World art markets reveal latest figures

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Erol Akyavaş’s masterpiece 1984 “Vav,” one of the paintings from the artist’s record-breaking series reflecting Islamic philosophical thought, was sold for 425,000 Liras.

An art publication has likened the record-breaking summer sales seen this year in London auction houses to a miracle much like walking on water, yet auction houses have said there is no miracle behind the headline soaring prices which defied broader economic gloom, according to Reuters. 

Three weeks of sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and smaller rival auction houses wound up on Thursday, and while rare treasures ranging from the 14th century to present day were snapped up, plenty of less desirable lots went unsold.

Christie’s sold art worth around £385 million ($600 million) in total and registered records for artists John Constable, Yves Klein and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Sotheby’s raised $346 million or $411 million if the Gunter Sachs collection sale held in May in London is included among the auction house’s list of summer sales, according to Reuters.

Despite a worldwide economic downturn appetite for rare and precious art treasures is as insatiable as ever. In May, the only copy of Edvard Munch’s seminal image “The Scream,” still in private hands, came up for sale at Sotheby’s in New York.

Others, however, have countered that the picture is not quite so financially compelling once insurance, storage costs and the fact that the market is relatively illiquid are taken into account, said Reuters
Individual collectors aside, another major factor behind the art market boom has been institutional buyers, most notably in the Middle East and in particular Qatar, who are stocking up on art to fill museums set to open in the region in the coming years.

Turkey’s auction results

Turkey has also raised attention with auction results this year. Turkish painter Erol Akyavaş’s masterpiece 1984 “Vav,” one of the paintings from the artist’s record-breaking series reflecting Islamic philosophical thought, was sold for 425,000 Turkish Liras at the 19th Beyaz Auction on May 29. 

A Sotheby’s sale also included a stunning photorealist painting, “Cage of Flesh,” by Taner Ceylan, an artist whose works are in leading private and public collections around the world. Other highlights in the sale are early paintings by Burhan Doğançay, whose works are in prestigious museums including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; a unique photograph by Ansen from his acclaimed “Guns of War Series;” an impressive work from Canan Tolon’s “Glitch Series;” and an exquisite embroidery work titled “Motorcycle” by Ramazan Bayrakoğlu, who is exhibited internationally. Finally, two remarkable works by Akyavaş from the 1960s were featured in the sale. Coming from an important international collection, these works have not come to auction for over forty years and belong to a very rare canon of works from the artist’s oeuvre.