HONG KONG — The doors to the VIP viewing of Art Basel in Hong Kong opened May 22 after an early rainstorm that was followed by persistent drizzle. Amid the gloomy weather, the four-day fair started on a cautious note, with sales during the first few hours led by big-name international artists.

“Quarteto,” an oil-on-canvas by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, sold for $1.3 million at Galerie Gmurzynska from Switzerland. The painting of four musicians executed in the artist’s trademark chubby style was sold to a Malaysian collector, according to gallery director Mathias Rastorfer, who brought along 18 paintings and sculptures by Botero for the fair.

Japanese A-listers also led the charge in terms of sales. “Flame of Life — Dedicated to Tu-Fu (Du-Fu)” by Yayoi Kusuma, a large painting comprising hundreds of wriggly red tadpole shapes, went home with an Asian collector for US$2 million at the collaborative booth by Japanese gallery Ota Fine Arts and London-based gallery Victoria Miro. 

Over at Galerie Perrotin, Japanese A-lister Takashi Murakami’s sculptures were also a hit. “Pom & Me,” depicting a cartoon version of the artist and his dog Pom, came in four versions: two color versions, as well as gold and silver versions. Each version cost $135,000 and comes in an edition of five. At the time of press, 15 statues were sold, gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin told ARTINFO

Lin Gallery also had a fair showing. Four abstract paintings by prominent Beijing-based multidisciplinary artist Liu Wei sold for between HK$400,000 to HK$500,000 ($51,500 to $64,000), all within the first hour. They were bought by collectors who were already familiar with the Taiwan-based gallery, said director David Lin.

But one had to look hard for the red stickers. If sales seemed off to a muted start, most gallerists seem to agree that this is typical of an Asian fair. “In Basel or Miami, the most important time is in the first two hours,” says Rastorfer of Galerie Gmurzynska. “You never get this feeling in Hong Kong. Sales take place throughout the fair.”

The stakes are higher this year, since the Hong Kong fair is at a turning point. Formerly known as Art HK, the event was bought out by the Art Basel franchise, which already runs high-profile art fairs in Basel and Miami, making the 2013 edition the first Asian fair to bear the Art Basel name.

Jasdeep Sandhu, owner of Gajah Gallery from Singapore, remarked that “this year's fair is a full-on exercise in branding.”

“Look at the huge signage. It says: ‘Boom! Big brother Basel is here!’,” he says. “The fair wants to raise local standards. It wants to do a Basel art fair as good as Basel Basel or Basel Miami. I think they are doing a good job, because the Hong Kong fair is more representative of what’s happening around the world. You have a decent number of Asian galleries, for a start."

Ahead of the fair opening, fair director Marc Spiegler said he expected about 7,000 people on the first day for the VIP preview and vernissage. He added that he was expecting more young collectors from Europe and the United States this year, who are still building their collections, while acknowledging that older European collectors who already have substantial collections appeared less interested in making the trip to Hong Kong. 

Art Basel Hong Kong opens to the public May 23 and runs till May 26 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

To see works from Art Basel Hong Kong's VIP preview, click on the slideshow.

NEW YORK — Auctions of American paintings this week at Sotheby’s and Christie’s found their strongest footing since the market crisis of 2008, earning almost $80 million in total.

On May 22, Sotheby’s turned in a sale that notched $28,087,750, in line with last November’s $27.6 million total, but with better sell-through, and 81 percent of the 52 sold lots exceeding their high estimates. “Our strategy of smaller sales with things of real quality seems to be working,” says department head Elizabeth Goldberg. “This is our third consecutive sale that’s topped its estimate.”

Things got off to a rousing start when Max Weber’s daringly modern “Soloist at Wanamaker’s” (1910), a gouache on paper laid down on board from the estate of La Jolla, California-based James and Helen K. Copley, flew past its $4,250 opener — and $20,000 high estimate — to $112,500. The buyer was New York- and Bloomfield Hills-based dealer Jonathan Boos, who revealed that it was for his personal collection. The next lot, Andrew Wyeth’s spare, fraught watercolor “Elsie’s House” (1983) (est. $120–180,000), ratcheted up to $245,000.

Of the handful of institutional consignments, Stanton Macdonald-Wright’s “Trumpet Flowers” (1919) ($400-600,000), went from the Museum of Modern Art to another East Coast museum after a plodding back-and-forth that netted $785,000 for MoMA’s acquisitions fund. Russian-American transplant Nicolai Fechin’s “At Home in New York” (1924), a domestic interior with an almost pixilated effect from the Copley collection (est. $100–150,000), had at least four bidders duking it out on the way to $413,000.

Works by Norman Rockwell, sporting estimates that were lower and more enticing than last season, did well. Rockwell took up four of the top ten berths. The most successful was “He’s Going to Be Taller than Dad” (1939) (est. $500–700,000), which sold for $2,629,000 to a phone bidder. Keeping the estimates reasonable has proved to be “an effective way to get a strong result,” notes Goldberg.

Top honors, however, went to John Singer Sargent’s “Marionettes (Behind the Curtain),” painted in 1903 and sporting its original frame, having been passed down in the artist’s family (est. $5–7 million), which took in a sale-high $5,205,000. A new record was set for Milton Avery when “The Music Makers” (1946–47) (est. $1–1.5 million), from the collection of matinee idol Gregory Peck, realized $2,965,000.

One of Goldberg’s clients picked up a passel of iconic images. Maxfield Parrish’s “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” (1902) (est. $200–300,000) soared to $845,000 under a protracted three-way tussle. The same deep-pocketed bidder snapped up Rockwell’s “Doc Mellhorn and the Pearly Gates” (1938) (est. $500–700,000), for $1,145,000 and “The Veterinarian” (1961) (est. $300–500,000) for $905,000, plus Frederic Remington’s oil “Call the Doctor” (1889) (est. $1–1.5 million) for $1,085,000 from the Art Institute of Chicago on the back end of the sale.

Two surprise tug-of-wars erupted for Western works, including for William Keith’s “Yosemite Valley” (1876) (est. $70–90,000). Joe Caldwell, of Caldwell Galleries in Manlius, New York, explained: “Anyone who realized what they were looking at knew it would go for ten times that.” It sold for $755,000 to a telephone bidder. Shortly thereafter, a tiny bronze by Charles Marion Russell, “An Enemy That Warns” (ca. 1921), standing just 5¼ inches, achieved $460,000 on an estimate of $40,000 to $60,0000.

***

Christie's also pulled off a strong sale on May 23, taking in $50,848,750, up from last November’s $38,469,650 and its highest total since May 2008. Some 99 lots sold of the 135 offered.

The house would appear to have clobbered its rival, but a large part of that total came courtesy of a large, important Edward Hopper painting, “Blackwell’s Island” (1928) (est. $15–20 million), included in the recent Hopper exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris. “It’s from this great moment in Hopper’s career that bridges his Ashcan training, when he was working with Robert Henri, with his mature modern aesthetic,” notes Liz Sterling, head of the department, of the work.

