Stay tuned: future plans at Phillips with Deputy Chair and Head of Private Sales, Miety Heiden

Phillips
New York, London, Hong Kong

SINCE MID-MARCH 2020, PHILLIPS HAS HAD TO  POSTPONE THE MAJORITY OF THEIR UPCOMING SALES, AS DID ALL THE AUCTION HOUSES, IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN. ALTHOUGH A PAINFUL DECISION, IT WAS A NECESSARY ONE. ART FAIRS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED OR POSTPONED, GALLERIES CLOSED AND NOW CAUTIOUSLY OPENING BY APPOINTMENT IN SOME CITIES AND IN EUROPE AND ASIA, AND THE ART WORLD AS WE KNOW IT HAS BEEN RECONFIGURED. WHAT HAS EMERGED IS A RAPID AND PROFOUND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW WAY OF VIEWING AND BUYING IN THE ART WORLD VIA THE SOPHISTICATED DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY THAT IS NOW AVAILABLE.

PHILLIPS ANNOUNCED:

As a result of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and recent New York State and City mandated restrictions on commercial operations, Phillips regrets that we are unable to make lots from this sale available for pre-Auction, in-person inspection.

Gerhard Richter Phillips Evening Sale, NY, July 2, 2020

ON JUNE 15th, THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST OFFERED THIS PREDICTION:

“While you’ll certainly see our core business return to in-person live auctions when it is safe to do so, we’ve witnessed the effectiveness of the online-only platform and the interest it has attracted, which is certainly making it one of our key services and options for our clients. This is something that was in the works well in advance of Covid-19, and you’ll see it remain a pillar … after it as well.”

The transition of sales from in person to online has allowed these forward-thinking auction houses to further develop and fine-tune online sales – and no one is bidding against the phenomenon remaining strong when live auctions eventually resume.

Joan Mitchell
Noel
Phillips July 2 Evening Sale

PHILLIPS WILL HOLD ITS 20th CENTURY AND A CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING SALE, NEW YORK, ON JULY 2, 2020.

“We live in strange days,” Phillips’ Robert Manley, Worldwide Co-Head of 20th Century and Contemporary Art, said. “But the way I see it is that for every season, every auction you have to take the temperature of what people looking for and buying and those are the things we go after. This season in a way is no different.”

Manley said that Phillips plans to make the July 2 sale as similar to any of its other evening sales before the pandemic. The works are still being heavily researched and with accompanying catalogue essays, to be published online instead of in a printed book. Potential bidders will still have the opportunity to view the painting, but it will most likely be on an appointment-only basis. And the sale will take place with a live auctioneer, though most likely bidders will not be allowed in the salesroom.

VR Walkthrough: 20 Century and Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, July 8, 2020

HERE TODAY, MIETY HEIDEN, DEPUTY CHAIR, HEAD OF PRIVATE SALES AND PHILLIPS X, THEIR ONLINE PLATFORM, WILL SHARE HER PERSPECTIVE ON THE FUTURE OF THE ART MARKET IN GENERAL AND PHILLIPS IN PARTICULAR IN OUR ALMOST POST-PANDEMIC WORLD.

What are your aims and goals in growing the private sales department at Phillips? Are there changes you would like to make in how the private sales department works?

Our private sales department at Phillips is growing and developing as we speak. We are running an exhibition program in all three of our selling locations – London, New York and Hong Kong – and we also have pop- ups all around the world. We work with dealers, curators and artists directly, and are looking into digital private sales as well.

As always, our sales will feature significant examples from a variety of modern, post-war, and contemporary masters.

Do you think the trend towards the private sales sector will continue to increase and, if so, why?

I definitely think there is huge potential for growth in this area. Whilst the auction process still forms the backbone of our business, the ability to engage with our collectors all year round on a more personal and direct platform is a very important and expanding avenue.

IT HAS BEEN A DELIGHT TO POST THIS INTERVIEW WITH MIETY AND THE LRFA BLOG SO APPRECIATES HER CONTRIBUTION OF TIME, EXPERTISE AND INSIGHT.

THANK YOU, MIETY!

Beyond auction, Phillips X with Miety Heiden, Deputy Chair at Phillips, Head of Private Sales and PhillipsX

Deborah Kass
NOMEN: American Women Artists
Phillips X July 2019

In the first traveling exhibition for Phillips X,  Foujita/Sanyu: Muses and Models went on view in both Paris and Hong Kong. Last summer, Phillips X held an exhibition in New York entitled NOMEN: American Women Artists from 1945 to Today, as well as HYSTERICAL  in collaboration with set designer Gary Card in London. Earlier in 2020, 10 Monkeys and a Dolphin brought forth  a sale of exceptional works by the ever popular street artists, Banksy and KAWS.

Phillips has moved beyond physical exhibitions to offer works for private sale digitally. Miety Heiden heads this new division called Phillips X which I am sure has garnered rapid success more quickly than anticipated due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and is particularly timely in terms of the current situation. Whatever the circumstances, Phillips X represents an important expansion beyond auction and a new format for private sales, the online viewing room, certain to reach a global audience.

In an interview posted on the Phillips website on April 9, 2020, Miety adds:

 Our clients at Phillips have been moving online for quite some time now. In our auctions, they register and bid online and we’ve seen explosive growth in the value of works sold online. Just last November, a painting by Sean Scully  sold for over $1.7 million to an online bidder during our New York Evening Sale. Just as we have with our slate of exhibitions, we’ve created this platform to meet collectors where they are, year-round. We began this program with great artists such as Tracey Emin,   Lucian Freud, Yayoi Kusama, KAWS and more. We’re adding new works to the online viewing room on a daily basis and, at present, they all stay online for two weeks. This is an exciting development for our team and for Phillips as a whole.

https://www.phillips.com/article/56425102/tca-miety-heiden-private-sales-phillips-auction

HYSTERICAL
Hosted by Gary Card
Phillips London

What are some of the most significant transactions you’ve made as Head of Private Sales at Phillips?

