Artelligence Podcast

TEFAF Maastricht, the mother of all art fairs encompassing 7,000 years of art history, normally runs for multiple weeks in March. This week it re-opens for a shortened run. Noted as the centerpiece of the Old Masters calendar, and with Christie’s having held Old Masters sales in New York just a week or two before, I thought it would helpful to speak to William O’Reilly, who runs the New York office of Dickinson. Founded in 1993 by Simon Dickinson, the firm boasts that it privately and discreetly handles a uniquely broad range of quality artworks, from early Renaissance masters through to blue-chip Contemporary artists. It is one of the very few firms that can truly say that.   O’Reilly began his career studying Arabic in school. He worked for Christie’s for 10 years rising to be International Head of Old Masters drawings. Since 2018, he has worked at Dickinson which is known for its gallery exhibitions and their curated art fair presentations at places like TEFAF. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Nate Freeman writes a weekly art column for Vanity Fair. He made the evolution from art world reporter for ARTnews, Artsy and Artnet to writing a weekly gossip column that profiles the most interesting characters in the art world. In this podcast, we talk about how he writes his column, what he expects to see at Art Basel, the fusion of the art and fashion worlds, New York’s hippest neighborhood Dimes Square, the temperature of art market based upon the May sales, the return of Larry Gagosian to the gossip columns, competition between the big four galleries, the fate of tastemaker galleries and why everyone is attracted to the worst behavior in the art market.

In her 17-year career at Sotheby’s, Gabriela Palmieri presided over the most valuable Contemporary art day sale ever held. She was involved in the sale of Adam Sender’s collection and worked with the estate of Allan Stone. Since establishing Palmieri Fine Art, Gabriela has worked on the Emily and Jerry Spiegel collection and the sale of Barbarlee Diamondstein-Spielvogel and Carl Spielvogel’s collection. She also advised on the Brillembourg-Caprilles collection and the sale of a major collection of Pictures Generation works along with her work for many other clients.  In this podcast, we discuss the recent May sales in New York as well as her take on what collectors want in the market right now.

Andrew Fabricant became Chief Operating Officer of Gagosian Gallery a year before the global pandemic radically transformed the business of dealing art. In this podcast, Fabricant discusses the recent auctions in New York, the unexpected surge in the art market during the pandemic and what that means for the future of the art market as the global economy rebalances toward a post-pandemic world. We also delve into the opportunities and challenges involved in running an art-dealing enterprise with more than 300 employees, 19 locations and reputation as an aggressive sales organization. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

The May week of sales began with Andy Warhol's $195 million Shot Sage Blue Marilyn. That was the work everybody expected to be the most talked about lot of the week. But on the third night of sales, something extraordinary and authentic happened. A work by former professional football player and artist Ernie Barnes was offered for sale. Positioned at the auction house in a highly trafficked place, it had begun to stir interest. When the bidding began, that interest erupted into a war between an art advisor sitting in the audience bidding for a client and Houston trader Bill Perkins. In the end, Perkins paid $15 million for the lot originally estimated around $100,000. That was a lot more than he had originally intended to pay but much less than was he was determined to spend to get his prize. Bill Perkins joins us to talk about the experience.

LiveArt Market's Managing Director Rachel Hagopian discusses the approaching launch of LiveArt's exchange, The Trading Floor, where buyers and seller's will be able to match wishlist demand with supply. Hagopian also talks about the surprising entities that have benefited from the platform's anonymity and the growing interest interest in private sales.

May is the biggest auction season of the year. It opens with a huge set of sales at Christie’s. In this podcast, we’ll speak with Christie’s Chairman, Marc Porter, about the brother and sister collectors Thomas and Doris Ammann. Johanna Flaum, head of the Contemporary department, tells us about Warhol’s Marilyn, the rare large Flowers painting, and a work by Francesco Clemente. Max Carter, Head of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern department, talks about an early cubist Picasso bronze being deaccessioned by the Metropolitan Museum before going into detail on the extraordinary collection of Anne Bass. Vancessa Fusco tells us about a $45 million Van Gogh landscape and two more Monets coming to market. Emily Kaplan details the Jackson Pollock drip painting Christie’s has on offer. Then she tells us about the many women artists whose work is included in the evening sale, especially a major work by Howardena Pindell who has seen million-dollar sales on the private market but little in the way of large price

Phillips Auction house has a reputation for creating markets for artists who don’t have a track record. Over the last several years, the house has grown rapidly to become a venue for a range of works including some of the biggest lots of the season. In this podcast, we’ll talk to Phillips Basquiat expert Scott Nussbaum about the massive Jean-Michel Basquiat painting Phillips will be auctioning for Yusaku Maezawa. We’ll also hear from Deputy Chairman Robert Manley about a rare Calder mobile, an early Yayoi Kusama painting, a much in demand Helen Frankenthaler, and a bright red-and-yellow Rothko, as well as works by Hans Hoffmann and Carmen Herrera. It wouldn’t be Phillips if we didn’t also speak to Rebekah Bowling about the auction debut of Justin Caguiat, the largest work to come to market by Colombian artist Maria Berrio and another rare Amy Sherald painting. The sale takes place in New York on May 18th at 7pm.

The sale of Harry and Linda Macklowe’s art collection was one of the most anticipated events of 2021. The first part of the two-part sale was held in November after a delay caused by the Covid pandemic. Sotheby’s had made an aggressive play for the collection. As Brooke Lampley points out in this podcast, a new team was in place with a lot to lose from a weak sale. In the end, the sale and the season saw prices beyond anyone’s expectations. On May 16, Sotheby’s will sell another $200 million or more in art from the Macklowe collection. These are additional examples of work by the artists the Macklowes had bought in depth.