Bidding opened at $9 million and petered out into a silent, excruciating duel between two phone bidders. “Speak to me,” implored auctioneer James Hastie to break the tittering silence as he wrung out the last few hundred thousand dollars from the phones. The gavel came down at $19,163,750, making it the most expensive painting sold at an American art sale since 2008, and the second-highest price for a Hopper at auction. Shortly thereafter, a watercolor on paper by the artist, “Kelly Jenness House” (1932), climbed past its $3 million high estimate to earn $4,155,750, a record for a Hopper work on paper.

Virginia collectors James and Frances McGlothlin, accompanied by their art advisor Michael Altman, cleaned up at Christie's, nabbing several big fish — including works by Stuart Davis, Theodore Robinson, and Elizabeth Catlett— plus a handful of Averys, including “The Musicians” (1949) (est. $400–600,000), from the estate of singer Andy Williams, for $843,750. They tacked on another piece from the Williams collection, “Moon River” (1984) by Millard Owen Sheets, a hotly contested canvas that overtopped its $5,000 high estimate at $81,250.

But there was broad participation from collectors who had come for one or two works, determined to win them. Such was the case for advisor Nan Chisholm, who chased Henrietta M. Shore’s knockout “Untitled (Cypress Trees, Point Lobos)” (ca. 1930), to $687,750, more than four times the $150,000 high estimate, on behalf of a Midwestern client. “That was a really aggressive estimate for that artist at auction,” says Sterling, “but I think the final price is a testament to her cult following.” Gil Waldman, a Santa Fe-based collector of Western art, was pleased to take home Granville Redmond’s California landscape “Snow Capp Spring” (1927) (est. $100–150,000) for $123,750. New York dealer Mark Murray wielded the paddle on behalf of a local collector couple who wanted, and won, George Bellows’s “Village on the Hill” (1916) (est. $150–250,000), for $231,750.

Among 19th-century works, Sanford Robinson Gifford’s luminous “Tappan Zee” (1879–80) (est. $200–300,000), described by Sterling as “a rediscovered masterwork,” had six ardent admirers who pushed the final price up to $1,179,750. The sale’s sole Rockwell, “Starstruck” (1934), took in $2,027,750 from a bidder on the telephone with specialist Eric Widing against an estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million. Childe Hassam's sunny “In a French Garden” (1897), was picked up by San Francisco-based art advisor Steven Platzman for a mid-estimate $963,750.

As for the buy ins, the priciest came from the Eric and Cynthia Sambol collection of assorted Wyeths.

Both department heads pointed to an upswing in demand for illustration artists like Rockwell and Parrish. “Consistently, you’re seeing good works by them doubling and tripling their estimates,” says Sterling. “There are a lot of people willing to bid aggressively in that category.”

Overall, both houses were encouraged to see new faces — primarily crossover buyers from the contemporary sphere coming in for modern paintings — and old collectors returning, which bodes well for future sales. “In the American market, it’s a smaller group of people,” Goldberg points out, “so when both houses can produce good results, it sends a strong signal.”

To see highlights from New York's American Art auctions, click on the slideshow.

HONG KONG — Sales continued to be strong into the third day of Art Basel in Hong Kong, with many galleries doing brisk business after the lukewarm opening amid stormy weather.

Works by top Chinese and Japanese artists led the way. At Pace Gallery, which has branches in New York, London, and Beijing, all four of prominent Chinese artist and auction darling Zhang Xiaogang’s painted bronze sculptures of children’s heads, priced from $100,000 to $350,000, were sold. 

Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara also did well at the booth, selling out the handful of pencil drawings of cutesy cartoon figures on view, as well as a large acrylic-on-wood panel “Balance Girl” for about $350,000.

At the joint booth by Japanese gallery Ota Fine Arts and London-based Victoria Miro, 15 works by superstar dot artist Yayoi Kusuma were sold on the first day of the fair, half to Asian collectors and half to Europeans and Americans. The works are priced at six-figure sums each, said Victoria Miro’s director Glenn Scott Wright, who declined to be drawn into details but added that he has sold another three paintings since opening night. The highlight sale was a $2-million triptych painting titled “Flame of Life — Dedicated to Tu-Fu (Du-Fu)” — depicting a writhing mass of red tadpole shapes.

The cash register was also ringing at top Beijing gallery LongMarch Space, which attracted a strong following of Mainland collectors who snapped up works by their compatriots. All three of Zhan Wang’s abstract nickel-coated resin works, priced at 600,000RMB ($98,000) each were sold, together with his stainless steel sculpture titled “Artificial Rock No.146,” at $280,000.

Most visitors will have seen the installation “Play 201301” by Shanghai-based MadeIn Company, a hanging cathedral made from leather fetish gear that stands at the entrance of the fair. Long March sold the work for 2 million RMB ($326,0000) to the White Rabbit collection in Australia, a prominent collection of Chinese contemporary art.

Chinese “thread” artist Lin Tianmiao was the star of New York- and Paris-based Galerie Lelong’s booth, and her large-scale installation “More or Less the Same,” comprising parts of the human skeleton and industrial objects wrapped in silk thread, went for $300,000. At the same booth, Spanish artist Jaume Plensa’s “Sitting Tattoo VIII” — a polyester resin sculpture of a crouching man with glowing light in the middle — sold for €260,000 ($336,000).

Meanwhile, over at top New York gallery Paul Kasmin, a set of three sheep statues titled “Famille De Moutons” by French duo Les Lalanne trotted home with a Hong Kong collector for $650,000.

Art Basel in Hong Kong continues till May 26 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

HONG KONG – There are no immaculate white walls at the Asia Contemporary Art Show, nor are the big-ticket art pieces like Andy Warhol’s contemporary silkscreens or Damien Hirst’s provocative installations present. Exhibition booths are substituted with hotel suites at the JW Marriott, where paintings and photographs hang. Some rest on beds and by the windowsills, or are propped up by wine glasses. Many even lean against bathroom mirrors near mini bars.

Each hotel room conjures an intimate viewing experience at the show and there is something special about looking at artworks with Hong Kong’s skyline as a backdrop. It is also in this somewhat quirky setting that you might find hidden art gems and surprises, often with wallet-friendly price tags at around HK$20,000 (around $2,500)

“I think being the leading satellite fair at this time of year is a great opportunity for both galleries and visitors,” said Mark Saunderson, director of Asia Contemporary Art Show. “They get to experience the glitz of Art Basel and also visit the more engaging, intimate, and fun atmosphere of Asia Contemporary Art Show.”

Back for its second edition, the Asia Contemporary Art Show is one of the top satellite events of Art Basel in Hong Kong this year and has grown in size and expanded to a three-day event, hosting over 70 galleries from 16 countries including France, Spain, Korea, the U.S., Australia and, of course, Hong Kong. It runs from May 24 to 26 and spreads over four hotel floors.

