Stern Pissarro Director Sees Market Shift To Historical Art Amid Fair Fatigue

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Dotahn Pissarro-Stern, director of London's Stern Pissarro Gallery, suggests the art market is moving away from speculative contemporary art toward historically established works. This shift is occurring as collectors experience fatigue from an overwhelming calendar of art fairs and events, he believes.

Pissarro-Stern notes a contradiction in the art world, where galleries are struggling and artists are unpaid, yet the pace of fairs and satellite events continues to accelerate. He argues that this relentless schedule, with major fairs like Frieze Seoul, Frieze London, Frieze Abu Dhabi, Art Basel Paris, Art Basel Miami, and TEFAF New York happening almost constantly, demands too much attention, travel, and money from collectors.

The director, a great-great-grandson of Impressionist artist Camille Pissarro, points to his ancestor as a prime example of this trend. For much of the last decade, while contemporary art prices soared, Camille Pissarro's auction results were“soft.” However, over the past 18 months, prices for his works have risen considerably, and Stern Pissarro Gallery has sold more Pissarro oils in a single year than ever before.

Collectors are gravitating toward artists whose historical significance is settled because they seek“legibility” over speculation.“When people tell us why, it is almost always some version of the same thing. They can place it. They know where the artist sits, what came before, what came after, and why any of it mattered,” Pissarro-Stern explained.“The value is anchored in something that has already been decided and is not going to be revised by next season's taste.” He advises both new and seasoned collectors to“buy what you can place,” emphasizing durable value over fleeting trends.

Source: Artnet News

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