The private sales department has grown exponentially over the last few years. We have hosted a number of incredibly successful selling exhibitions since I’ve been here – our summer 2019 exhibition Hysterical, for example, was a notable example of one of these shows – a collaborative selling exhibition with renowned set designer and artist, Gary Card.

Ten Monkeys and a Dolphin: Banksy & KAWS
Phillips Jan/Feb 2020

How would you describe the profile of the collector now and how has it evolved over the years?

Collectors today are far more informed about the market and what’s ‘hot’, there is more information available to them online like Artnet and The Baer Faxt which in turn makes them more autonomous. Collectors are also more mobile, traveling to art fairs, auctions and exhibitions all over the world. Collectors also tend to worry more about art being an asset and keeping its value.

Sean Scully
Red Bar
Phillips Evening Sale
November 2019

What do you think of the current art market? From this vantage point it seems to have an almost surreal success with big ticket market quality artworks but a more conservative judicious approach to middle market works?

Actually the contemporary art market is entering a new territory, due to the significant growth and vibrancy of the middle market. There is an increasing focus on works of art priced at the hundreds of thousands of dollars to the lower millions. Our Day Sale totals are breaking records season after season, and we will focus on building on this in 2020. Of course the big ticket items will always have the headlines but the backstories are less rosy.

What do you think the current trends to support artists who did not get the recognition they deserved because of gender or race? How long-term do you think these trends are?

There have of course been many artists who have been overlooked across the art historic canon and into the present day, and when the art ecosystem finally shines a torchlight on these artists it can be a very positive thing, bringing new names and ideas to the table.

Stay tuned! Miety will share some of the highlights of future plans at Phillips in our next LRFA Blog post.

Thank you for following!

 

Private Sales vs Auction with Deputy Chair of Phillips & Head of Private Sales, Miety Heiden

Kehinde Wiley 
American African American
Phillips

Phillips Private Sales first launched in 2018. The curated program exhibits some of the world’s most sought-after works from the 20th and 21st centuries, informed by the company’s understanding of what the market demands and with a focus on approachable works that appeal to multiple types of collectors. Miety Heiden, Deputy Chair at Phillips, is also the Head of Private Sales and director of Phillips X, the auction house’s private selling exhibition platform. Often ahead of the curve set by the art world’s major institutions, the team at Phillips Private Sales has established a pattern of tapping into the zeitgeist and sourcing works that are underrepresented in the secondary market. Last January in New York, Phillips responded to exploding demand for previously-ignored black artists with a group show entitled American African American.

The LRFA blog is very pleased to continue the conversation with Miety Heiden whose intelligence and perception of the art market, past, present and future, enriches Phillips’ reach in the global auction world. There is a huge potential for growth in the area of Private Sales, particularly in these extremely uncertain times, haunted by both the coronavirus pandemic and the state of extreme social unrest and inequality erupting in America at the present time.

“In the past, Phillips was not really focusing on private sales, and now we have created a platform for both online and offline sales where we can connect with clients 365 days a year. Auctions will always be a key part of our business, but there’s been a growing movement to engage with collectors more than just a few days a year. Again, as the market goes global, the demand just keeps rising, and we want Phillips to be there to meet it.”

Miety Heiden, Deputy Chair, Head of Private Sales and PhillipsX, in an interview in April 2020

https://www.phillips.com/article/56425102/tca-miety-heiden-private-sales-phillips-auction

Phillips
Installation View
American African American

Miety, thank you for your time and sharing your expertise.

What are the deciding factors on the part of an auction house when analysing the best placement for an artwork, both geographically and in terms of private sales versus public auction?

It generally works on a case-by-case basis – in particular we take into account the reason for selling and the nature of the work. For example, those younger artists of the moment tend to do better at auction, and their reputation privately follows suit. On the other hand, some clients prefer to sell discreetly or quickly, and that’s often where private sales come into play. Sometimes, a particularly special piece can reach a wider audience if sold at auction, so we can go down that route to garner more exposure for the sale as this takes into account the popularity of certain artists in different parts of the world.

Nicholas Party
Landscape
Phillips Evening Sale
May 2019
Estimate $100-150,000
Sold $608,000

The competition with all three auction houses has become increasingly charged as the prices of artworks have increased by geometric proportions and the collector profile has expanded both due to the globalization of art and as a result of digital technology. What are some of the ways in which an auction house can ‘sweeten the deal’ to persuade a collector to consign a work?

Given our more focused lens on the best of 20th century and contemporary art, we understand this market well and our entire team is fiercely committed to singularly promoting individual artworks and collections as leading highlights of a sale season. The emphasis that works of art get within the context of our sales is therefore far greater, as we have the advantage of being more curated in what we do. Our global reach spans a huge range of collectors worldwide, and we are soon opening an unrivalled space at 432 Park Avenue in New York that we are confident will be a huge selling point for Phillips.

Carrie Mae Weems
S/2 Gallery 2015

What are some of the highlights that stood out in the private sale sector during your time at Sotheby’s?

The nature of private sales is of course that they are private! But at the time, the S2 gallery was really ahead of the curve. We hosted a selling exhibition in 2015 called ‘I Like It Like This with Drake’ that included works by African American artists such as Crosby, Hendricks, Basquiat and others that are now in huge demand in the contemporary scene.

Drake
S/2

https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/6561104/drake-i-like-it-like-this-sothebys-exhibit

Who are the artists you view as having the strongest foothold now at auction and in private sales and which artists do you see moving into that position in the future?