The fair aims to promote works by young, emerging, and mid-career artists with affordable art pieces. The Gallery Eumundi from Australia, for example, has brought along a series of paintings on music and dance by Madeleine Ekeblad. The artist and her works, which are inspired by free musical rhythm and fluid choreographs (priced from HK$15,800 to HK$38,500 — $2,000 to $5,000), are new to the Hong Kong audience.

“I think it’s quite edgy and funky [to exhibit in a hotel room]” said Karen Beardsley of the Gallery Eumundi, who is exhibiting in Hong Kong for the first time. “It’s a bit of a gamble I suppose because it’s our first time here, but we’re very excited and hopefully there is a good mix of people here.”

Indeed, at the VIP preview on May 23, guests filled the hotel floors and crowded out the 74 participating galleries.

Of the 2,000 art pieces being showcased here, a majority of them are paintings, while some notable artworks are also available. At the VIP view, the crowd-pleasers included works by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami at suite 2803, Ai Weiwei at 2704, Pipp Todd Warmoth at suite 3023, and Sanzi at 2807.

The show is also playing host to the Hong Kong Art Prize, for which an emerging local artist is awarded for his or her submitted work. This year, 26-year-old Jims Lam Chi Hang won HK$80,000 ($10,000) for his painting “Beacon, Sheung Wan Hours - 01.05,” which is now showcased alongside a selection of shortlisted works at the Wheellock Gallery in Queensway, Admiralty until June 2.

“Asia Contemporary Art Show,” May 24 to May 26 at the JW Marriott Hotel. Tickets are available here at HK$240.

More than 170 galleries are calling Art Basel in Hong Kong home through the weekend. In this Eye on Art, Blouin ARTINFO's Matthew Drutt takes us on a tour of some of the hidden gems at Art Basel in Hong Kong, including Aaron Curry at Michael Werner Gallery, Asta Gröting at Carlier Gebauer an Francesca DiMattio at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery. 

Watch other ARTINFO videos from Art Basel in Hong Kong 2013 here.  

Joel Wachs, the man in charge of distributing Andy Warhol’s fortune, met the artist only once.

It was in 1975, at Margo Leavin Gallery in Los Angeles. Wachs was a 36-year-old city councilman and Warhol was signing copies of his newly published memoir, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again.

Most Warhol devotees managed to secure only a cursory autograph that day, but the platinum-haired Pop artist inscribed Wachs’s copy with a personal dedication and a sketch of a Campbell’s soup can.

Warhol never knew that the man before him would go on to become president of the Andy Warhol Foundation, devoting more than a decade to preserving the artist’s legacy. He had simply been thanking Wachs as a city councilor for pulling a few strings so that Margo Leavin Gallery could advertise his exhibition on a billboard above the Sunset Strip. (The major movie studios usually reserved such billboards years in advance.)

Wachs forgot about his brief brush with Warhol until he stumbled across the book more than 25 years later, while preparing for a move to New York to take over the artist’s foundation. And he is certainly not wanting for Warhol memorabilia now. Warhol originals line the walls of the foundation’s downtown headquarters; two leather armchairs facing Wachs’s desk hail from the last location of the artist’s fabled Factory. “I didn’t want anybody to take off the duct tape or fix any tears before they brought them here,” Wachs declares proudly. “So they look exactly the same as they did in the ’60s.”

Short, broad-shouldered, and quicker to smile than most art world power brokers, Wachs looks a decade younger than his 74 years. Since taking over the foundation in 2001, he has done more than give away Warhol’s money, preserve his legacy, and sit in his chairs. As the only former politician at the helm of a major art foundation, he takes a clear-eyed, unsentimental approach. He is not so quietly redefining the way a rapidly growing sector in cultural philanthropy, comprised of single-artist organizations, functions.

In his will Warhol specified that nearly all his assets, including thousands of paintings now worth billions of dollars, should go “to a foundation to be created to support the visual arts.” The barebones instructions—no strings, no elaboration—leave lots of room for interpretation. And Wachs has not been shy about seizing attendant opportunities.

Under Wachs’s leadership, the foundation has expanded its licensing program at an unprecedented rate, lending Warhol’s name and artwork to products as varied as Nars makeup, a banana-shaped body pillow, and real Campbell’s soup cans. The capitalist move—which some commentators criticized as disrespectful to Warhol’s legacy—has led to approximately $3 million being contributed each year to the foundation’s $225 million endowment. But the most radical and influential changes have come in the last two years.

“Joel has this idea of really examining the mission in an almost philosophical way,” says artist Jane Hammond, who has served on the foundation’s board for eight years. Two years ago Wachs set up a subcommittee charged with considering the long-term future of the organization. The panel sought to determine “who is really benefiting most from our activities” and to have “a discussion beyond simply ‘Who are we giving money to this year?’  ” Hammond recalls.

These conversations ultimately resulted in two of the foundation’s boldest moves. First came its dissolution of the Warhol Foundation’s authentication committee in October 2011, a decision that stunned the art world. The foundation had spent millions of dollars defending itself against lawsuits brought by disgruntled collectors who did not like the board’s decisions, Wachs explains. “We got tired of spending grant money on lawyers for a service that really only benefited wealthy collectors.” Within a year, the Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring estates followed suit.

“It would have been easy but wrong for a leader to freeze under the episodic but routine legal assault that the foundation experienced early in its existence,” says Kathy Halbreich, associate director for curatorial affairs at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. “But Joel seemed to get braver as the risks multiplied, and I think that captured Warhol’s spirit perfectly.”

Last fall, when public arts funding was at a historic low point, the Warhol Foundation raised eyebrows yet again, announcing it would immediately sell off its entire art collection, including thousands of screen prints, Polaroids, and a few paintings. (The organization had previously sold a handful of artworks every year, though it gave away close to 4,000 of its best items to establish the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in 1991.) The first live sale, held at Christie’s New York last November, featured 354 lots and brought in $17 million. The auction house will hold four more online sales before the end of this year. In all, the Warhol Foundation collection is expected to yield at least $100 million.

Wachs says the proceeds will enable the foundation to give away $5 million to $7 million more in grants each year, over and above the $13 million allocation for 2012. (The move will save the organization almost $2 million a year on art storage costs alone.) Much of that extra money will fund a new program that funnels money into small arts organizations in communities where public funding has been cut.

Ruby Lerner, who is the president of Creative Capital, a foundation that supports artists with grants and professional development programs and shares an office with the Warhol Foundation, says Wachs “is accustomed to unconventional solutions. People who are in local politics don’t have the luxury of BS-ing their way through a problem.”

Wachs acknowledges that his journey to the Warhol Foundation was circuitous. “I wouldn’t suggest that anyone who wants to be the head of an arts foundation prepare for it by being a politician,” he says. But it is precisely that experience, his friends say, that makes him so good at his job. As one of the Los Angeles council’s youngest and longest-serving members, Wachs was instrumental in passing one of the strongest gay rights ordinances in the United States, in establishing the city’s first dog parks, and in creating affordable housing for artists. “Some visionaries don’t know how to deal with the day-to-day,” Hammond says. “He can.”

