London Contemporary Auction Analysis -2010

A sense of new reality hit the contemporary art auctions in London last week. Prices and volumes are levelling out, after a strong recovery since February 2009.

On the back of a solid art fair in Basel, expectations were high ahead of this season of contemporary sales. However, the positive
recovery of the art market stuttered this month, as the much hyped
Impressionism and Modern sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s failed to
live up to expectations. A much trumpeted Monet did not warrant a single
bid at Christie’s, questioning the strength of the recovery, even at
the top end the market. The uncertainty spread to the Contemporary
market, whereby all three auctions missed their low pre-sale estimates,
although Christie’s came close.