The enormous amount of enthusiasm for the new generation of artists working in figuration points to a shift in taste. I think 2020 will continue to see this renewed appreciation for figuration in painting, with artists such as Julie Curtis, Genieve Figgis, Tschabalala Self, Nicholas Party, and Christina Quarles garnering great international attention and fierce competition on the secondary market. The result Phillips achieved recently for Amoako Boafo’s ‘The Lemon Bathing Suit’ reflects this shift. Of course let’s not forget the blue chip artists like Warhol and Twombly – these will always continue to do well as long as they are of a good quality. Quality is everything!

Amoako Boafo The Lemon Bathing Suit Phillips London Sale February 2020 Estimate GBP 30,000-50,000 Sold GBP 675,000

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, MIETY WILL DESCRIBE THE NATURE OF TODAY’S COLLECTORS. STAY TUNED!

 

A warm welcome to Miety Heiden, Deputy Chair and Head of Private Sales at Phillips

Miety Heiden Deputy Chair & Head of Private Sales at Phillips

TODAY, PHILLIPS IS A PREMIER DESTINATION FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS OF MODERN, POST-WAR, CONTEMPORARY, AMERICAN AND LATIN AMERICAN WORKS OF ART IN ADDITION TO WATCHES, JEWELS, PHOTOGRAPHY, WORKS ON PAPER AND EDITIONS. IN 2020, THE NEW YORK AUCTION HOUSE MOVED TO LARGER HEADQUARTERS AT 432 PARK AVENUE EXPANDING ITS FOOTPRINT IN NEW YORK AND ITS GLOBAL PRESENCE IN THE AUCTION WORLD.  FOUNDED IN LONDON IN 1796, PHILLIPS FIRST GAINED INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FROM ITS SALE OF THE ESTATE OF QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE HELD INSIDE BUCKINGHAM PALACE. ITS FOUNDER, HARRY PHILIPS, WAS AN INNOVATIVE BUSINESSMAN, THE FIRST TO HOST EVENING RECEPTIONS BEFORE AUCTIONS, NOW AN ANTICIPATED AND STANDARD PRACTICE. THE AUCTION HOUSE HAS CHANGED HANDS SEVERAL TIMES INCLUDING ITS OWNERSHIP BY LVMH CHAIR, BERNARD ARNAULT, AND DEALERS SIMON DE PURY AND DANIELA LUXEMBOURG.

Phillips Auction

IN 2014, AT A MOMENT OF A SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN THE THREE LEADING INTERNATIONAL AUCTION HOUSES, ED DOLMAN JOINED PHILLIPS AS CEO AND BROUGHT IN AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM CULLED FROM THE RANKS OF CHRISTIE’S AND SOTHEBY’S. MIETY HEIDEN BECAME AN INVALUABLE PRESENCE AT PHILLIPS, CONTRIBUTING HER ENORMOUS EXPERTISE IN THE PRIVATE SALES SECTOR AT AUCTION, A VERY LUCRATIVE ASPECT OF EACH AUCTION HOUSE. SHE HAD LAUNCHED S/2, THE SELLING GALLERY AT SOTHEBY’S AND WORKED ON THEIR CONTEMPORARY EVENING SALES.

https://www.phillips.com

As reported in Artnet News, March 3, 2016:

In recent years, both Sotheby’s and Christie’s have increasingly focused on private sales, which are generally more lucrative, since they avoid the hefty costs of staging public auctions and publishing auction catalogues.

She contributed to business development and managed client relationships for the New York and Hong Kong contemporary art evening and day sales, as well as focusing on emerging markets and drumming up business on the West Coast. She was also a consultant to the Chinese contemporary art department, and was previously head of the modern and contemporary art department in Amsterdam.

TODAY THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO WELCOME MIETY HEIDEN, DEPUTY CHAIR AND HEAD OF PRIVATE SALES AT PHILIPS AUCTION HOUSE. MIETY IS BOTH A FRIEND AND A COLLEAGUE, MUCH ADMIRED BY EVERYONE WHO KNOWS HER. HER LOVE OF THE ARTS, DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF THE ART MARKET, SENSE OF HUMOR AND COOL COMPOSURE, MAKE HER AN INVALUABLE PROFESSIONAL ALLY AND FRIEND.

https://www.phillips.com/private-sales

MIETY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE BLOG!

Where did you grow up and what were your educational pursuits?

I grew up in the Netherlands and I always knew that I was interested in the arts. Once I finished school I studied History of Art at the University of Amsterdam.

How did you develop an interest in art? Were your parents collectors and were you exposed to the museum and gallery world as a child?

No, my parents weren’t collectors or anything like that. When I was 17, I had a conversation with a family friend who explained the auction world to me, and that’s when I knew that this is what I wanted to do with my life.

Who were the first artists that struck a chord? How did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in the art world?

The first artists that caught my attention were the Dutch Old Masters – the likes of Rembrandt, whose works I first saw at the Rijksmuseum as a teenager.

The Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam

How did you gain a foothold in the auction world?

I first started my career as an intern at a Dutch auction house in 1992, before joining Sotheby’s Amsterdam five years later. During my time there I also worked a lot in Singapore and Indonesia. I then moved to Sotheby’s New York in 2005.

What pulled you into the private sales sector first at Sotheby’s and now at Phillips? How would you describe the responsibilities of Head of Private Sales versus those of the auction specialist?

Having worked in auctions for 15 years I wanted to explore something new – I had the idea to set up a selling exhibition program at Sotheby’s and came up with the idea to open a gallery within Sotheby’s which we did in 2011. Our first show focused on Sam Francis and was a sell-out. This set the precedent for many more solo artist selling exhibitions for artists such as Basquiat and Keith Haring. In 2019, Phillips’ private sales were up 34% from the previous year – in part because of the time and resources we’ve devoted to it, and our international exhibition program. As we explore new ways to generate business under the pressures of the market, we are focusing more on the private selling aspect of the business.