Before he ran the Los Angeles city council or became president of the Warhol Foundation, Joel Wachs was a frail boy growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His father, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, ran a grocery and butcher shop. Wachs often had hay fever so severe his parents would send him to the walk-in refrigerator—wearing a fur coat—so he would find it easier to breathe. When Joel was 10, his family moved to L.A. in the hope that the climate would improve his health.

After graduating from ucla, where he was president of the student body, Wachs graduated from Harvard Law School and earned a master’s degree in tax law from New York University. For five years he worked as a tax attorney in Los Angeles, but eventually quit and ran for public office because, as he told a reporter in 1991, he did not find satisfaction doing little more than coming up with ways for rich people to save money.

“He was our guy in city hall,” says Sherri Geldin, a former deputy director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and now director of the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. “Over the years he has been a real activist in his political life for all manner of causes.”

A fiscal conservative who started out as a Republican and became an independent while serving on the city council, Wachs often butted heads with other members of the council as well as powerful private interests. He opposed so many proposals—including taxpayer financing of the Staples Center and the 2000 Democratic National Convention—that some in the mayor’s office took to calling him Dr. No. Others accused him of grandstanding.

In 1999, during the last of three unsuccessful mayoral campaigns, Wachs decided to come out publicly on a local cable television show. Asked if he was gay, he answered simply, “I am.”

“Most people just assumed I was gay,” Wachs says now. “But I felt it was critical for both me and the movement to be clear about it.” (Since leaving government, he’s become a registered Democrat in part, he says, because the far right began “interfering with peoples’ right to live their lives in whatever way they choose.”)

Wachs was, without a doubt, a canny politician. In 1981 he became president of the Los Angeles city council after an 8–7 vote described by former council member Greig Smith in his 2010 book, If City Hall’s Walls Could Talk, as “the most politically intriguing moment of city council history.” Before the election, Wachs had promised in writing to cast his ballot for Pat Russell, a colleague on the council and the favorite in the race. Behind the scenes, however, her political opponent, the council’s departing president, John Ferraro, was engineering a coup: He wanted Wachs to succeed him instead. With the council divided, Wachs held the tiebreaking vote. And he used it. “It’s hard for me to imagine anyone not voting for himself,” Wachs says now.

Wachs’s relationship with the art community was a constant throughout his city council tenure. In 1993 a group of artists including David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein made limited-edition prints to support his second mayoral campaign. (Opponents complained at the time that the prints violated campaign finance laws, but the council never censured Wachs.) On the East Coast, Christopher Wool produced black-and-white campaign buttons.

One reason that artists liked Wachs so much is that he got them work. In the mid 1980s, he drafted Los Angeles’s “percent for art” law, expanding a practice common in only a handful of U.S. cities that government construction projects allocate a percentage of their budget toward public art. “We took the idea a bit further, extending it to private development in Los Angeles and not just new buildings but improvements to existing buildings that cost more than a certain amount of money,” Wachs says.

When a developer sought permission to build a $23 million row of high-rises on Los Angeles’s Grand Avenue, that law helped change the course of the city’s cultural history. “Instead of spending money on sculptures or artworks in these buildings, we said to the developers, ‘Why don’t you build a 50,000-square-foot stand-alone museum?’ ” Wachs recalls. It became the flagship location for moca.

“He saw everything,” says L.A. gallerist Margo Leavin of Wachs’s insatiable appetite for exhibitions. “He used to come to the gallery after work and stay until 7 or 8 at night just talking about art.”

And Wachs did more than talk. As a city councilman, Wachs spent a quarter of his salary on art. Now, as director of the Warhol Foundation, he expends about half. “I get two pay-checks a month—one goes to live on and one to buy art,” he says. Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, who famously amassed a world-class collection of Minimalist art on civil servants’ salaries, are Wachs’s role models.

“Since Joel looked at everything, he often was an early collector of artists’ work and he collected with unusual intelligence within a relatively constrained budget,” Halbreich says. “I am still coveting several armloads of work” owned by Wachs.

Wachs’s collection is heavy on photography and appropriation art—fitting for a president of the Andy Warhol Foundation. His holdings include work by Sherrie Levine, Richard Prince, Louise Lawler, Christopher Williams, Laurie Simmons, and Andrew Lord. Because of a promise he made to himself when he started to buy art, many of his purchases are now in the collection of moca.

“I began donating art from my collection in an amount equal to what I purchased each year,” Wachs says. moca now has more than 100 of his pieces, including John Baldessari’s famous silkscreen of a 1968 Artforum magazine cover, titled This Is Not to Be Looked At.

In 2002 a stretch of Grand Avenue between moca and the Walt Disney Concert Hall was renamed Joel Wachs Square by the city. The Los Angeles Times reported that Wachs spent most of the dedication “wiping tears from his eyes.” Of his devotion to the arts, Wachs says, “It’s not politically the smartest thing to do. But it’s where I was able to leave my mark.”

If  Wachs had been more successful as a politician, he would never have taken over the Andy Warhol Foundation. In 1999 the organization began looking for a replacement for its founding director, Arch Gilles, who was nearing retirement age. Wachs, who had landed on the foundation’s radar thanks to his local arts advocacy, had already served four years on its board.

Serendipitously, Wachs was unable to assist in the search because he was making his third and final bid for the Los Angeles mayor’s seat. After receiving only 11 percent of the vote, he was crushed.

As was the case during his sudden election as city council president, however, Wachs’s colleagues had other plans for him. After interviewing a series of uninspiring candidates, the search committee—which included Geldin, Gilles, and Halbreich—suggested Wachs. “I knew running the Warhol Foundation required ample amounts of diplomacy and, when that failed, a brilliant legal mind,” Halbreich recalls.

It didn’t take long for the rest of the board to agree. “It was two days after the election; I was home licking my wounds,” Wachs says. “And I got a phone call from Arch asking if I’d be interested in the job.” Almost without taking a breath, Wachs said yes. “I resigned from the council on Friday, got on a plane Saturday, and started working here on Monday,” Wachs says from his New York office. “I don’t normally make decisions that quickly. I lived in the same house for 30 years. I had the same job for 30 years.”

Wachs says he’s always felt great admiration for Warhol; perhaps that’s why the decision came so easily. “I lived through the ’60s, which I think was probably the most liberating period,” he says. “For better or for worse—and I think for better—most people’s lives are somewhat influenced by what happened in the ’60s. And Andy Warhol played a major role in that.”

Warhol “believed that being different, for example, was not something to be afraid of,” Wachs says. “He was really the one person in the visual arts field who had a remarkable impact on our culture and who affected my life.”

In interviews, Wachs often says the best thing about his job is being able to give away money instead of always having to ask for it, as he did during his politician days. Two weeks after superstorm Sandy hit, Wachs convened the foundation’s board for a vote on whether to allocate $2 million to a special fund to help artists and arts organizations recover from the storm. Still, his fiscal conservatism—a rarity in the art world—remains on display in the way he allocates grants and operates the foundation.

To mark the 10th anniversary of Creative Capital in 2009, Ruby Lerner requested a $1 million gift from the Warhol Foundation to help shore up its endowment. “It took Joel a while to get back, and when he finally did he looked at me and said, ‘You don’t want an endowment gift from us,’  ” she recalls. “I was really upset.”

What Wachs offered instead was a long-term commitment. If Creative Capital could raise $800,000 every year, the Warhol Foundation would donate $1 million each year for as long as nine years. For wiggle room, “he gave us an extra $1 million in a cash reserve fund, so if there were ever a year we didn’t get the $800,000 to qualify, we could draw on it,” Lerner says. Later on Wachs raised the stakes, offering to donate $1.5 million to Creative Capital for 10 years as long as the foundation raised $1.5 million annually on its own. Lerner agreed. “I was a little taken aback when he first made the suggestion, but ultimately I was so moved by how creative the financing was. It’s given us so much more freedom,” Lerner says. “It’s rare in the funding world to find that kind of partner.” 

NEW YORK — Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, which claims to be the third largest auction house in the world, is making a move in the Big Apple. It has leased just over 5,000 square feet of additional space at its current Park Avenue location at Park Avenue and 57th Street, tripling the space of its Manhattan outpost. The expanded outpost includes space for transacting private treaty sales, showcasing future auction highlights, and a saleroom for holding smaller, on-site auctions.

As it has done since 2006, the company will continue to hold its major New York sales at the Fletcher Sinclair mansion on the Upper East Side, directly across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The house specializes in such collectable categories as comic books, arms and armor, and meteorites, though it also sells some fine art. Last year it posted some $900 million in sales.

Heritage has “experienced exceptionally rapid growth in business,” according to Kathleen Guzman, the auction house’s managing director in New York. She added that the company was “hiring additional staff in many of our 35 different categories, especially jewelry, paintings, coins, and comics, trusts and estates, and luxury accessories.”

The new space expands a venue it has leased since 2010, though until now, Heritage has kept it mainly as a storefront showcase for a constantly rotating display of items coming up for sale. The annoucement seems to show that it has rather bigger designs.

Sotheby’s will offer buyers of Russian art several golden opportunities to pick up fresh-to-the-market works at its sale of Russian art in London on June 3 — part of the larger biannual series of Russian art offerings there. All eyes will be on NataliaGoncharova’s vibrant “Femme cubiste,” circa 1920, painted shortly after the artist settled in Paris. The work, which has been out of the public eye since it was acquired at Sotheby’s in 1969, is the highest estimated lot at £600,000 to £800,000 ($900,000–$1.2 million). Another top-priced gem on offer is David Burliuk’s swirling Futurist-style "Planting Rice," 1920, said to have been gifted to poet Vladimir Mayakovsky in 1925. The long unseen work is estimated at £200,000 to £300,000 to £400,000 ($300–452,000)

Christie’s has several classic still-lifes and landscapes by top-selling Russian artists such as Ivan Aivazovsky—a mainstay of these sales—and Nicholas Roerich. A quiet, “Still Life with Fruit,” 1910, by Ilya Mashkov is expected to top the auction with a presale estimate of £1 million to £1.5 million ($1.5–2.3 million), while a Roerich landscape, “Sanctuaries and Citadels,” 1925, is estimated at £500,000 to £700,000 ($750,000–1 million). Aivazovsky’s dreamy "Fisherman on a moonlight coast, Sorrento," 1866, is also priced at £500,000 to £700,000.

HONG KONG — The inaugural Art Basel in Hong Kong closed its doors on Sunday. After a slow start on the first VIP opening on Wednesday, partly due to damp weather conditions, the fair was in full swing by Friday. Organizers reported that by Sunday night, 60,000 visitors had come to explore 245 galleries spread over the 366,000 square feet of exhibition hall space.

Although the fair's previous incarnation as Art HK last year had already been running smoothly, the new Art Basel organizers brought a new level of professionalism and branding that propelled the fair to the global stage. Importantly, sales were strong, attesting to the financial health of Asian collectors’ wallets.

Yet, if Art Basel in Hong Kong seemed to tick all the boxes — from efficient Swiss organization to the attendance of a new flock of collectors — it lagged behind a bit in places, and lacked enough Asian soul, to give it straight As on its report card.

Organization: A+

With slightly fewer galleries than last year spread over the same surface area, organizers created a pleasant open environment for fairgoers. Corridors were wider, and artworks were given space to breathe and be admired from a distance. The increase by 80cm in the height of the hanging walls also helped better showcase large works.

“You can clearly see now the Art Basel footprint in the organization and structure,” said Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, CEO of Davidoff and an art collector. “Considering it’s only year one, it’s going to catch up with Art Miami very soon, although it has a very different feel to Art Miami.”

The VIP room on the third floor offered stunning views of the harbor, along with booths by various sponsors, such as Ruinart champagne, Davidoff cigars, and Audemars Piguet watches. There was also plenty of lounge space with swanky furniture for collectors to relax and mingle.

Art Works: B

There were impressive works in many booths – of note were the combined booths of Victoria Miro and Ota Fine Arts that presented a range of historical and recent works by Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, along with the booth of Galerie Gmurzynska which was dedicated to Colombian artist Fernando Botero.

But with Art Basel just around the corner, many collectors felt some of the galleries that are participating in both fairs did not bring their best works to the Hong Kong edition. And while there were plenty of attention-grabbing works, they tended to be of the easily accessible pop culture variety, with little space given to more conceptual works or video installations. Many galleries did not appear to take chances. “It’s a bit safer this year, less exciting. I think many galleries are still feeling the audience and the market,” noted Malaysian dealer Valentine Willie of Manila Contemporary, which sold out its booth of works by young Filipino artist Winner Jumalon.

Collectors in attendance: B+

There were some big collector names, such as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and his partner Dasha Zhukova, Chinese collectors Yang Bin, Indonesian collectors Budi Tek and Deddy Kusuma, Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, and a touch of glamour provided by supermodel Kate Moss, singer Gigi Leung, actress Rosamund Kwan, and bad boy actor Edison Chen. Art Basel in Hong Kong did not quite have the celebrity X-factor of its big sister in Miami, but there was definitely a very good social circuit all around the fair that made it a society event.

That said, galleries gave a mixed report on the types of collectors who visited the fair — some saw new collectors to the region such as the young Europeans that fair director Marc Spiegler predicted would attend — while others did not see a great difference in the visitor demographic compared to the previous Art HK fair.

Hong Kong-based De Sarthe Gallery reported a similar turnout of collectors, with no significant numbers of Europeans dropping by their booth. All its clients were Asian, from countries such as Taiwan, China, and Indonesia, said director Pascal de Sarthe, adding that the gallery raked in US$4 million in total sales. At Manila Contemporary, Willie also said he hadn’t noticed many different collectors. The gallery sold all its six works by Jumalon but these went to known collectors in the region.

But Pace Gallery, which has branches in New York, London, and Beijing, told a different story. The gallery saw visitors from Europe who were visiting Hong Kong for the first time. “They were drawn by the Basel name and were interested to come,” said Sylvie Tiao, who was in charge of public relations. The gallery did well in sales, selling out its Yoshitomo Nara works as well as Zhang Xiaogang pieces.

Long March Space, one of the Beijing's top galleries, did see a few European collectors drop in, though director Theresa Liang said that Mainland collectors dominated. “But from what I can feel, there's definitely a hype in the Mainland about the Basel fair,” she said.

Berlin-based Galerie EIGEN + ART also saw a sizeable number of European visitors drawn by the Basel brand name, especially younger ones who find it easier to make the trip to Hong Kong. “A lot of them are very global, very busy, they came for only one day,” said Kerstin Wahala, one of the gallery's partners. “They are doing a big tour — Hong Kong first, then Venice Biennale, then Art Basel in Basel. I heard a lot of, 'See you next week in Venice!'”

X-Factor: B-

While the buzz was generally very positive about the fair, the same criticisms were often heard: “a bit too clinical” and “lacking identity.”

Saatchi Gallery director Nigel Hurst said that although the fair was easy to navigate and hugely well organized, the fair was “in danger of becoming too international.”

“There is still an Asian flavor, but they have to be careful that it doesn’t disappear. There is still 50 percent of Asian galleries, but a lot of them are not showing Asian art, they’re showing international artists,” Hurst said. “Hopefully they will get the balance right. I think that it’s less Asian-orientated than it was, and I think it’s important for Hong Kong, Basel, and Miami to have their own focuses.”

One well-known European collector of Chinese art quipped it was now time for Hong Kong to have a “Salon des Refusés,” where less conventional and less commercial art can be highlighted.

Sales: A

Ultimately fairs are not museums. Their purpose is to deliver sales to the exhibitors and Art Basel in Hong Kong did produce some solid results for many galleries, with several reporting they were completely sold out within the first few days.

See sales report here and here.

Bethany Brady, director of Paul Kasmin Gallery, noted some different buying patterns in this Hong Kong edition compared with the previous year, but also compared with other Basel fairs. “In previous years there was a lot happening after, and this year there is a lot happening on site,” she explained, adding that unlike other large fairs, collectors did not all rush on the first day to buy, but made time to do their research and come back, buying later.

With additional reporting from Adeline Chia.

In September 2011, at the Shanghai International Commodity Auction Company, a bottle of 1858 Cuvée Léonie Cognac direct from the cellars of Pierre Croizet was hammered down at RMB1 million ($161,000), the highest price ever paid for a bottle of cognac at auction. While record lots are often anomalies, the sale exemplified several key traits of the collectible spirits market, including the availability of fine drinking brandies more than a century old, the importance of provenance in achieving high prices, and the increasing influence of the Asian market. Cognac, however, is not the only spirit gaining collector interest. “Historically, single malt whiskey has performed better,” says Bonhams whiskey expert Martin Green. According to Paris Artcurial wine and spirits expert Laurie Matheson, both of them offer the same advantage for collectors: “They’re not as fragile as wine and therefore easier to store under normal conditions.” Still, those looking to start a collection should consider a few tips from experts before stocking bottles of either potent potable.

COGNAC

HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION 

While cognac is today considered one of France’s luxuries, its history is both international and working-class. Production of brandy began in the 16th century to satisfy demand from Dutch sailors for an alcohol that would survive the long voyage to the East Indies. By happy coincidence, the vineyard surrounding the harbor of La Rochelle in southwest France produced a white wine that was difficult to store but well suited for distillation. Soon the nearby town of Cognac became the center of production. As British trade in the elixir emerged and grew, English merchants created the distinction between cognac’s two most renowned terroirs: Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne (which have nothing to do with the region that produces the effervescent wine). The British also created the cognac age scale, indicating the time spent in barrels: very special (VS) for at least two years, very superior old pale (VSOP) or reserve for at least four years, and XO (extra old) or Napoleon for a minimum of six years.

PRODUCTION

Cognac, like all brandies, is distilled wine. Current production involves a complex network of thousands of vine growers, winemakers, independent distillers, and corporate brands. Although it must be distilled twice and aged for at least two years in barrels, the intricacies involved allow for great variety in methods of production. But all cognacs are the end product of blending. Wines are mixed prior to distillation, and brandies that have been aged one to three years are put up together in casks. Most bottlings contain a combination of young and old spirits. “Only five percent of our production comes from our own vineyard,” says Benoît Fil, cellar master at Martell. For Rémy Martin Louis XIII, some 1,200 different spirits may be used.

COLLECTING

“There are three reasons why people build a collection,” says Michael Ganne, head of Continental wine and spirits at Christie’s: “because you want to drink it; as an investment; or to see thousands of beautiful bottles in your home.” Of course, these motivations are not mutually exclusive, and it would make little sense to put the effort into collecting if you have not developed a taste for the elixir. With age, the palate goes from light fruit (mostly citrus) and flowers to dark notes of prune, chocolate, toffee (sometimes due to the legal addition of caramel), even tobacco. Other factors to be considered when buying for a collection are vintage, brand name, and the style of the bottle. A collector may choose according to various criteria. “You can have every vintage from 1800 to 1900 to resell as a vertical,” Ganne says. “Or you can buy all the bottles of one great vintage, to control its market.”

VINTAGE

Many very old vintages are available, and there are fewer risks in purchasing them compared with old bottles of wine. “Cognac from the 1850s will be perfect, and the alcohol will be less aggressive,” says Ganne. Furthermore, these old bottles are quite affordable. A typical 1830 cognac can be had for around $1,700, and bottles of 1811 can be bought for $2,000. By comparison, a bottle of Château d’Yquem 1811 was sold for £75,000 ($112,000) by the Antique Wine Company in London two years ago. “You don’t have to buy 19th-century cognacs; it’s quite easy to find some early 20th-century bottles for really good prices,” Ganne says. “A 1914 bottle can be bought for €500 to €600” ($600 to $750). For more recent vintages, “Only buy the top market product, with an announced number of bottles produced,” says Matheson, of Artcurial. “You have to have a brand with a quality reputation, not neces­sarily the best known.”

TOP MAKES

Because cognacs are blends, brands producing larger batches tend to show greater variation with age. Collectors favor less-well-known brands that bottle their spirits in limited editions, thereby guaranteeing a more constant level of quality. “A.E. Dor, Hine, Ragnaud Sabourin, Delamain, Croizet, Lheraud, Monnier, and Gourmel are often featured at our auctions,” says Matheson. Of these, each is distinctive both in taste and in marketing approach. Hine is quite rare with a more elegant, complex, and strict style than that from a familiar trade brand such as Courvoisier. A.E. Dor still produces spirits under its label but also owns very old vintages. Similarly, Croizet still has old bottles, although they decline to say just how many. The maker will sell directly only to those it designates true connoisseurs. The record-setting Cuvée Léonie is said to be available for $157,000. The 1883 and 1889 vintages can be had for $14,000 and $12,000, respectively. These prices are aided by the impeccable provenance of bottles that never left the producer’s cellars.

