Art finance

The slump in the Russian art market was laid bare last week. The total for the latest auction series in London was a third of the equivalent sales in 2014.

Sotheby’s latest set of results give the first indication of how Tad Smith will direct the company.

The latest Modern and Contemporary art auctions in New York took the market to new heights with $2.73bn (£1.84bn) changing hands over two weeks of flagship sales.

Christie’s evening sale of post-war and Contemporary art last night posted a premium-inclusive total of $658.5m (£445m) as the bumper fortnight of auctions continued in New York.

Global online art sales grew by 68% in 2014 to total $2.64bn, say Hiscox, the international specialist insurer, in their third annual survey of the market.

The April staging of the ‘Philadelphia Antiques Show’, one of America’s premier antiques events, has been cancelled. The fair, faced with falling dealer and visitor numbers in recent years, hopes to return in 2016 at a new venue with a broader exhibitor base.

Stable year-on-year values across art and antique exports as a whole mask major changes in influence among the UK’s trading partners in 2014.

COMMENT: The TEFAF Report shows that the art market has fully recovered since the 2008 financial crash, but still faces a number of challenges, such as late or non-payment.

Post-War and Contemporary art accounts for almost half of total spend at auction

Sotheby’s year-end results for 2014 signal a refocus of activity to encompass much more of the middle market than in recent years.

Nostalgia is an important part of toy collecting, one that encourages otherwise fiscally astute middle-aged men to part with large sums of money for unblemished versions of the toys they had – or wished they had – as children.

A large abstract painting by Gerhard Richter drew dramatic bidding last night and led Sotheby’s Contemporary art evening sale when it was knocked down at £27m.

Sales of coins and medals at UK auctions have doubled in value over the past decade to £44.7m.

Strong sales of Modern and Contemporary art plus the Félix Marcilhac decorative arts collection helped propel Sotheby’s to the highest auction total in France in 2014, with sales figures of €213m.

Heritage Auctions of Dallas and New York have reported their best year ever in 2014, with sales topping $969m.

David and Lee Ann Lester have cancelled their American International Fine Art Fair in Palm Beach, Florida at the last moment, citing changing market forces.

Christie’s expect the influence of Asian buyers to be at the forefront of growth in the coming year as they report £5.1bn/$8.4bn total sales for the company in 2014.

Sotheby’s, who have yet to publish full results for 2014, have announced headline figures for auction sales (up 18% at £3.7bn/$6bn), their highest ever total.

Philatelic and numismatic specialists Spink have posted annual sales figures of just under £29m.

Annual auction totals hold steady across provincial salerooms.