What was your career path at Sotheby’s? What were your responsibilities when you started and how did they develop over time?

I was at Sotheby’s for 18 years in total. I was head of Modern and Contemporary Art and Indonesian Art at Sotheby’s Amsterdam, and then when I moved to New York I started as head of their Afternoon Sale, before working on the Evening Sale a year later. It was after that I started the S2 program and ran the two side by side, in the same way that I work in both auction and private sales at Phillips today.

IN THE NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, MIETY WILL SHARE HER EXPERT PERSPECTIVE ON AUCTION HOUSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND ON THE POSITIONING A WORK CORRECTLY TO GIVE IT ITS OPTIMUM EXPOSURE, AN ART IN AND OF ITSELF.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! KEEP READING!

A comprehensive report on the current art market from the Art Lending Services division at U.S. Trust

U.S. TRUST, AS DO MANY OF THE MOST HIGHLY REGARDED BANKING AND FINANCIAL ADVISORY INSTITUTIONS, OFFERS EXTENSIVE ART SERVICES. AS ART IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE AN ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT, AND NOT SIMPLY AN AESTHETIC PLEASURE, BANKING HAS ENTERED VERY FORCEFULLY IN THE COMPETITION TO PROVIDE ART LENDING SERVICES TO HELP BOTH COLLECTORS AND INSTITUTIONS HELP NAVIGATE THE COMPLEX ART WORLD.

RECENTLY U.S. TRUST, THE PRIVATE BANKING ARM OF BANK OF AMERICA,  PUBLISHED AN EXTREMELY COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS ON THE STATE OF THE CURRENT ART MARKET. IN A TIME OF TURMOIL AND CHANGE, GENERAL REEVALUATION AND A GLOBAL SHIFT IN THE ART MARKET, IT IS PARTICULARLY RELEVANT AND THE LRFA BLOG IS PLEASED TO SHARE IT WITH YOU. WE ARE DELIGHTED, AS WELL, TO REPORT THAT DANA PRUSSIAN, VICE PRESIDENT AT U.S. TRUST ART LENDING SERVICES, WILL BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE LRFA BLOG IN THE MONTHS AHEAD.

PART ONE

“We feel that you should not buy art purely as an investment. Buy it for love, desire, legacy, culture, pleasure, addiction,

status, and community.”

Art Services Market Update

At Bank of America Private Bank, we maintain a sharp focus on the art market and on the collectors, dealers, auctions specialists and institutions that make it function. We work closely with many of you across four pillars: art lending, art planning, consignment services and institutional arts endowment management. This update features our observations on the current state of the art market from a business perspective.

The Market

• Current low interest rates, solid equity markets and more stratified wealth creation worldwide continues to drive capital toward art. The maturation and globalization of the art market has expanded the collector base and transformed the art market from a niche lifestyle into a $60 billion global industry.1 Still, overall art market growth in terms of total art sales has stalled since 2012, even as the S&P 500has currently more than doubled since that time.
• If the Federal Reserve (Fed) continues its dovish policy, we expect collectors’ continued allocation of capital to art. When interest rates fall, the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing assets like art goes down. The art market is driven by sentiment, so the greatest risk we see is a geopolitical event that impedes the global flow of capital and credit prompting collectors to pause.

• We anticipate that financial returns for contemporary art will be lower in the next decade than some may expect. The market has absorbed a lot of art since the turn of the century. An exceedingly large percentage of those works may be worth close to zero in a generation or so. And because we’re in a more mature and efficient art market, there may be fewer upside surprises than in decades past. We feel that you should not buy art purely as an investment. Buy it for your passion, enjoyment, legacy, culture, status or community.

The Auctions

• During the New York Spring Auctions, the market absorbed over $2 billion of art at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, handily above the $1.6 billion pre-sale estimate. It was the first auction season defined by large estates of postwar
and contemporary art. Eye-catching results such as the $91 million Koons “Rabbit”, the $110 million Monet “Haystack” and the rapidly growing market for KAWS belie a more modest 5.1% annualized return2 achieved for repeat sales during the season. Given the recent performance of London auctions and the lack of clarity around a Brexit deal, New York will continue to be the premiere sale site for high-end postwar and contemporary art for the foreseeable future. Fresh-to- market works, typical of the artist’s oeuvre, in good condition, with strong provenance, continue to perform strongest at auction. Works by female and black artists also continue their rise.

• You likely saw that in June, Sotheby’s accepted a $3.7 billion buyout offer from French media entrepreneur Patrick Drahi. Interestingly, Bonhams was also bought out earlier this year. Going private will allow Sotheby’s more flexibility to compete for top lots, which will benefit major collectors, and will provide time and space to evolve its business model, which, like Christie’s, is challenged. Competition for top pictures has become a race-to-the-bottom: China isn’t the growth engine everyone hoped it would be, and online sales have yet to deliver meaningful scale or margin expansion. With business margins at around 10% for the industry, auction houses are officially on the hunt for new revenue streams.

• Look for the auction houses to continue to expand into art advisory, financial services, brand licensing and even investment research as they look beyond their supply-constrained auction business. As a collector, you may see better terms when consigning top works at auction, but expect higher commissions for lower- value works. Buyer premiums will continue to expand at all levels. Finally, get ready for more convenience. Virtual reality will change how you view upcoming sales, and artificial intelligence will soon be sending you an endless array of Netflix-style lot recommendations across all categories based on what you’ve perused across the internet.

