventures in ArtLand:
The Signature in Question
Here is a story for all you art detectives to consider.
I recently purchased a lithograph created by the late, great surrealist artist, Man Ray. It was acquired through a major New York-based auction house.
It is known by two names, in part because the work I purchased was created in 1970, but I knew it was in fact a re-issuing of a work created in 1962. The two works are known by two different titles. The original 1962 issue carried the French title, “Nature Mort” (Still Life). The later issue was known by the English title, “Coffee Pot, Cup and Saucer”.
Many artists before and after Man Ray are known to retain a specialized publisher to re-issue popular works which can provide an artist with needed additional income in their latter years.
Indeed, Man Ray is known to have contracted with a Paris-based publisher in 1963 to undertake this task, to which Man Ray could simply affix his signature. The print run of the 1970 edition produced 175 numbered and signed copies, the same number as was the case with the original print run. An additional handful of copies on the latter run were labeled E.A.(epreuve d’artiste), the French term for "artist's proof," which designates that the print was designated as one reserved for the artist's personal use or for record-keeping, often held as a higher-value print.
But herein lies a tantalizing mystery. My work has the “E.A.” designation, yet it went for significantly a lower price than numbered copies on the market. I then noticed that the second (1970) lithograph I bought has a signature that was noticeably different from the first (1962) run. I was aware that Man Ray’s signature remained amazingly consistent throughout his 60-year career. As with other famous artists like Miro and Picasso, iconic signatures are a quick way to verify if a work is genuine.
I have no doubt that the lithograph is genuine. But it is surprising that the signature on the work published in 1970 should be so different from the original issue whose signature is consistent with Man Ray’s iconic signature. (See box below.) One is left to speculate: It is possible that Man Ray’s signature changed significantly as he grew older (from 72 in 1962 to 80 years in 1970). Or, he could have been in a rush to sign the work. Or the other – and more disturbing – possibility is that an unsigned 1970 lithograph was signed illegally.
The work now hangs in my apartment. I will enjoy asking friends to offer their explanation of the signature in question. Let me know what you think!
-- Josh Martin
Spot the differences
1962 signature
1970 signature
ART MARKET SEES TOP END PRICE SLUMP
GEN Z BUYERS PROMT SHIFT IN DEMAND
New York galleries and auction houses are watching sales in the First Quarter of 2025 to determine how to position themselves following the slump in prices in 2024.
Auction sales in the first six months at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips and Bonhams fell 26% from 2023 and 36% from the market peak in 2021, according to The Art Basel and UBS 2024 Survey of Global Collecting.
Nevertheless, according to that survey, the vast majority (91%) of wealthy collectors were “optimistic” about the global art market’s performance over the next six months, up from 77% at the end of 2023.
Familiar names still dominate the high end of the international art market. A survey of top sellers over the past five years shows that six names have came up in each year since 2019, including Andy Warhol, Banksy, Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, David Hockney and Alex Katz.
(See graphic at right)
Source: Artsy
A more promising finding is that just over half (52%) of expenditure by high net worth individuals in 2023 and 2024 was on works by new and emerging artists.
This suggests that galleries with a younger stable of artists may see better bottom line results in 2025 than those galleries who represent older, more established artists.
This year may also see a continued, growing interest in works by female artists.
Artsy, a major on-line sales platform, found there was a 29% increase in inquiries from buyers for works by women artists in 2024. (See graphic at left)
Source: Artsy
Art market experts point out that galleries and auction houses will need to show an ability to adapt to such new demands from younger buyers.
Some key players are taking this to heart.
On January 3 of this year Nicholas D. Lowry, President of Swann Galleries, made a telling observation about market conditions in his annual letter to clients of the auction house: “Technology marches forward,” he wrote, adding, “administrations change, and nobody is quite sure what 2025 will hold.”
-- Josh Martin
Scott Cousins Major Painting
ACQUIRED BY THE MARTIN ART TRUST
Orfeo & Sizzy
The Martin Art Trust has acquired a major work by Scott Cousins, ‘Orfeo & Sizzy’, which has been installed in the New York office of the Trust.
The work, an oil painting on linen created in 2018. It measures 4 feet in diameter.
The work exquisitely references two major Greek mythological characters, Orpheus and Sisyphus. The two characters are often seen as near opposites. Where Sisyphus tells the story of liberty lost, Orpheus is a god of freedom. Orpheus was also known as a much loved poet and musician, who accompanied Jason and the Argonauts on some of their fabled journeys. Sisyphus was a mythic king who founded the port of Corinth, but he was also known for his avarice and deceit. He even tricked the gods in an attempt to avoid death.
Using lovely shades of lavender, Cousins’ painting suggests the two characters exist in a complex symbiotic balance.
NY Celebrates Start of Art Season
In three separate, massive venues, the New York art scene launched the start of the fall season. The first show, Art on Paper held a four-day celebration at its hipster-esque location on the lower east side of Manhattan, a stone’s throw from the city’s financial district.
The second art fair, Volta, opened on Chelsea Industrial, a showspace on west 28th street, in the heart of the vibrant Chelsea art gallery scene.
The third – and largest – art fair, The Armory Show, opened in the gigantic Javits Convention Center, locates on a site just north of Chelsea, overlooking the Hudson River.
Art Scene Summer Report
This has been an unusual summer for New York City’s fine arts market. Normally, galleries, auction houses and private dealers plan to escape the heat and humidity out on Cape Cod or up in the Adirondaks, soaking up the sunshine between sips of chilled wine and gourmet snacks. But this time, the fancy shops sprinkled through Soho, Chelsea and the Silk Stocking District, home to the classiest establishments where the well heeled could obtain the objets which cement their claim to to cultural superiority found staffs of many of the major institutions at their post, open for business to trade their wares for as much cash as you could spend.
ART MUTUAL FUNDS TEMPT INVESTORS
A new breed of investment vehicles is offering art afficianados a way to put their portfolios where their heart is, by investing in fine art.
According to Motley Fool, these funds capitalize on the fact that the value of fine art has proven to beat the performance of many stocks on the New York Stock Exchange as well as such popular investment barometers as the S&P 500 and the Wilshire 5000.
There are now a dozen art-based mutual funds where investors can put their money to work.
ART NFTS AND CRYPTO CURRENCY:
IS THERE LIFE AFTER TECHNO DEATH?
A few years ago, the art market was rocked by the emergence of a marriage of cryptocurrencies and fine art. Some seemingly banal works were going for millions of dollars, and thousands of artists joined in the frenzy, which momentarily promised to become a internet market space where the traditional control exercised by galleries and high powered art dealers was about to be overthrown.
FULL TEXT HERE
ARTISTS MIGHT STARVE
BUT ART MARKET SOARS
American artists are at the heart of a vast culture market that generates billions of dollars in foreign and domestic revenues.
According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis GDP for the arts and culture nonprofit and commercial sector now tops $1.102 trillion with over 5.2 million jobs.
WANT YOUR OWN ART COLLECTION?
HERE’S A NY BUYERS GUIDE
If you want to build an art collection, you have many ways to find and buy the works you want. And you don’t need to be a billionaire to succeed.
FULL TEXT HERE
ARTISTS FACE COMPLEX CHOICES
TO MARKET THEIR ART
Art galleries, art sale web sites, personal web sites, auctions and crypto currency markets -- Artists in the 21st century have a dazzling choice of markets to offer their creative efforts to a buying public.
FULL TEXT HERE
COMING SOON: MORE NEWS AND FEATURES
This page will include reviews of shows, reporting on trends in the arts, and commentary on changes in how the business of art is carried out.
