In a special summer issue of Art+Auction, which will be published in installments on ARTINFO this month, we bring you the information you need to navigate the vast auction market. We’ve assembled the top 250 houses, along with some of their most notable sales, as well as insider takes from 50 CEOs and specialists on the past year and the changes ahead. Below you’ll find Q&As with auction house leaders based in Switzerland and Austria. To see other installments from the special issue, click here.
GALERIE KORNFELD
Bern, Switzerland
ESTABLISHED: 1864
SPECIALTIES: Modern art, Old Master prints and drawings
CONTACT: galeriekornfeld.ch, galerie@kornfeld.com, +41313814673
Bernhard Bischoff, Partner
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
Our annual auction, Art of the 19th to 21st Century, in June 2015.
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
The Kirchner painting Rotes Haus – Roter Januar, estimated at CHF800,000 ($862,000) sold for CHF1,955,000 ($2.1 million).
Is there an artist, market, or medium you think is overlooked right now? Something you’d invest in?
A lot. We were very successful with artists from the second Ecole de Paris; with a Pol Bury work sold for CHF149,500 ($162,000), we even had a new auction world record. But we are also happy that Swiss art and Expres- sionist art are gaining interest again.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
We get new collectors from all around the world. They know what’s on the market.
What other trends do you see influencing the market?
Taste changes, but quality always stays!
What part of your business saw the most growth in 2014?
Swiss art and contemporary art.
Where would you like to take the company in the next several years?
As a house with 150 years of tradition in Old Master prints and 90 years in modern art, we would like—without neglecting our core competencies— to continue our work in the contemporary art market, as started some years ago. Switzerland is one of the best places to sell artworks: a reliable and safe situation, with good connections to the world and an attractive environment, too. Our annual auction sales in June, contemporaneous with the Art Basel fair—one hour by train from Bern!—always attract a lot of international interest.
What one thing do you wish more collectors knew?
Kornfeld is not only a company; it’s an institution. Excellence and expertise since 1864.
Have you ever wildly overpaid for something you bought yourself?
Yes, but that’s part of art collecting.
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KOLLER AUCTIONS
Zurich, Switzerland
ESTABLISHED: 1958
SPECIALTIES: Old Masters, modern and contemporary art, Asian art, Swiss art, jewelry, watches, furniture, decorative arts, silver, books
CONTACT: kollerauktionen.ch, office@kollerauctions.com, +41444456363
Cyril Koller, President and CEO
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
In 2014 we held approximately 50 auctions in a wide range of collecting categories. Many of these were very successful. Two particular highlights were the sale of a painting by Paul Signac to an American collector for CHF5.3 million ($5.9 million) and Madonna and Child, painted by Jan Gossart, which sold to a Russian private collector for CHF2.4 million ($2.7 million).
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
One of the most exciting lots was a bureau plat by one of the greatest cabinetmakers in history, André- Charles Boulle. It had been in an old Swiss family for generations, and nothing quite like it had been seen on the market since the Getty Museum purchased its example in 1985. Estimated between CHF1.5 million and CHF2.5 million ($1.6–2.6 million), it sold to a private London collector for CHF3 million ($3.2 million).
Is there an artist, market, or medium you think is overlooked right now? Something you’d invest in?
In the 20th century, Switzerland produced a number of important artists who are still somewhat marginalized on the international market. Works by Ferdinand Hodler, Giovanni and especially Augusto Giacometti, Félix Vallotton, and so on, compared with works by other important classic modern artists, are still relatively inexpensive, even though they have long been included in major museums and international private collections.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
Our auctions have been online since 2006. Since then, we have seen a massive increase in the number of bidders and buyers participating online. However, we consider online bidding solely as an alternative to telephone bidding, and it cannot replace the direct contact that we maintain with our clients. I don’t see much of a future in online-only auctions for us, because the art market—much more than certain other fields—thrives on the competent and personal advice of specialists.
What other trends do you see influencing the market?
The historically low interest rates in Europe are making the art market more and more attractive to collectors and investors, and we have seen this affect our sales, particularly in the high end of the market.
What part of your business saw the most growth in 2014?
Besides our traditionally strong departments of Old Masters, Asian art, and modern and contemporary art, the jewelry and watches department has been one of the pillars of our recent success. In the past few years we have seen a sharp increase in the gross revenue of our jewelry auctions. The price range in these auctions is generally between $10,000 and $1 million, which has served to attract an ever-growing number of private buyers who have realized that buying jewelry at auction is an attractive alternative to the high margins of many jewelry boutiques.
What one thing do you wish more collectors knew?
The art market in Switzerland offers a large number of distinct advantages for buyers and, especially, for sellers: one of the most stable political systems in the world, a strong currency, an excellent legal system, a fair taxation system, one of the world’s highest concentrations of resident millionaires, and an open, international outlook. Because of this we are able, despite our comparatively smaller size, to offer and sell works of art just as well as our competitors in London and New York.
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IM KINSKY
Vienna, Austria
ESTABLISHED: 1992
SPECIALTIES: Old Masters, 19th-century paintings, modern and contemporary art, furniture
CONTACT: imkinsky.com, office@imkinsky.com, +43 1 532 4200
Ernst Ploil, CEO
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
We had an exceptionally successful auction in autumn of last year.
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
The most exciting piece was a still life painted by Brueghel [Jan the Younger].
Is there an artist, market, or medium you think is overlooked right now? Something you’d invest in?
Yes, in the Austrian art market, I would invest in 19th-century paintings and applied art designed between the two World Wars, 1918 to 1938.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
They have accelerated our auctions and also brought us a lot of new—mainly younger— customers.
What other trends do you see influencing the market?
The reasons for buying art are changing rapidly. An increasing number of customers acquire art only as an investment and not for collecting reasons.
What part of your business saw the most growth in 2014?
The sale of contemporary art and Old Master paintings.
Where would you like to take the company in the next several years?
We expect an annual growth of 10 percent.
What one thing do you wish more collectors knew?
That presently no better investment opportunities exist than good pieces of art.
Do you have a collecting obsession? If so, what purchase are you most proud of?
Yes, I have such an obsession. The atelier furniture of Gustav Klimt, designed by his friend Josef Hoffmann.
Have you ever wildly overpaid for something you bought yourself?
Yes, many times.