The art market, present and future, with Phillips post-war and contemporary expert, Robert Manley

 

Edward Dolman, second from left, chairman and chief executive of Phillips, with, from left, the house’s art experts Jean-Paul Engelen, Robert Manley and Scott Nussbaum.
Credit Alex Welsh for The New York Times

NEWS OF ONE OF MANY MAJOR SHIFTS IN THE AUCTION WORLD POSTED IN AUGUST, 2015, IN THE ART INDUSTRY’S NEWSLETTER,  JOSH BAER’S BAER FAXT,  ANNOUNCING THE DEPARTURE TO PHILLIPS AUCTION HOUSE OF CHRISTIE’S SPECIALISTS, JEAN-PAUL ENGELEN (POST WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART, CURATOR OF PUBLIC ART AT THE QATAR MUSEUM), HUGUES JOFFRE  (19th AND 20th CENTURY ART) AND ROBERT MANLEY  (DEPUTY CHAIR, POST WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART). WITH THIS TRIUMVIRATE IN PLACE, PHILLIPS MADE ANOTHER LARGE STRIDE AWAY FROM ITS EARLIER MONIKER, “THE THIRD AUCTION HOUSE”, TOWARDS BECOMING TODAY’S POWERHOUSE WITH A GLOBAL PRESENCE.

HAND-PICKED FROM SOTHEBY’S AND CHRISTIE’S, PHILLIPS HAS OFFERED MANY SPECIALISTS FROM THOSE VENERABLE HOUSES THE PROSPECT OF JOINING A TEAM HEADED BY EX-CHRISTIE’S AUCTION VETERAN, ED DOLMAN, CEO AT PHILLIPS SINCE 2014, AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHAPE A NEW PLATFORM FOCUSING ON THE TASTES AND VIEWPOINT OF THE CURRENT CONTEMPORARY COLLECTOR.

http://www.artnews.com/2015/03/24/ed-dolman-at-phillips-auction-house/

Edward Dolman
CEO Phillips

Dolman’s years at Christie’s coincided with a sea change in collecting habits. “The profile of the collector when I started in this business was someone fairly late in life who had gotten interested in a niche market and would spend 10 to 15 years building that collection,” he said. “But now the profile is completely different. They are much younger, they have much more money to spend, and they want to put together a collection a lot more quickly. They’re a little more impatient, and the supply problem is solved by the contemporary market.”

https://news.artnet.com/market/phillips-three-hires-christies-323427

IT IS A PRIVILEGE FOR THE LRFA BLOG TO CONTINUE ITS DIALOGUE WITH ROBERT MANLEY, DEPUTY CHAIR AT PHILLIPS, WHOSE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ART AND AUCTION MARKETS AND HIS DEEP RAPPORT WITH COLLECTORS BOTH ESTABLISHED AND NASCENT, SETS A HIGH STANDARD.

Robert Manley and Jean-Paul Engelen
Phillips’ Worldwide Co-Heads of 20th Century & Contemporary Art

ROBERT, WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE WILL BE THE EFFECT OF THE CORRECTION THAT IS TAKING PLACE IN THE ART MARKET? IN WHAT WAYS, CAN COLLECTORS PROTECT THE VALUE OF THEIR COLLECTIONS DURING THESE SHIFTS IN THE MARKET?

I don’t see much effect of the so-called correction on any area of the market, with the exception of works over $20 million. And even in that heady territory, there is still demand, just not quite as deep. The market is alive and well although maybe a bit of the froth has subsided. You might have to fight a tiny bit less for certain works and your place on the waiting list at a top gallery might be a little bit shorter, but fundamentally, things haven’t changed much.

I try to maintain the same outlook whether it is a down market or an up market. At the risk of lapsing into an extended art world cliché, you should buy the things you love and buy as well as you can. It’s also important to put together a collection that has some themes or some kind of focus, that make it more than the sum of its parts. Get some good advice from people you trust, like Leslie Rankow for instance!

BANKSY
Submerged Phone Booth
2006
Phillips London Evening Sale October 2014

One important thing to do is decide on personal financial thresholds for your collection. Under a certain amount, you should be buying purely for the love of it, and with no hope or expectation of resale or appreciation of value. Above a certain amount, you expect a work to maintain its value, which in effect, makes it more of an “investment”.  

I hate talking about art as an investment, but if you want to protect the value in your art collection, the best way to do that is to avoid putting yourself in the position of having to sell something quickly. Most quality works of art by established artists can be sold at a price that is commensurate with its quality, if you have a long enough time horizon.

The best investment advice for art is…don’t invest in art. Invest in things that make you lots of money, and then your reward is the art you buy with it. The joy you get from it is your dividend, and if it goes up in value, it’s icing on the cake. Like any form of investing, it’s a pursuit for professionals. It’s a hard business to thrive in, with high opportunity costs and massive capital risk, so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to make it your full-time occupation.

Interior view
Phillips Auction House, London

THAT IS VERY GOOD ADVICE.

WHAT IS PARTICULARLY EXCITING ABOUT JOINING PHILLIPS AND WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS AND RESPONSIBILITIES?

It was a great year on garden leave but I very much looked forward to joining Phillips. I am working side by side with Jean-Paul Engelen, providing strategic planning and vision for the Contemporary department worldwide. Most of my time is spent doing the same things I’ve always been doing, working with top clients and important works of art. Essentially I’ve been doing the same thing for about 26 years, but it never gets old because there are always new things to learn, and great collections to see.

The new challenge I welcome very much is working with Jean-Paul and CEO Ed Dolman, and many others, to create a strong team mentality, with complete trust and transparency. Phillips has put together an incredible team, some of the best and most experienced from all of the top auction houses, in all of the fields that matter to Phillips. The shareholders of Phillips are passionate art collectors themselves, have a long-term vision and are willing to invest in it. We have some innovative ideas about how we are going to organize our auctions and reach into new markets…at a smaller company like Phillips, we can do things that are impossible at a larger corporation. I’m very bullish on the contemporary art market in general and feel Phillips is positioned like no other company to play a leadership role in it.

