The market for pastels, George Condo and otherwise

In an Artnet News article published on Friday, Katya Kazakina writes about the market for George Condo’s pastels, which are the subject of two concurrent solo shows in New York, at Hauser & Wirth in SoHo, and at Sprüth Magers on the Upper East Side.

As Kazakina reports, the pastels, all variably large in scale, are priced between $600,000 - $1.5 million, mostly at $1.2 million, and are “selling fast.” Kazakina muses: “Was it savvy to focus on works on paper?… Are they a good deal? Will they prove to be good investments?”

She notes, perhaps with a subtext of her now-familiar bearishness that “Condo’s best result for a resold work on paper at auction was for Tan Orgy Improvisation (2005) [illustrated below], which made just over $1 million in 2018.”

While this is true, rather than reach back over six years, one will find a more relevant comparable in the recent sale of a smaller but stylistically closer work, Abstract Face (2) (illustrated below), which fetched $516,600 at Christie’s, New York just over a year ago, on November 10, 2023; the price flew above a high estimate of $350,000. Abstract Face (2) lacks the rich color backgrounds seen in the works presently on view at Hauser & Wirth and Sprüth Magers, and as such, the strong realized price for such a less complex piece further suggests that the current primary-market prices may be a “good deal” and that the works might in fact be re-sold for a profit in a future secondary market.

(l.) George Condo, Tan Orgy Improvisation, 2005, acrylic, oilstick, and pastel on paper, 60.4 x 61.75 inches; (r.) George Condo, Abstract Face (2), 2012, pastel on paper, 30 x 22.5 inches

The works currently on view at Hauser & Wirth and Sprüth Magers are mixed media, with acrylic and pastel. This combination of media can be seen in many Condo works, including Force Field (2010) (illustrated below), which set his auction record, selling for $6,857,413 at Christie’s, Hong Kong (online) on July 10, 2020, at the height of the pandemic. The essential difference in materials between that work and those presently on view at Hauser & Wirth and Sprüth Magers is the support: Force Field is on linen, not on paper like the works currently on view.

(l.) George Condo, Force Field, 2010, acrylic, charcoal, and pastel on linen, 45.6 x 82 inches; (r.) George Condo, Female Gathering, 2024, Acrylic, pastel and metallic paint on paper, 80 x 78 inches

Among drawing media, pastel is frequently regarded as among the most similar to paint, with its pure powdered pigment and minimal binder giving a vibrancy seen in few drawing media. Historically, pastels have sometimes been called “pastel paintings” — without a bit of wet paint.

For some artists, like Nicolas Party (or Rosalba Carriera and others, long before), pastel is the main medium — their painting medium, one might even say. Party’s highest auction sales, by far, are for pastels (though on linen), topped by the sale of Blue Sunset (2018) for $6,667,293 on November 30, 2022, then Still Life (2015) for $4,990,125 on May 28, 2023, both at Christie’s, Hong Kong (both illustrated below).

(l.) Nicolas Party, Blue Sunset, 2018, pastel on linen, 70.9 × 59.1 inches; (r.) Nicolas Party, Still Life, 2015, pastel on linen, 59 × 70.9 inches

When one wonders about the long-term market viability of pastels on paper made by artists who also make oil/acrylic paintings on canvas/linen, one might do best to look further back in time to artists who made both pastels and paintings.

The most compelling example might be Edgar Degas, whose all-time auction record for a two-dimensional work is in fact for a gouache/pastel on paper, Danseuse au repos (ca. 1879) (illustrated below), which sold for $37 million at Sotheby’s, New York on November 3, 2008. [NB: One Degas sculpture has sold for a higher price at auction.]

In fact, the seven highest auction sales of two-dimensional Degas works are works on paper, made partially or wholly with pastel. If a major Degas oil painting were to be offered for sale, it could of course realize a strong price, but to date, the highest realized auction price for a Degas oil is $13.6 million, i.e., slightly over one third the highest realized auction price for a Degas pastel / gouache.

Another such example is Mary Cassatt, whose auction record is also for a mixed-media work on paper that includes pastel. This is Young Lady in a Loge Gazing to Right (ca. 1878-79), which sold for $7,489,000 at Christie's, New York on October 20, 2022, significantly above the high estimate of $5 million, and also above the auction record of $6.2 million for a Cassatt oil painting on canvas.

(l.) Edgar Degas, Danseuse au repos, ca. 1879, gouache and pastel on paper, 23.25 × 25.25 inches; (r.) Mary Cassatt, Young Lady in a Loge Gazing to Right, ca. 1878/79, pastel, gouache, watercolor, and charcoal with metallic paint on paper, 25.25 × 19.9 inches

AXA XL: Underwriting Case Study Series

This week I had the pleasure and honor to present a 2024 art market recap to underwriters at AXA XL Insurance.

Finishing 2024, statistics of decline could be seen everywhere, particularly when comparing overall year-to-year sales totals (i.e., 2024 with 2023 and especially 2022), and yet the overall picture is a more nuanced one. Broadly speaking, my presentation complicated the overarching correction narratives that have prevailed in the press.

Fluctuations in supply, particularly at the highest end, often depend on circumstantial factors such as the availability of major estates. As such, any comparison to 2022 will be skewed by the Paul Allen auction (especially) and the Ammann sale.

The failure of any lot to sell at auction for over $50 million in the first half of 2024 did look paltry given the offerings in the immediate past, but in the second half of the year, the three highest lots at auction totaled $255.4 million, over double the total of the three highest lots sold in the first half of the year.

The price realized for the Magritte alone ($121.6 million) was similar to the total of the prices realized for the three highest lots sold during the first half of the year, and the fact that it sold for over $25 million more than a confident estimate (with guarantee) suggests that present demand is strong in the market for highest-end masterpieces, when in fact there is supply.

As such, when Zachary Small asked in a doom-and-gloom article on November 2, 2023, whether the art market “will need to discount its masterpieces,” the answer seems to be a resounding, “NO” – at least not at the high end of the markets.

In 2024, collectors chased high-end non-art masterpieces as well, such as the stegosaurus skeleton, Dorothy’s ruby slippers, and Babe Ruth’s “called shot” jersey, which respectively shattered auction records for fossils, movie memorabilia, and sports memorabilia, collectively underscoring the expansive cross-sector outlook of the trophy market at present.

Other markets, however, were indeed cooler. The middle market remained artist-specific, with a continued trend toward selectivity for some artists. And in 2024, the market for many emerging artists fully collapsed, following a moment of rapid speculation-oriented growth in the covid period.

Also addressed in my 2024 market recap were notable developments such as:

1. The reuturn of the acceptance of cryptocurrency as payment for auction lots, by Sotheby’s for Cattelan’s Comedian.

2. The seismic security breach that took place in May when Christie’s website was hacked, making it inoperable during the marquee sale week.

3. Sotheby’s overhaul and subsequent reversal (less than a year later) of their fee structure, both for buyers and for sellers. The implications of this are also covered in my recent contribution for Artnews.