Julian Ehrlich is the head of Christie's Post-war to Present sale. In today's market where artists are regularly bid high above their estimates, the mid-season Post-war to Present sale is a place for breakout lots. This season that happened spectacularly with the work of Lynne Drexler. But she's hardly the only artist to shine at Christie's. In this podcast, Julian talks about putting together his first sale at Christie's and how he reads the market.

It’s the end of the first quarter in the art market. That gives us a good opportunity to assess the momentum for a number of artists whose work has been selling at auction. The first quarter is traditionally less active than the Spring market. So we can focus on some artists who might not draw attention at other times during the year. With that in mind, we’ve put together a Hot List for the first quarter. These are artists with active markets where we see demand. You can read our list on the LiveArt app or at LiveArt.io. LiveArt’s Executive Vice President George O’Dell comments on these particular artists’ markets.

Austin Lee’s second show at Jeffrey Deitch, Like It Is, is on view through April 23, 2022. Lee’s painting process is unique. He initially mocks up ideas using 3D modeling software or digital sketches. Later, he recreates the digital image in physical form through 3D printing or, more often, using an airbrush and and acrylic paint on canvas. Lee’s goal is to present the images, experiences and emotions provoked by digital aesthetics in physical form. His work ruminates on animated representations of his own feelings, alluding to emojis and early internet culture. In this podcast, Lee talks about his interest in Old Master paintings, his own traditional training in materials and how the two combine to create his uncanny take on digital culture.

African American artists and artists of the African diaspora have been getting a great deal of attention from the art world for the last five years. But Nigel Freeman built the African American art market one sale at a time at Swann Auction Galleries. For 15 years, Freeman developed collectors and courted consignors. He was instrumental in igniting the market for Barkley Hendricks and helped refocus market attention on a broad group of artists like Charles White, Hale Woodruff, Sam Gilliam, Elizabeth Catlett, Hughie Lee-Smith and Kenneth Victor Young. In this podcast, Freeman talks about how this market developed out of the spotlight and what has happened since these artists have gotten the recognition they deserve.

Bethany Collins has a new show, Cadence, at PATRON gallery in Chicago where she presents work that explores the political and social evolution of three songs, The Star-Spangled Banner, Auld Lang Syne and Dixie. Creating installations with music and "hymnals" that present the evolving lyrics inspired by competing political and social movements, Collins discusses the liberation and frustration of making art through "using the language of others to make sense of the world."

Jacky Ho is Christie's Head of Evening sale for the Hong Kong auctions. In this podcast, he discusses the growth of these sales into perhaps the most global auctions of the international calendar. We discuss the interests and tastes of Christie's clients in the region, their strategies for collecting and many of the artists whose markets have emerged in Asia.

Johann König is one of Europe’s most entrepreneurial art dealers. He started his gallery in Berlin at 20 years old. Now, 20 years later, he has grown to spaces in Berlin, London, Monaco, Seoul Vienna, Tokyo and the Decentraland metaverse. More than that, König Galerie publishes a magazine, produces a podcast and launched a digital platform for NFTs and fractional art ownership called MISA, which will be the subject of a separate podcast. In this episode, we asked Johann what it means to be a gallerist in an age when the art market is changing how dealers build audiences and represent artists—and the nature of art itself is changing rapidly too.

In this London 2022 Winter auction preview, we speak to Helen Newman at Sotheby's, who will tell us about their $60 million Magritte, half a dozen Monets, a Picasso and a Van Gogh. Katharine Arnold at Christie's will discuss their late Francis Bacon triptych, a portrait by Lucian Freud, as well as a Bridget Riley work held by the same family for 57 years. Giovanna Bertazzoni tells us about Christie's restituted Franz Marc painting and their surrealist Picasso. Finally, Cheyenne Westphal goes through the long list of breakout artists—like Lauren Quin, Doron Langberg, Jadé Fadojutimi, and Emily Mae Smith—at Phillips and others whose markets continue to roll on. But she also takes a moment to discuss a rare, unseen work of Sigmar Polke coming from the well-known collection of Emily and Jerry Spiegel.

Sonya Roth has been a prominent Los Angeles collector for two decades. Originally a criminal prosecutor, she was an early champion of the current generation of emerging artists and collectors and played an important role in the growth of LA’s contemporary art scene. Since 2015, Roth has led Christie’s Los Angeles office which moved to an expanded Beverly Hills location two years later. Roth is now the Managing Director for Christie’s Western US Region leading the firm’s growth strategy by focusing on client engagement and strategic business development. With Frieze Los Angeles opening today, Roth talks about the unique role artists play in LA's collecting culture, the importance of the entertainment industry and the changing nature of collecting in the city.

LiveArt is a platform for providing transparency to the art market. Our app gives users access to live auctions, historical price data for artists’ work and in-depth analysis. It is also peer-to-peer trading platform. In this episode, we speak to George O’Dell, who heads sales at LiveArt, and his colleague Kelly Cahn, about their views of the marketplace. Kelly also takes a little time to talk through how sales work on the LiveArt platform.

Antwaun Sargent became a director at Gagosian gallery in 2021 after a decade as a writer and curator, most notably of the book and now exhibition "The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion." In this podcast, he discusses the global success of the New Black Vanguard Show and his upcoming collaboration with late designer and artist Virgil Abloh. That exhibition will open in June at the Brooklyn Museum. Social Works, his first show for Gagosian, was a major event in Chelsea. There were lines around the block for admission. Gagosian's Chelsea galleries have previously seen such lines for shows about Picasso's late works, curated by his biographer John Richardson, and a blockbuster Monet exhibition mounted by former MoMA curator John Elderfield. Social works was so successful, Gagosian accelerated the launch of Social Works two in London from 2022 to last fall. In this podcast, Sargent tells us of the potential for a third social workshop and where it might be held, as well as a series of shows h