Alberto giacometti’s Diego, oil on canvas, 61 × 49.8cm,1959, now in Tate gallery
Please note that the title is not wrong. For the general public, Giacometti was an outstanding sculptor and Modigliani a master painter. Initially, however, the former wanted to be a painter, while the latter only wanted to indulge in sculpture creation. Although the accident, but the two are not so well-known works are still sold at a high price. What is the reason behind it? How to buy the artist’s “unpopular” creation type? Today, Harper’s Bazaar Art will analyze it for you.
# Why buy?
Andy Warhol’s images, Sai Tombre’s photography, Dali’s sculpture and home design, the creation of most artists is not limited to one type, especially since the 20th century, this diversity is more common in modern and contemporary art. Then why are these types of creation other than representative works of artists worth collecting?
Sai Tombre’s “Light Flowers (Two Works)”, photographed, 43.2 × 27.9cm,2008, sold for $40000 in Christie’s new york in 2019
First of all, the most straightforward reason is, of course, the lower price of unpopular works. Although the highest price of Giacometti’s oil paintings is more than 32 million US dollars, it is definitely not cheap, but compared with its sculptures of hundreds of millions of dollars, it is still much “cost-effective”, and the competition pressure is less, and it is easier to “pick up leaks”. If the most expensive painting is valued at 30 million -50 million US dollars, the transaction price is only “a little” higher than the low estimate, which is obviously a good price.
Alberto giacometti’s “Diego en chemise cossaise”, oil on canvas, 81.1 × 64.9cm, was sold at Christie’s in 1954 and 2013 for us $32.645 million, ranking top1 in the price of his paintings.
Secondly, although these works are unpopular, they are made by famous artists and their quality is somewhat guaranteed. Take Giacometti as an example, his creation was not based on sculpture and supplemented by painting. The two are actually parallel, but the former is more famous and has higher achievements. And his painting also fully reflects his visual acuity and the ability to restore reality, so the value can not be ignored.
Figure 1: alberto giacometti’s “Yanaihara”, oil on canvas, 92 × 73cm, about 1958, was sold at Christie’s for about 4.3 million pounds in 2008
Fig. 2: alberto giacometti’s “Tête noire (Portrait de Diego)”, oil on canvas, 100.2 × 65.2cm,1957-1962, was sold at Christie’s for about us $5.375 million in 2018
Finally, for senior collectors who aim to build a multi-dimensional system, it is obvious that only purchasing representative works cannot meet the demand. Collecting different types of works by artists can reflect professionalism and richness. Not only that, unpopular masterpieces can sometimes show their unique taste, and they have a better attitude than following the crowd. Therefore, in addition to the artist’s most widely known creation, other types also deserve the attention of collectors.
Amedeo modigliani (Amedeo Modigliani) “Head” (Tête), limestone, 51cm high, 1911-1912, was sold for US $34.325 million in 2019, ranking top3 in the price of his sculpture works.
# Which to buy?
From a practical point of view, the market potential of the work is crucial. However, the market trend of different artists’ unpopular works is different, which requires specific analysis of specific problems. Comparing Giacometti’s paintings with Modigliani’s sculptures, the market situation of the two is mainly as follows:
1., judging from the volume of works, Modigliani’s sculptures have been auctioned for a total of 198 pieces since 1986, compared with 26 pieces in the last five years. However, Giacometti has taken about 140 paintings (excluding works on paper) since 1985 and 19 in the last five years. Visible, the latter works more rare.
Figure 1: alberto giacometti’s “Atelier I”, oil on canvas, 65.2 × 46cm, sold for 4.185 million US dollars in 1950 and 2007 in Christie’s
Figure 2: Amedeo modigliani’s “Head” (Tête), limestone, 64cm high, 1910-1912, was sold for about US $52.72 million in 2019, ranking top2 in the price of his sculpture works.
2., judging from the shooting rate, 9 of the 51 sculptures taken on Modigliani from 1986 to 2000 were shot, with a shooting rate of 17.6. Of the 147 pieces taken since 2001, 47 were shot, accounting for 32%. From 1985 to 2000, Giacometti’s paintings were shot in 59 pieces and 18 pieces were sold out. 2001 to date, 12 of the 81 pieces were sold out, and the rate of selling out dropped from 30.5 percent to 15 percent. In other words, Modigliani sculpture in the past 20 years, the flow rate is higher.
