Maurizio Cattelan

Cattelan from the 2010s

There are vogues in Contemporary art, and one might have thought that the New York-based Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan (born in 1960) was purely a product of the 2010s. After all, it was in 2016 that this ace of marketing, self-promotion and cynicism too, saw one of his works fetch a record-breaking $17.1 million. This is the same artist who, during his retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2011-12, announced that he would stop producing art altogether—only to contradict himself a few years later (See here a report about a past show dedicated to Cattelan).

Masterful comeback

In 2019, Cattelan created the conceptual piece Comedian. A direct inheritor of Marcel Duchamp’s principle of the readymade, it takes the form of a banana duct-taped to a wall, and was then sold for $120,000. In 2024, he has staged a masterful comeback. The whole world now knows the story: Comedian, an artwork that exists only via its precious certificate, sold for $6.2 million at Sotheby’s in New York on November 20, 2024.

Justin Sun

It was purchased by a fellow master of self-promotion, the 34-year-old cryptocurrency investor Justin Sun.

In 2021 I had the opportunity to interview Sun, a young Chinese businessman turned citizen of Grenada who currently lives in Geneva. He had then just made a remarkable acquisition for a “novice” art collector: a small painting by Picasso made in the exceptional year 1932, Femme Nue Couchée au Collier (Marie-Thérèse), which he bought for $20 million (See here a report about 1932 Picassos).

Bridge between art and the blockchain

Pablo Picasso

At the time, Sun told me, “Sotheby’s and Christie’s provided us with lists of works we could acquire,” adding, “I want to be the bridge between traditional art and the blockchain world”. (See here the report about Justin Sun) While Sun may not be an art history expert, he has two strengths as a collector. The first is that he knows how to be well advised. The second is that he has a knack for shock value in the same vein as a Damien Hirst or a Maurizio Cattelan.

Eating the banana

On November 21, 2024, Sun announced his acquisition of Comedian on X: “This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes [mass internet phenomenon], and the cryptocurrency community […] [I]n the coming days, I will personally eat the banana, as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture.”

Paid in crypto?

Maurizio Cattelan

It should be noted that Sotheby’s had stated that Comedian could be paid for in cryptocurrency. It should also be noted that another readymade, this one a shovel signed by the inventor of the readymade himself Marcel Duchamp, fetched far less, at $3 million, on November 19 at Christie’s. Buyers are not always susceptible to the charms of art history (see here the report about Comedian and the Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades).

Snowball effect

In an era shaken up by political and economic uncertainty, auction houses are under considerable pressure. The most publicized auctions—which would be the New York auctions for Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art held in November and May—produce a snowball effect on the entire global art market. As such, they try to control dramatic fluctuations using a range of tools, some apparent to the public, others less so, such as irrevocable bids and third-party guarantees.

Magritte at the top

René Magritte

And yet: Auctions always have a few surprises in tow. Among the season’s most dazzling results, aside from the Cattelan at Sotheby’s: Christie’s can boast of having achieved the highest sale of the season at $121.1 million. The sum was paid in exchange for a work by René Magritte painted in 1954, the largest version of the famous Empire of Light painting. Once dismissed by French Surrealists, the Belgian Surrealist has now joined the elite club of artists whose works have surpassed $100 million (See here a report about L’empire des Lumières market).

Kenneth Griffin

Rumors in New York art circles suggest two possible buyers, both high-flying businessmen: Kenneth Griffin, founder of the hedge fund Citadel and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and incidentally known for being a Magritte enthusiast. Several American media outlets have confirmed Griffin’s acquisition.

TheDonald Trump effect

Overall in the field of Modern and Contemporary art, the percentage of lots sold is averaging well above 72%, a decent rate. The election of Donald Trump, which was expected to boost the mood of major American collectors, has so far only had a moderate impact on these results.

Thomas Seydoux

“There’s a widespread feeling of improvement, but auction houses must now account for some declining prices,” explains Paris-based art advisor Thomas Seydoux. He cites over-estimation as the reason why a compelling painting by Gustave Caillebotte was left unsold. Caillebotte, long overlooked by Impressionist collectors, is currently the subject of a stunning exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay bringing his exceptional modernity to light (See the report about the show here). The exhibit will travel to the Art Institute of Chicago then the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

Caillebotte, Picasso

Gustave Caillebotte

However, A Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann, estimated at $4 million, failed to spark interest at auction. This despite the $53 million paid by the Getty Museum in 2021 for his Young Man at His Window, a record for the artist. Pablo Picasso, with his prolific output, international demand and a string of record-breaking prices over the past 20 years, remains a cornerstone of the Modern market.

Pablo Picasso

Yet, according to the database Artprice, this season three of the eight Picasso paintings on offer at Sotheby’s and Christie’s went unsold. They were presented with estimates between $1.5 million and $10 million.

Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns

Meanwhile we have Jasper Johns, a key figure in contemporary American art The inventor of the extraordinary “Combine paintings,” which, until 1964, incorporated common objects into paintings. And yet neither of his two paintings put on auction at Sotheby’s on November 20 found a buyer, with estimates between $3 million and $6 million. Another indication that the auction houses need to adjust their estimations of classic household names.

Yu Nishimura

Yu Nishimura

Finally, looking to the young artist tier, where newcomers are launched for the first time by the great international promotional machine that is the New York auction houses, of note are two young painters who have emerged from the French gallery world.

Yu Nishimura (born in 1982) lives by the sea two hours by train from Tokyo. It was in 2020 that he painted a sparse portrait of a young woman, marked by contrasting colors and a subtle blur reminiscent of veteran American Pop artist Alex Katz. Axel Dibie, co-founder of Paris’s Crèvecœur gallery, had discovered Nishimura in 2018.

Not for the Dallas Museum

He then organized the artist’s first exhibition in 2020 and sold the portrait for around €15,000 to the famous Dallas collector Howard Rachofsky. “There was talk of his collection being donated to the Dallas Museum.” Dibie explains. However, the American has resold the work at Sotheby’s, where it fetched $132,000. “He’s a great artist who’s exploring the idea of the mental image,” explains the gallerist. Nishimura is now also represented by Sadie Coles in London, where his rising gallery prices range between €10,000 and €100,000, depending on the size of the work.

Pol Taburet

Pol Taburet

French artist Pol Taburet (born in 1997) caught the eye of the Balice Hertling Gallery in 2020. Actually I was the first journalist to interview him ever (See here the report about Pol Taburet). His work was soon acquired by the collector François Pinault and was featured in a 2023 exhibition at Lafayette Anticipations in Paris. Taburet, 27, of Breton and Guadeloupean descent, is a true Parisian, a product of the digital generation absorbing images en masse through their phones: from Goya to lap dancers, horror films to the British artist William Blake.

Ghostly figures

The result is an instantly recognizable painting style in acid tones animated by ghostly figures in theatrical interiors. On November 20, 2024, one of his large-scale paintings from 2020 was bought for $156,000 in New York. Back in 2020, his paintings could be bought for €15,000. Taburet is now represented by the multinational Brazilian-founded gallery Mendes Wood.