Gérard Garouste: painting between madness and the quest for knowledge

Gérard GAROUSTE is one of those artists who appears to have resisted the ebb and flow of artistic fashions and intellectual trends by continuing to express himself through ‘traditional’ painting.

Contemporary Art in convalescence

While London’s auctioneers congratulate themselves on the healthy sold rates at their June Contemporary Art sales (92.5% at Sotheby’s, 88% at Christie’s and 75% at Phillips de Pury & Company), bidders are continuing on a path of caution and sobriety.

Christie’s and Sotheby’s prepare their prestige May sales in New York

The market is holding its breath ahead of the critical May sales in New York that will inevitably gauge the health of the Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary segments. As expected, the price tags are substantially lower than a year earlier in all three segments

Contemporary art - New arrivals to the world of public auctions

Every year, nearly 3,000 artists have their first work(s) sold at auction. This first sale is a significant step because for most people the prices they command represent a sort of benchmark which follows them throughout their career. Galleries find it less easy to support their favourite artists if the latter have not shown the capacity to generate sufficiently strong performances in the public auction arena. Likewise, a strong auction performance is an ideal trampoline for guaranteeing the success of future exhibitions on the primary market. So who got started in 2007? Artprice looks at the top 50 new entrants.

Contemporary art in New-York – Confidence reigns…

Art market players had been worried by the idea of a market downturn after the mixed results from the impressionist and modern art sales in New York on 6 and 7 November. However, one week later, the strong sales in the contemporary art sector proved that the market remains buoyant.

Shcontemporary : a new art fair is born in Shanghai

Shanghai and Beijing are the new centres of attraction: galeries are proliferating there and collectors from the world over are invited to discover in situ the dynamism of the Asian scene, encouraged by the effervescence of Chinese art, whose sale proceeds were multiplied by ten in 2006.

London - European auction capital

Traditionally in February, it is London that kicks off the season of European public auctions with major sales organised by Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

La Force de l’Art at the Grand Palais

“La Force de l’Art” opens to the public from 9 May to 25 June, bringing together fifteen exhibitions for the first of a new triennial series of shows intended to restore France to the forefront of the international art scene.

French market: contemporary art takes centre stage in October

The 31st FIAC will take place on 21-25 October at the Porte de Versailles in Paris, and will be attended by 215 galleries – 94 of them new – from 20 countries. This internationally famous art fair is without doubt the essential meeting place in France for contemporary art collectors, professionals and aficionados. It showcases works by established French artists, such as Robert COMBAS , BEN and Claude VIALLAT , as well as providing the opportunity to start a collection by purchasing the work of a promising young artist. Houses such as Cornette de Saint Cyr and Artcurial also use the event to hold specialist auctions.

International contemporary art driven by Phillips, De Pury & Luxembourg

The contemporary art market has been doing fairly well of late, and the last big auctions of the year have reaffirmed the trend. The wealthiest US investors are continuing to support new art. Record after record has been falling in New York, and not only for American artists.

How does the French contemporary art market measure up today?

Since it reformed its auctioneers, France has increased its share of the auction market from 7% of worldwide turnover in 2001, to 8.6% in 2002. Yet growth in the wider sector has done little for the contemporary art market. France only generated 4.5% of the proceeds from contemporary artworks in 2002.