Fig. 1: alberto giacometti’s “Figure Grise (Tête en gris)”, oil on canvas, 65 × 54cm,1950, sold at Christie’s for 2.5 million pounds in 2010
Figure 2: alberto giacometti’s “Portrait de Diego”, oil on canvas, 46 × 33cm,1953-1954, was sold at Christie’s for $1.635 million in 2019
3., judging from the average price of the works, the average price of the sculptures taken by Modigliani from 1986 to 2000 is about 77000 US dollars; since 2001, it has been 1.78 million US dollars. Although the increase seems to be huge, it should be noted that if the most expensive three tens of millions of sculptures are removed, the average price of the rest is only $33000. It can be seen that the price of its works is generally low, and the overall does not rise but falls, high prices are only individual cases.
Amedeo modigliani’s “Head Portrait” (Tête), limestone, 73cm high, 1911-1912, was sold by Sotheby’s in 2014 for about US $70.72 million, ranking top1 in the price of his sculpture works.
The average price of Giacometti’s paintings was about 474000 US dollars from 1985 to 2000, and about 3.167 million US dollars since 2001. Excluding the most expensive three pieces, the average price of the rest is 2.04 million, showing an overall upward trend. Therefore, from the perspective of the flow rate and average price, Giacometti is undoubtedly better in the market potential, but fewer works means greater competition.
Figure 1: alberto giacometti’s “Homme assis”, oil on canvas, 100 × 80.7cm,1950, 2018 was sold at Christie’s for $3.61 million
Fig. 2: alberto giacometti’s “Annette au manteau”, oil on canvas, 115.5 × 80.5cm, was sold at Christie’s for us $11.24 million in 1964 and 2007, ranking top4 in the price of his paintings.
The second is to look at the quality of the work (regardless of the primary and secondary points). Strictly speaking, the different types of works of the two artists are not comparable. They can only be analyzed from the characteristics of the type of work and the importance of their artistic career.
Modigliani’s sculptures were concentrated in 1911-1914, and the themes of his works were almost all female heads, with a single image. From the material point of view, the artist’s stone carving works are more expensive, and the price is very different from other materials. However, Giacometti’s painting career runs through the whole process, mostly portraits, landscapes and still life paintings, and the style evolution is clear, and the images in the paintings have their own merits, so it is not easy to “collide with the collection” with others “.
Figure 1: Amedeo Modigliani’s Woman’s Head, limestone, 68.3cm high, 1912, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fig. 2: alberto giacometti’s “Bruno Giacometti à l’atelier familial à Maloja, um 1920”, oil on canvas, 74 × 80cm,1920, sold for us $1.417 million in Christie’s in 2011
In addition, Modigliani’s works are very “discouraging” collectors-too many counterfeits. According to Marc Restellini, a senior scholar who studies the maestro, there are about 1000 Modigliani forgeries in the world. Even two sculptures mentioned in his daughter’s biography, “Modigliani: Man and Myth,” have been accused of fakes.
Figure 1: Book Cover of Modigliani: Man and Myth
Figure 2: Amedeo Modigliani’s Head, limestone, 89.2cm high, 1911-1912, now in Tate Gallery
What is generally recognized in the industry is the catalogue of Modigliani’s works written by Italian art critic Ambrogio Ceroni, which was first published in 1958 and finally updated in 1970. An auction house executive once said bluntly: “If it is not in this catalog, then bye-bye.” It follows that buying Modigliani’s work is especially important to keep your eyes open.
Figure 1: Amedeo Modigliani’s Head, Limestone, 1913, now in the Kimbell Art Museum
Fig. 2: alberto giacometti’s “James Lord”, oil on canvas, 115.9 × 80.6cm, was sold for us $20.88 million in 1964 and 2015 in Christie’s, ranking top2 in the price of his paintings.
Before 2003, Giacometti’s works were often subject to disputes such as forgery, and lawsuits continued. It was not until Grenier Catherine, the vice chairman of the Pompidou Center, took over the Giacometti Foundation and carried out a series of vigorous rectification that these disputes gradually subsided. The work of the foundation is also on the right track. It not only actively cooperates with institutions around the world and carries out new projects, but also cooperates with the shooting of artists’ documentaries and films, and provides identification services.
Alberto giacometti’s “Portrait de Caroline”, oil on canvas, 130 × 88.9cm, sold in Sotheby’s in 1963 and 2008 for US $14.6 million, ranking top3 in the price of his paintings.
From many dimensions, buying Giacometti is undoubtedly a wise choice. However, all rational analysis is sometimes difficult to match a “I like it”. The concept of “unpopular” is also relatively speaking. People are good at and keen to tap the minority until it becomes popular and continues to look for the next goal. This is probably the nature of “liking the new and hating the old.
Whether it is Giacometti’s paintings, Modigliani’s sculptures, or the unknown creation types of other artists, it is not advisable to blindly chase “unpopular” or “popular”. It is the key to have a clear understanding and planning of one’s own collection.
(Source: Harper’s Bazaar Art)