Phillips New York

ROBERT, THIS WAS SUCH A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE LRFA BLOG. SO MANY THANKS!

IN THE NEXT POST, THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO VISIT THE LORETTA HOWARD GALLERY IN CHELSEA. THE GALLERY SPECIALIZES IN CLASSIC POST-WAR AMERICAN ART WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ARTISTS WHO CAME INTO PROMINENCE IN THE 1950s AND  1960s.  THE FORTHCOMING SOLO EXHIBITION OF MAJOR CANVASES BY EDWARD DUGMORE FROM THE !960s OPENS ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd AND CONTINUES THROUGH MARCH 25th, AT 521 WEST 26th STREET, IN CHELSEA, NEW YORK.

UNTIL THEN, THANKS FOR FOLLOWING THE LRFA BLOG!

 

The hierarchy of the auction world with Robert Manley, Deputy Chair of Phillips

THE FIRST RECORDED AUCTION ACTIVITY TOOK PLACE IN GREECE IN 500 BC WHERE WOMEN WERE AUCTIONED OFF AS BRIDES BY THEIR FAMILIES. ACCORDING TO THE RESEARCH POSTED IN THE TELEGRAPH, IN A BLOG BY CHARLOTTE ZAJICEK, IN OCTOBER 2016, THE ROMANS, AS WELL, WERE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE AUCTION PROCESS, REGULARLY SELLING OFF THE SPOILS OF WAR, SLAVES AND DEBTORS’ HOLDINGS BY THIS MEANS.

Roman Slavery Auctions

AFTER A LULL OF SEVERAL CENTURIES, THE AUCTION HOUSE, IN A FORM SIMILAR TODAY, BEGAN TO MULTIPLY, THE FIRST, THE STOCKHOLM AUCTION HOUSE APPEARING IN 1674, FOLLOWED BY SOTHEBY’S, FOUNDED IN 1744 AND THEN CHRISTIE’S, IN 1766.  IN RECENT DECADES, MODERN TECHNOLOGY HAS TRANSFORMED THE PROCESS OF AUCTIONING, INITIALLY WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF TELEPHONE BIDDING AND AND CURRENTLY REVOLUTIONIZING THE AUCTION PROCESS WITH ONLINE AUCTIONS DURING A PERIOD WHEN THE CONTEMPORARY ART MARKET HAS EXPLODED TO A FULLY GLOBAL SCOPE.

Online auction

TODAY, THE LRFA BLOG WELCOMES BACK ROBERT MANLEY, DEPUTY CHAIR AND WORLDWIDE CO-HEAD OF POST WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART AT PHILLIPS, FOR A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE AUCTION HOUSE DEPARTMENT HIERARCHY, FORM AND FUNCTION. THANK YOU, ROBERT, FOR TAKING THE TIME TO JOIN US!

HOW DOES CHRISTIE’S STRUCTURE ITS DEPARTMENTS? WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A JUNIOR SPECIALIST, SENIOR SPECIALIST AND DEPARTMENT HEAD?

At the top, you have the International Head (or Co-Heads) who provides the vision and overall direction of the department worldwide. Then there are the local Heads of Department in New York and London, who report into the International Head. Then there are Sale Heads: Evening sale, Day Sale, Off-season (such as First Open), and Online sales. These Sale Heads are in charge of virtually every decision related to their sale, and they report into the local Department Heads. Junior specialists/cataloguers generally report to Sale Heads. 

Then there are various senior colleagues who report to International Heads, who work on various important deals and assist important clients. We also had a separate Private sale department within the department, with its own team of specialists and administrators. This was the general structure about 1 year ago. In many ways, all specialists do the same things—we work on appraisals, price and evaluate artwork, help bring in business, help manage consignments, and work with collectors and dealers when it comes to buying and selling art.

Working side by side with the International Heads and Department Heads are Business Managers, who make sure everything runs smoothly and help manage everything on a day to day basis. They are the unsung heroes of the departments, in some ways, along with the various administrators who help manage the mountains of paperwork and logistics.

HOW MUCH INVOLVEMENT DID YOU AND YOUR TEAM HAVE IN THE WRITING OF THE CATALOGUE LOT NOTES, A RICH AND HUGELY ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTION NOT JUST TO THE SALE BUT TO THE UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE LOTS COMING UP FOR SALE.

When I started in 2000, the specialists on the team wrote all of the notes. I wrote a fair amount of the Evening sale essays in my first 6 years at Christie’s and it was an important part of my learning experience. I remember on more than one occasion, being at Christie’s at 3AM as we were finishing the Evening sale catalogue, and having Brett Gorvy (the International Head of Christie’s) ask me to write or rewrite a quick catalogue note. The catalogue deadline period is a bit like being in graduate school, and working insanely long hours was (and still is) a regular occurrence.

I forget the exact date but it wasn’t until about 2008 or so that we finally hired a proper full-time writer…by the time I left, we had a small team of writers (and a pool of freelancers) writing most of the essays. Brett Gorvy was a writer before he joined Christie’s and he took the texts and catalogues very seriously, obsessing about the comparables we would use, and the catalogue layout. He wrote many of the texts himself and still writes on the things that are important to him. In this regard, he was very much an inspiration and I learned a great deal from him.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS IN TERMS OF CONSIGNING WORK FOR SALE? HOW DOES THE SELECTION PROCESS OF WHICH SALE WOULD BENEFIT THE CONSIGNEE THE MOST TAKE PLACE?

