Summer Art News: Auctions, Ancient Gold, and Covered Bridges

Time for summer art news, starting with a sweet auction season in New York. Then, onward to ancient gold earrings fetching enough to launch a thousand ships. Stinky blossoms that bloomed with singular rarity in Pasadena, Calif., are in the headlines, too. And in Vermont, we’re celebrating little covered bridges over gently babbling waters.

Is that a pulse I feel? Late last month we felt, yes, signs of life in what has been a sad few seasons for the high-end auction market. That’s Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and, bringing up the rear, Phillips, much smaller and more focused. Sotheby’s broke its record for first-half-of-the-year sales. Christie’s had its best half in five years. Phillips’s haul was up 60 percent. It wasn’t only a great top of the market — the marquee sales of dead or divorced collectors. The $20,000-to $100,000-market was good, too. Participation is up, too, and that’s important. That means more competition, and, for auction houses, more competition means higher prices. It also seems that younger buyers are a growing share.

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Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

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Time for summer art news, starting with a sweet auction season in New York. Then, onward to ancient gold earrings fetching enough to launch a thousand ships. Stinky blossoms that bloomed with singular rarity in Pasadena, Calif., are in the headlines, too. And in Vermont, we’re celebrating little covered bridges over gently babbling waters.

Is that a pulse I feel? Late last month we felt, yes, signs of life in what has been a sad few seasons for the high-end auction market. That’s Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and, bringing up the rear, Phillips, much smaller and more focused. Sotheby’s broke its record for first-half-of-the-year sales. Christie’s had its best half in five years. Phillips’s haul was up 60 percent. It wasn’t only a great top of the market — the marquee sales of dead or divorced collectors. The $20,000-to $100,000-market was good, too. Participation is up, too, and that’s important. That means more competition, and, for auction houses, more competition means higher prices. It also seems that younger buyers are a growing share.