AND THE OBSCURE

Because brandy holds up over time, bottles have outlived the companies that produced them. “Some companies that have disappeared are still famous,” says Ganne. “If you buy Eschenauer, Pierre Chabanneau, Fromy, Bignon, it’s likely the cognac will be very good.” Saulnier Frères, which stopped producing cognac in the 18th century, is somewhat obscure, yet a Réserve de Saint Amand de Graves 1789 sold for SF27,600 ($29,000) at Christie’s Geneva in November 2012. Provenance can help achieve good prices for some bottles that don’t even have a label. “Last year in London we sold cognac and other spirits from La Tour d’Argent,” Ganne notes. “The bottles were purchased and cellar-stored by the restaurant a very long time ago.” Two 2.5-litre bottles of 1805 grand champagne cognac went for £25,300 ($38,000) each. A vintage alone can be enough to give value to an anonymous bottle. Look for those dating to the time of Napoleon—vintages from 1800 to 1815—with some bottled for the emperor himself carrying markings on the neck to indicate a royal purchase.

DECANTERS

Among a subset of collectors, the beautiful decanters, made by such notable firms as Lalique, Baccarat, Daum, and Sèvres, create value.  Retail decanters released in larger editions are considered collectible only after 20 to 30 years of proper storage. Rare examples include those donated by the manufacturers to be purchased at the Part des Anges charity auction, held each September in Cherves-Richemont, near Cognac. Of course, the prices cannot be considered market, but “the quality of the cognacs in the auction is serious,” says Matheson. Among well-known examples is a run produced for Courvoisier of 12,000 bottles serigraphed with seven different images by Erté. The last sets of this 30-year-old edition were released in the U.S. in 2008 for $10,000. Auction prices for the lots vary between $3,000 and $18,000, with a complete series sold by Bonhams in San Francisco on March 9 for $7,735. Rémy Martin created its Louis XIII decanter in 1874, based on the design of a 16th-century metal flask. Erratic auction prices commonly range from $800 to $4,000, depending on the bottling, the oldest being the most expensive. In 2007 the house released a century-old liquor in a special version of the bottle called the Louis XIII Black Pearl. One example from a limited edition fetched $HK190,400 ($25,000) after a bidding war at Bonhams Hong Kong in November 2012, but similar bottles are often purchased at auction for around $7,000.

WHISKEY

HISTORY AND CLASSIFICATION

Scotch whiskey dates back to the 15th century, as evidenced by records of malt being sent to a monk in 1494 for the distillation of “aquavitae.” The first distillery license was granted to the Scotch whiskey industries, including the Macallan and Glenlivet brands, in 1824. “Prior to that date, people were distilling without a license,” says Green, of Bonhams. Despite its world renown, it is a contracting industry. In the 1920s, when numerous distilleries were taken over by Scotland’s United Distillers Company, “around 80 distilleries were closed,” says French retailer Thierry Richard, who seeks the best remaining barrels from these vanished companies and bottles them in very limited editions. Once home to 30 distilleries, Campbeltown, on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, now has only three. Scottish production is divided into three main regions, each known for its own style. Speyside, east of Inverness, is the birthplace of Scotch and home to still-famous brands like Glenfiddich and Glenlivet. Scotch from this region is notable for its balanced style, with both peat and fruit and notes of bourbon and sherry. The Lowland, south of Glasgow, offers spirits with a light, round style, while the Highland to the north is associated with more robust whiskeys.

PRODUCTION

The original principle still remains: Grain, most often barley, is fermented in water and the malt is distilled to extract the alcohol, which is then put up in casks to mellow. Although Scotland’s regions are known for just a few general styles, there is great diversity of flavors due to the different qualities of barley; whether or not peat is used and in what proportion to the malt; the purity of the water; and the stills employed. However, the most dramatic differences come from the types of casks, which are often recycled. Barrels imported from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, that have been used to age sherry can add dark fruit flavors, while American bourbon barrels give vanilla and toffee notes. To preserve the extraordinary complexity derived from these barrels, single-cask bottlings are a common practice for whiskey. Properly stored, whiskey ages only while it’s in the barrel. Unlike wine, the maturation process doesn’t continue after it’s bottled. Thus, a 50-year-old whiskey has spent half a century in a cask.

COLLECTING

Collecting whiskey can be “a bit more complicated than collecting cognac,” Ganne says. “If you really want to understand whiskey, you have to be passionate.” The difficulty stems from the sheer amount of information one needs to gauge the true value of the bottles available for consumption or trade. The distillation date, cask number, aging time, bottle quantity, bottle date, and sometimes the rank number in the bottling determine the final price. David Clelland, who founded 1494ad.com, a consultancy for interested buyers, advises beginners to “start with a single distillery, do your research, attend tastings and events from the distillery wherever you are in the world, and look to buy that distillery’s releases at auction.” After building a solid base, “you can add other distilleries as you discover them and learn more,” he says.

INVESTMENT

“In the 1980s whiskey became a very popular thing to collect, a way of investing money. Whiskey auctions have been very dynamic since,” says Green. Unlike cognac, it’s difficult to find really old whiskeys, and the gap between known retail brands and auction stars is small, according to Ganne. Thus, the collecting strategy is quite clear: Collect well-known brands that are more likely to appreciate and expect returns only over the long term. Product by independent companies is trickier to assess, but time often creates value. An interesting speculation is in “the direction of the distillery-bottled malts, particularly the limited editions,” Green says.

THE MACALLAN

The undisputed top distillery is The Macallan, located in the Highland but understood stylistically to be a Speyside distillery. It is sweet, fruity, and spicy with a high level of alcohol, up to 66 percent. The Macallan team studies the company’s older malts to determine what gives each whiskey its unique flavor. The company taste-tests current and vintage casks and buys old vintages at auction. At the Christie’s Geneva spirits auction in November 2012, a collection of 98 Macallan bottles of malts ranging in age from 29 to 56 years old of the vintages 1937 to 1974, realized $450,000 on a high estimate of $358,000. During a 2007 Christie’s New York sale, a 1926 bottle of Macallan estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 reached $54,000, a price rarely seen except at charity auctions.