Another great question, impossible to answer quickly. It really depends on the object. For 90% of the works, the choice is clear—all sales have a general band of minimum and maximum values and most artists have a clear track record of having performed well in those venues. And as I said before, my personal philosophy is that the auction estimate is what matters, more than the venue.

But there are situations in which a work of art can arguably be put in more than one sale and that is a decision that is generally made by a Sale Head. When it involves an Evening sale, the Sale Head typically gets input from their senior colleagues. We treat one-off consignments differently than a collection. You might not put a $100,000 Warhol in an Evening sale, but if it comes in with a nice group of higher value Pop Art, you might.

There is also an intangible quality, a bit hard to define, but you are looking to put as many “special” works as possible in the Evening sale. Unlike a day sale, you can only have a finite number of works in an Evening sale and since it is the only Sale that the press will cover, it needs to be both interesting and commercially successful.

Personally, I think the distinction between an “Evening sale lot” and a “Day sale lot” is a false one. Every situation is different. I remember putting some great works by the Canadian Color Field painter, Jack Bush, into an off-season sale in July 2013 (from the collection of Andy Williams)…a move that some people in the trade were second-guessing. The three works in the sale remain three of the four highest prices ever paid for the artist, including the current world record, which sold for over $600,000 against an estimate of $30-50,000!

Jack Bush
Red Side Right (Right Side Red) 1965

YOU REACHED THE STATUS OF DEPUTY CHAIRMAN AT CHRISTIE’S PRIOR TO YOUR DEPARTURE? WHAT WERE THE RESPONSIBILITIES IN THAT ROLE AND IN THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ON WHICH YOU SERVED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY DEPARTMENT?

Essentially I did the same job I always did…working with top clients on top consignments. The only difference was that on the Executive Committee (and other committees I served on), I was involved with the strategic planning and overall vision of the department.

THE ART MARKET ENTERED A CORRECTION PHASE AT LEAST TWO YEARS AGO, AND WITH EACH PASSING SEASON OF AUCTION RESULTS, CONTINUES ITS REVISIONIST TREND. ROBERT MANLEY IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MOST EXPERIENCED AND SEASONED VETERANS OF THE AUCTION WORLD AND, IN OUR NEXT POST, THE LRFA BLOG IS VERY PLEASED TO HAVE HIM AS OUR GUIDE.

PLEASE JOIN US!

 

 

Transitions: from gallery to auction, with Phillips Deputy Chair Robert Manley

Thomas Hart Benton
America Today
Metropolitan Museum of Art

AS THE ART MARKET, PARTICULARLY FOR POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY WORKS,  HAS REACHED MONOLITHIC PROPORTIONS AND CONSEQUENTLY ENORMOUS PUBLIC ATTENTION, MANY COLLECTORS WHEN DEACCESSIONING WORKS HAVE GRAVITATED TO THE DISCRETIONARY ADVANTAGES OF A PRIVATE SALE. NOW, AS WE FACE A CORRECTION IN THE ART MARKET, MORE COLLECTORS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY SEEK THE PRIVATE SALE SECTOR BE IT AT AUCTION, A GALLERY OR PRIVATE DEALER,  TO PROTECT THE WORKS THEY ARE INTERESTED IN SELLING.

WHEN THE MARKET SLOWS AND COLLECTORS AND AUCTION SPECIALISTS ARE ANALYZING THE BEST VENUE FOR THE SALE OF A WORK, GALLERY EXPERIENCE IS INVALUABLE IN DEVELOPING THE SKILL AND COUNSELING REQUIRED WHEN WORKING INTIMATELY WITH CLIENTS IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS.

ROBERT MANLEY, DEPUTY CHAIR  AND WORLDWIDE CO-HEAD OF 20th CENTURY AND CONTEMPORARY ART AT PHILLIPS AUCTION HOUSE, BRINGS BOTH THE THE GALLERY EXPERIENCE THAT ENCOURAGES LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS WITH COLLECTORS AND THE AUCTION EXPERTISE THAT  OFFERS A PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE MARKET  AND CONTACTS WITH PRIVATE COLLECTORS WORLD-WIDE.

ROBERT, THANK YOU FOR OUR CONTINUED DIALOGUE.

DID YOU WORK WITH OTHER GALLERIES BEFORE YOU JOINED THE AUCTION WORLD? IF SO, WHICH GALLERIES AND WHAT DID THEY FOCUS UPON?

I also worked at ACA Gallery in New York, an art gallery with a rich history that dated back over 70 years. They focused on American Art, especially Social Realism, and had a number of important exhibitions over their storied history, from Joseph Cornell to Romare Bearden…

 

Romare Bearden
The Block
Metropolitan Museum of Art

I remember mounting a show of tribal art from Papua, New Guinea in 1989…the Bergens (Sidney, Jonathan and Jeffrey) were always open to new possibilities.

Headdress: Serpent (a-Mantsho-ña-Tshol)
19th–20th century
Guinea, Niger River region

I spent a number of formative years at the aforementioned Luise Ross Gallery, which specialized in the work of a number of lesser known Abstract Expressionists (like Herman Cherry and Kimber Smith), as well as Outsider Art/Art Brut. At all of the galleries I worked at, we also had compelling shows of living artists who were mostly living and working in New York.

Herman Cherry
10 Cooper Square Studio
1968

WHAT WERE YOUR PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE GALLERY STRUCTURE? WHICH ASPECTS OF GALLERY MANAGEMENT APPEALED TO YOU THE MOST?

