Basel winds down, London revs up

Confidence in the art market has powered back with a speed and strength that has taken even seasoned professionals by surprise. This week, just before London hosts what is potentially the strongest impressionist and modern auction season in history, sales were strong at the Art Basel fair (finishing on Sunday). Deals were being done from the first minutes of the fair’s VIP opening, from a $14m Picasso sculpture sold by Krugier gallery to a run on Billy Childish paintings, which sold out at Neuguerriemschneider at prices from €4,000 to €25,000 – Bianca Jagger being among the buyers. “It’s been crazy – full of people. People just want to see things that are good. The [May New York] auctions assisted in raising prices,” said Tom Heman of the New York Metro Pictures gallery. And art advisor Sandy Heller, whose portfolio of heavy-hitting clients includes hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen, noted: “There’s an air of confidence, and the fair is very high quality this year.”

Design Miami/Basel, the fair which runs alongside Art Basel (ends on Saturday), has seen a distinct improvement this year, hosting 32 galleries and drawing praise for the quality of the offerings. The Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was among the visitors at its buzzy opening, although he didn’t visibly acquire anything. However London dealer David Gill found buyers for two Bonetti pieces: one a silver chest of drawers with ebony drawers (€45,000), the other a cabinet looking like a giant gift box, titled “Happy Birthday” and with a ribbon tied around it (€68,000). Interestingly, the French dealer in antique furniture, Didier Aaron, was present, showing what he called “Avatars”, pieces of 18th-century furniture with illustrative panels showing how they connect to 20th-century works.

Still in the design field, the Chicago-based auctioneer Wright is selling a collection of contemporary art and design which it has shipped in from Paris; it goes under the hammer on June 24. The sale (total value about $1m) is an eclectic assemblage of 100 pieces – paintings, furniture and lighting – ranging from flea-market finds (French armchair, $500-$600) to an Aya Takano painting ($120,000-$180,000). According to specialist Michael Jefferson, the sale has come to Chicago because the firm has a “strong connection to the owner, and his art advisor in Paris is a colleague and friend”.

André Derain’s ‘Arbres à Collioure’, on sale in Sotheby’s impressionist and modern art sale on Tuesday

Over the coming fortnight London expects to pass a historic milestone in its position in the art market, with the most valuable auction season it has ever seen. This week sees impressionist and modern paintings go on the block, with Sotheby’s opening the ball on Tuesday evening with a 51-lot sale that could raise £148m. The most expensive work here is one of only two self-portraits by Manet, painted in 1878-1879, which has been sent for sale by hedge-funder Steve Cohen (est. £30m-£40m). However the real buzz is about a 1905 Fauve painting by André Derain “Arbres à Collioure”, which has lain in a Parisian bank vault for 30 years and is estimated at £9m-£14m. The following evening, Christie’s blockbusters come under the hammer in a £230m, 63-lot sale that features a Blue Period Picasso, “Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto (The Absinthe Drinker)”, and one of the famed series of Monet waterlilies, each estimated to make between £30m and £40m. However with rare and desirable works such as these, it is difficult to predict the final result and the estimates could be easily beaten. Just this week in Paris a rare limestone sculpture by Modigliani, “Tête de Cariatide” (1910-1911) bested its admittedly unambitious €3m-€5m estimate 10-fold, selling for an astonishing €43.2m. Eight bidders wanted it, with three still bidding right to the end. So next week could have plenty of surprises in store.

Art fairs are mushrooming, with hardly a week passing without news of a new event. Latest up are two in Korea, the country best placed to challenge Hong Kong for supremacy in the Asian art market. South Korea, like Hong Kong, has a solid economy, low taxes on art, a strong collector base (something Hong Kong lacks), established museums (ditto) and many internationally known artists, from Nam June Paik to Lee Bul.

Seoul’s main fair, KIAF, held in September, is run by Korean art dealers and has increasingly lacked dynamism. Now its former director, Jonghyo Cheong, is creating a new, more international event, supported by the newsgroup, JoongAng Media Network. Titled Art Seoul, the first edition is slated for September next year and “is expecting participation from world’s leading galleries and to showcase top-quality artworks: Korean art collectors are travelling overseas to purchase western artworks, Korean art galleries are increasing the number of exhibitions by foreign artists,” according to Jonghyo.

His is not the only new event in Korea, as the director of the respected Gwangju Biennale is also planning to launch a fair – also in September 2011. London’s Lisson gallery has already signed up for it.

The Middle Eastern art specialist Antonia Carver (whose husband Simeon Kerr is the FT’s Dubai correspondent) has been appointed the new director of Art Dubai, following on from the London art dealer John Martin. She will take up her new job in August. Carver has lived in Dubai for the last eight years and is currently director of Bidoun Projects, part of the Middle Eastern art and culture magazine. “It’s early days to talk about my plans but among my aims are to develop the Global Art Forum and work with other institutions to create a true regional platform for art in the Gulf,” she says.

Georgina Adams is editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper