Art Market Shifts Focus To Established Artists Amid Tightening Conditions

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The art world is entering a new season with a notable shift in market dynamics, as galleries recalibrate spending and collectors become more selective. Dealers are reportedly cutting costs, and buyers are increasingly seeking value, according to industry insiders.

Entrepreneur Tracey Ryans observed a change in the social aspect of the art world, noting,“I go and shake hands and then parachute out of it.” This sentiment reflects a broader move away from the long-held mantra of“grow or go,” with“less is more” becoming the prevailing philosophy. Business conditions have been challenging for years, and one insider suggested there is“no end in sight.”

Galleries, regardless of size, have reduced participation in art fairs, closed locations, trimmed staff, and streamlined artist rosters. Collectors, meanwhile, are narrowing their acquisition focus and scrutinizing prices more closely. Amid intense competition from numerous gallery openings, international art fairs, and continuous auctions, all market participants are adjusting.

Despite this recalibration, optimism remains, and funds are available, particularly with new millionaires emerging from tech IPOs, according to dealers and advisors. However, this capital is not flowing into the primary art market at previous levels. Galleries are adapting to new dynamics, including a generational transition among collectors and artists, rising operational costs, economic uncertainty, significant discrepancies between primary and secondary market prices, and increased competition from alternative collecting categories such as fossils, cars, and sports cards.

Ralph DeLuca, a Las Vegas-based art advisor, stated,“People are still putting money into tangible assets, but they are being more selective.” He added,“With most of my clients, I make sure they look at young art, but it's not where I make a living. My clients are looking at blue-chip and safe things.”

The concept of“discovery” now often involves rediscovering overlooked artists, both living and deceased, rather than exclusively pursuing emerging talents, largely due to lingering apprehension from a past speculative bubble. DeLuca remarked this week,“The confidence isn't there for emerging.” He has been acquiring a diverse range of works for clients, from Old Masters and Impressionists to pieces by Picasso and Basquiat, and unexpectedly, historical American art.“People are going back in history,” he said, citing artists like Frederic Remington, Maxfield Parrish, and Norman Rockwell, noting that a Remington can be purchased“for the same price” as some leading contemporary artists.

The shift is evident in gallery programming this fall. Dallas-based art advisor Adam Green highlighted a show by Lynda Benglis, the 84-year-old sculptor, featuring historic and new works at Pace. This exhibition precedes a traveling retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Basel, Tate Modern, and the Louisiana Museum outside Copenhagen. Green also expressed enthusiasm for“Savdie/Soutine” at Norr Cohan in Tribeca, which pairs mid-career artist Ilana Savdie with Chaïm Soutine, who died in 1943.

Even younger dealers are exploring historical works. Sebastian Gladstone, who launched his Los Angeles gallery five years ago, is presenting an exhibition in New York from the estate of Herman Cherry ( 1909–92 ), featuring nine abstract paintings from 1970 that have not been publicly seen for five decades. Gladstone reported selling five works prior to the opening, with prices ranging from $85,000 to $95,000. He explained,“We don't need to keep introducing new names. We are filling the gaps in our program with older artists and estates.”

Matthew Brown, another dealer known for showcasing young artists, is opening with works by Carroll Dunham, 76, whose distinctive style has garnered a significant following and a career survey at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach in December. Some young galleries are venturing even further, as seen this summer when three 76-million-year-old dinosaur skeletons were displayed alongside a 1982 sculpture by John Chamberlain ( 1927–2011 ) at Amanita, an emerging-art gallery, reflecting the growing appeal of fossils among billionaires.

While the search for new artists persists, with buzzy shows this fall including Louis Fratino at David Zwirner, Joseph Yaeger at Barbara Gladstone, and George Rouy at Hauser & Wirth, advisors indicate that the frenzy has become more selective. The era when nearly every emerging artist's show would sell out, driven by collectors' fear of missing out, has receded for now.

Bill Powers, owner of Half Gallery in New York, affirmed,“People still enjoy novelty. Curiosity is the driver.” Powers, who has been involved in many speculative markets, is beginning the season with an exhibition of paintings by Meghann Stephenson, 35. All nine works in Stephenson's show have sold, with prices between $8,000 and $20,000. This price point“scratches that itch for a lot of people,” while offering a less risky investment, Powers noted. He observed,“Collectors got burnt too many times buying a work for $30,000 that sells for $10,000 a few years later. It was a game of musical chairs, and a lot of collectors were left standing up holding armfuls of hot young painters.”

After the previous bubble burst, many artists saw their resale values decline, yet galleries remain hesitant to reduce prices for new works, even when older pieces by the same artist trade for significantly less on the secondary market. Green stated,“Primary prices are too high compared to fair market prices.” He conducted more private secondary-market transactions this summer than in recent years, as clients traditionally buying from galleries sought other avenues.

Green recounted a recent instance where a collector considered a $60,000 gallery work but then discovered pieces by the same artist had sold at auction for approximately $12,000. The collector told him,“I can't pay $50,000 more.” In another transaction, Green facilitated a private acquisition for a client at $300,000, a work that would have cost around $500,000 at a gallery. Green emphasized,“A gallery won't ever offer you a 40-percent discount.”

Dealers are also scrutinizing their own expenditures. Marianne Boesky, whose gallery marks its 30th anniversary this year, has removed the Armory Show from her art fair schedule and has not participated in a Frieze fair since 2023. This year, her gallery is attending only four fairs: TEFAF Maastricht, Art Basel in Switzerland and Miami, and the Aspen Art Fair. Boesky recalled,“At our absolute peak insanity, we were doing 10 to 12 fairs a year and had three locations in New York. It was nuts.” This reduction began in 2016, when the gallery closed its Upper East Side and Lower East Side locations to expand in Chelsea and establish a seasonal presence in Aspen. In a tighter market, Boesky prefers to forgo spending $400,000 on an art fair booth to“produce a few more sculptures for my artists.”

Sebastian Gladstone is employing similar financial strategies. He noted,“The strategy and awareness around the danger of art fairs is very front of mind.” His approach involves“doing as few fairs as possible” and“not spending money and hoping for the best.” For Paris, instead of an expensive fair booth, Gladstone is renting a gallery space to stage his own exhibition from the estate of self-taught artist Franne Davids ( 1950–2022 ). He plans to host a lunch for 40 collectors, having already sold several works before the show, thereby covering the entire exhibition cost.

Source: Artnet News

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