Like most art galleries, especially the modest-sized ones where I worked, it was all hands on deck…I did everything from sweep the floors to curate exhibitions (and I did much more of the former than the latter in the beginning). The first show I curated was a historical survey of voyeurism called “Peep Show”, which included everything from Ray Johnson to Indian Miniatures to Picasso. I will never forget the thrill of reading Holland Cotter’s sympathetic review of it in the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/10/arts/art-in-review-peep-show.html

What I enjoyed most about the business were the dialogues at the gallery. They all revolved around the issues of art, the ideas behind them, their presentation, as well as trying to figure out how to place them in the best collections and getting writers and curators interested in our program. I was utterly broke, but it was a very rewarding and engaging time. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my first year in the art world, 1990, was when the market crashed and it would take about 10 years to recover.

WHEN DID YOU JOIN CHRISTIE’S AND IN WHAT POSITION? WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO LEARN ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE ART WORLD?

I joined Christie’s East on June 19, 2000 as the Head of the Twentieth Century Art department. Christie’s East sold the lower value works, the equivalent of Christie’s South Kensington today (or back in the day, what Sotheby’s called their “Arcade” sales).  I was overseeing both the Impressionist and Modern Art sales and the Post-War and Contemporary offerings. This sounds a bit lofty, but the works were valued mostly under $10,000 and the entire “department” consisted of me and a stellar Administrator, Aviva Geller, without whom I would have never survived. I catalogued, researched and sold over 1,000 artworks a year and estimated three times that many.

Christie’s
20 Rockefeller Center

Gallery owners, especially throughout the 1990s when the art world was much smaller, were very much the kings of their castle and they made virtually every meaningful decision. This made it hard for the people who worked for them to grow and develop. There were few directors that had much autonomy to curate exhibitions and there were limited travel opportunities. At the time, working in an auction house gave you much more freedom and autonomy.

Most importantly, I wanted to join an auction house because of the new learning opportunities. At a gallery, you learn everything there is to know about a relatively small number of artists in the gallery stable…whereas in an auction, you need to learn something—fast–about every significant artist of your period. And in the contemporary arena, you are constantly challenged to keep learning about new artists that become relevant, as well as older artists that were forgotten but are being reassessed.

WHAT POSITIONS DID YOU FILL OVER THE YEARS AT CHRISTIE’S? HOW DID THEY EVOLVE AND WHAT WERE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES DURING EACH PHASE AT THE AUCTION HOUSE?

I worked my way slowly up from being in charge of the Christie’s East sales of 20^th Century Art, to working on more important works of art and collections. I also did a fair amount of writing for the Evening sale catalogues—this is a time when the specialists wrote the essays. I was promoted to Head of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening sale in 2007, a position I held for about 5 years.

Robert Manley with
Warhol’s Silver Liz
Looking Forward to the Past
11 May 2015, New York,

As a Sale Head, whether it is a $1 million or $700 million auction, you are essentially in charge of making sure every detail is done right, from research, catalogue presentation, viewing, marketing, selling. You also need to be a master of psychology, to manage all of the egos that come into play, because all of the sales have consignments from top specialists and top clients. In the end, it was an incredible experience and I am privileged to have worked with knowledgeable specialists, world class objects and the people who owned them.

Shortly into my tenure as Evening sale head, I also became the Head of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Department in New York. I enjoyed working with my colleagues and tried to make the department a smarter, better place. I encouraged collaboration and transparency, two traits not always embraced in the contemporary art market. I held that position for about 6 years or so, when I shifted away from direct management and became Deputy Chairman.

Robert Manley, 2012 at Christie’s in front of “Untitled,” by Lee Bontecou;
“Aluminum-Magnesium Alloy Square,” by Carl André in foreground

Although I held a number of leadership positions at Christie’s, the focus has always been on art and clients—every day we saw collections, appraised art, organized auctions, met with collectors…the main thing that changed over the years was the value of the art.

IN OUR NEXT LRFA POST, WE’LL HAVE ROBERT MANLEY’S INSIDER VIEW INTO THE INTERNATIONAL AUCTION WORLD. PLEASE JOIN US!

 

Cheyenne Westphal shares the history of her professional path in the auction world

Cheyenne at Phillips, London 2017

ON A PERSONAL NOTE, I’D LIKE TO POSE A QUESTION THAT I AM SURE WILL INTEREST EVERYONE WHO IS THINKING ABOUT  A CAREER IN THE ARTS. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED AND WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE?

When I was at St. Andrews, I received a scholarship to study in California and took an art history course that was very traditional. The first lecture that addressed contemporary art was on Cindy Sherman and I wanted to know more!

My first job was at Sotheby’s. I applied in 1990 and had the advantage, not as common at the time, of being bilingual. I started in the Impressionist Department cataloguing for the first year. There is an enormous volume of material to research, to estimate to determine if it should be consigned. I did this all day long. One develops a great deal of knowledge and also the eye to recognize a wonderful work by seeing a great many lesser examples.

YOU HAVE SUCH A PRESTIGIOUS, AND DESERVEDLY SO, POSITION. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS OR AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE?

I love what I do. It doesn’t get boring. Although the format stays the same, there is always new material, new collections, new clients. I can’t get blasé about it when I am surrounded by extraordinary works such as the group of Richters, the Clyfford Stills and the minimalist works coming us this November.

It is completely interesting to make auction history – such as with the Damien Hirst single artist sale in 2008. This year has been one of extraordinary accomplishment bringing in the great German works from the Sixties. In the private sale sector, I enjoy making the deal, finding exactly the work that someone is looking fr, knowing where all the works are and approaching the owner.

I love the momentum of auction, the crescendo of the events leading up to the auction itself.

THANK YOU, CHEYENNE, VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND ASTUTE KNOWLEDGE AND FOR THE PLEASURE OF YOUR ABSOLUTE DELIGHT IN WHAT YOU DO.

Next week, I look forward to interviewing Nicholas Christopher, who heads Turon Travel, the designated  travel agency specialists for art fairs around the world. In anticipation of Miami Art Basel, I am very pleased to have a chance to speak with him.