Gallery sales in Manhattan’s hip art neighborhoods of Chelsea and SoHo are down precipitously, and more than one dealer has admitted–off the record–to not selling a single work of art since the terrorist attacks. (It could be, though, that collectors of the newest and edgiest art are simply waiting to see what artists create in response to September 11.) But two weeks ago upstart No. 3 auction house Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg sold 72 works by Leger, Modigliani and others for a total of $78.2 million, just about matching its conservative estimate. (Caveat: Phillips guaranteed the heirs to the auctioned Smooke Collection an amount–which it won’t reveal–just to get the goods under its gavel.) Christie’s then put the Rene Gaffe collection of early modern art on the block and pulled in $73.3 million for its 25 works. (Mitigating circumstance: 100 percent of the proceeds went to UNICEF, so bidding was buoyed by charity.) The rest of the sale brought in an additional $35.6 million, including world records for a Leger painting ($16.7 million) and a Picasso sculpture (a tick under $5 million). Hey, it might not be a bad idea to invest in art after all. And it’s certainly more enjoyable to stare at paintings than at one’s stock certificates.
