25th Feb 2012 Art Value - News TipBits This Week

Market value of art ~

The Chinese artist Zhang Daqian tops the art market value achieving the highest figure in auctions of 2011 (415,68 million €) according to the Artprice Report. This ousted the art sale value of the world famous painter Pablo Picasso's 1st place, 13 times during the past 14 years. Following Zhang was his compatriot Qi Baishi (382,473 million €). Picasso is in the 4th place (35,892 million €).

25 Years without Warhol ~

 

Hailed as 'King Of Pop Art' in his day, now on the 25th anniversary of his death at the very young age of 57, his work still fascinates and maintains sure value in the art market.

If one has to select just 2 names as the most significant and profitable artists in the 20th century, there's no doubt these are Pablo Picasso & Andy Warhol, in that order. Their works are ranked in 2010 to be the most sought after and fetched the highest market value in auctions.

But things have changed, and the epicentre of the the art market is moving towards the East, with China being the most active and profitable in art sales, quite ahead of the US and England, leaders in the past since the 50's. Consequently Chinese artists are fast gaining ground. In 2010 Warhol took up the 3rd place, and Picasso the 4th in 2011.

 

Tags: chinese, picasso, artmarket, warhol

Prev: 25th Feb 2012 Thinking Still About Warhol ...
Next: 21st Feb 2012 An Irresistible Ad.25th

25th Feb 2012 Thinking Still About Warhol ...

I was talking about art market in an earlier Blog today, while the art world commemorates the 25th anniversary of his death. Today we have sufficient perspective to evaluate his legacy. What Andy Warhol represented for the visual culture of the 20th century? A lot. He was in a way a lawbreaker, regarding art as business and broke all rules established for art. He paid more Value on conceptual images extracted from publicity, using a rapid productive technique with ink like serigraphy, method of printing by pressing ink through a silk pattern.

Warhol is actually in all sorts of places today, in advertisements, in Photoshop, in TV realities, in electoral campaigns ... He understood more than anyone that our life is like a television programme and we are all entitled, at least, to 15 minutes of fame.

 

But what exactly Warhol represents in the art history? Little, I think, brought in something new to the established tradition as the great maestros of the 20th century did like Picasso, Miro, Dali, Pollock, Rothko ... No. Warhol not only ignore it but he reversed the art value appreciated till then: uniqueness, technique, and iconography; dismantling traditional scaffolding, converting all in business: money, pure & simple.

He was the only artist in the art history who painted portraits of famous people he didn't even know, as he wasn't interested in capturing their soul, just selling their image. Why was he then liked by so many? So popular? I think it's because his work was so recognisable, so iconic. A child can recognise his images as well as a rich art buyer who likes to possess paintings that his friends know perfectly the value of. Warhols like Ferraris.

 

Tags: dali, miro, picasso, warhol

Prev: 25th Feb 012 A Joke - Or Is It?
Next: 21st Feb 2012 An Irresistible Ad.

25th Feb 2012 A Joke - Or Is It?

Do you think it's funny that ...

 

Very recently a Spanish radio with maximum audience rating staged a joke which the programmers must have thought very funny; to me, it's just the exact opposite, insensitive and degrading to their position and human decency. A joke in very bad taste.

One of the production team staff of the programme went out to the street, to collect funds, then presented himself at the Embassy of Greece to deposit the money collected, to help that country in serious financial debt.

 

While Spain is just on the point of declaring war with France for their puppetry against the Spanish sportsmen, yet they themselves are now making fun of Greece, when Spain has just indicated that the unemployment figure here is reaching 6 million, a historical high.

 

Tags: spain, badjoke, greece

Prev: 25th Feb 2012 Berlin - A Pictorial Animation Presentation
Next: 21st Feb 2012 An Irresistible Ad.