AND OTHER TOP BRANDS

Dalmore, in the Highland region, has a rich mouthfeel. An Oculus decanter by Lalique filled with a unique Dalmore blend, was sold for £27,600 ($46,000) at Bonhams Edinburgh in 2009. Glenfarclas of Speyside provides aromas of ripe fruits and spices. One of its auction highlights is a 50-year-old whiskey from1955 that sold for $HK71,400 ($9,000) at Bonhams Hong Kong in late 2012. Another Speyside, Glenfiddich, offers a generally unctuous mouthfeel with fruity and slightly smoked flavors. A Glenfiddich Janet Sheeds Roberts Reserve achieved £46,860 ($70,000) at Bonhams Edinburgh in 2011. Glenlivet, the third of the well-known Speyside distilleries, produces whiskey with the aromas of flowers, citrus fruits, and spices. A bottle of the 1883 vintage, 48 years old, reached £18,750 ($28,000) at Bonhams Edinburgh in 2007. Springbank, one of the last remaining distilleries from the tiny Campbeltown region, creates a powerful whiskey that is both peated and smoked. A 50-year-old bottle fetched £6,875 ($8,951) at a recent Edinburgh sale.

Sotheby’s and Christie’s hold major biannual design and decorative art sales next week. At its auction of Important 20^th Century Design on June 12, Sotheby’s will offer an early, rare, minimalist chair, made of anodized steel, circa 1989, designed by Donald Judd, that is expected to fetch between $40,000 and $60,000. According to the catalogue, the importance of the design hinges not only on its functionality as a chair but also as “a literal participant in the delineation and effect of a minimalist space.”  Also expected to be a top seller, a rare “Dragon and Waterflowers,” Tiffany table lamp, circa 1898, that is expected to light up at $150,000 to $200,000.

Animals abound at Christie’s Important 20^th-Century Decorative Art & Design sale, one of three design sales scheduled for June 13. Two lots of Francois-Xavier Lalanne’s charming, coveted, flocks of sheep—one wooly and a later one made of epoxy stone—are expected to lead the sale: “Moutons de Laine,” designed in 1965 and executed in 1975 (est. $500–700,000), and “Nouveax Moutons” designed in 1990 and executed in 1996 (est. $400–600,000). They were owned by singer Andy Williams, who kept both sets at his home in Branson, Missouri— one indoors and one outside. When he acquired the latter set, Williams said: “I liked my indoor sheep, and I thought the outdoor sheep would be fun to have on the lawn here. They make me smile.”

AGE: 52

HAILS FROM: Neuzeug, Austria

PRESIDES OVER: Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zahnradstrasse 21, Zurich

GALLERY’S SPECIALTY: Contemporary art

ARTISTS SHOWN: Doug Aitken, Emmanuelle Antille, Martin Boyce, Angela Bulloch, Latifa Echakhch, Urs Fischer, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Liam Gillick, Alex Hubbard, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Jean-Frédéric Schnyder

FIRST GALLERY SHOW: ”Aerialists,” a solo show of Verne Dawson, in 2003

What is your background? Was there art on the walls when you were growing up?

I grew up in a small village near Linz, where my parents had a small business. My mother and aunt loved classical music. On the weekends
 we would visit beautiful monasteries and cloisters. So my art education as a child was influenced by Catholic representational art.

What is the first work of art you remember being affected by?

My first great art experience was when I visited the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna for the first time at the age of 14. I loved the room dedicated to Velázquez. That was the first time 
I knew I wanted to work in the arts.

What drew you to the gallery business?

I studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, which was the most dynamic art school in the city in the 1980s. I worked for a Viennese gallery, Grita Insam, for about two years. During that time I made many friends who were artists and students. It was an important time for me. I met Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone then, when I was struggling to produce painting and sculpture. He was the one who supported the idea that I open a gallery.

When and where did you first open your gallery?

I went to Zurich because Switzerland was known for vital contemporary shows, especially in Basel and Zurich. In 1989 I took the position of gallery director in an art institute called Walcheturm. My plan was to turn
it into a primary-market gallery for contemporary art, which I did until 1998. After that I went into partnership with Iwan Wirth; his wife, Manuela; and his mother-in-law, Ursula Hauser, who had opened their gallery, Hauser & Wirth. It was great, but we had different opinions so we split after about five years. In 2003 I started my own gallery. I was very lucky because all the artists I brought into the program, like Doug Aitken and Richard Prince, stayed with me.

What is the most challenging part of running an artgallery today?

It’s a lot of work, and you need talented artists to run a successful gallery. Many of the artists whom I started working with, when they were young, have become extremely successful. The challenge is being able to find the greatest artists of the new generation and be useful to their needs. Your efforts become rewarding if you see a career evolving in a positive way.

Describe your local art market.

The market in Switzerland is based on well-informed private collectors and great institutions like the Kunstmuseum Basel and Kunsthaus Zurich. Buying art here is less about investing than it is in other parts of the world, because Switzerland has a long tradition of collecting among wealthy collectors who understand the true value of art and can afford it. The best fair in the world for contemporary art is also held in Basel, making the Swiss market even stronger.

Are there any works that have been painful to part with?

It can be painful to help produce expensive artworks and not be able to sell them easily.

How has input or advice from your peers influenced your business?

I like to talk to experienced colleagues and collectors. They help you see 
your own business objectively. Good advice also comes from the artists — like relying on your instincts and appreciating art for what it is and not just for its monetary value.

If you could own any artwork 
in the world, price no object, what would it be?

I usually collect all the artists I show, but I regret not owning more work by the late Franz West and Peter Fischli and David Weiss.

Beyond the art world, what are you passionate about?

I am passionate about architecture and love the interplay of space and nature.

This article appears in the June 2013 issue of Art+Auction. 

Artist Ultra Violet declares that "everyone should have an iPhone, a Mac and a self-portrait". She takes the conventional self-portrait and challenges its ideas, presumptions, and blind spots. Her art often addresses topics of consumerism, narcissism, and violence by using the very icons that stand for those ideas, making her work visually and conceptually provocative.

The artist's work will be presented by New York’s Dillon Gallery and will be on view during Art Basel Week at VOLTA9 from June 10th—15th, 2013.

GalleryLOG has partnered with VOLTA, in association with Blouin ARTINFO, to produce a series of unique short videos highlighting a selection of emerging artists for the art fair's Basel edition. 

Since its inception, Design Miami/Basel has aimed at offering collectors a stimulating mixture of works by renowned and up-and-coming designers from the early modernists of the 20th century to cutting-edge contemporary designers. The eighth edition of the design fair, which opened on Monday, delivers on this with well-conceived juxtapositions of historic and contemporary pieces, bringing together blue-chip designers like Ron Arad, Eileen Gray, Fernando and Humberto Campana, and including emerging and collectible designers like TheHaas Brothers and Swedish-German duo Humans Since 1982.

Housed in the new Herzog & de Meuron exhibition space, the fair seems to have found a new maturity, thanks to the spacious scenography and high-quality works on offer. “The move to the new space was the occasion to rethink the experience we want to create for visitors and gave us the elasticity to grow the fair’s program,” said Marianne Goebl, Director of Design Miami. This year, Design Miami/Basel welcomes 48 galleries, eight more than the previous year. This was not just a result of the bigger space, Goebl pointed out, but also a reflection of the health of the design market.

Maria Wettergren, founder of Galerie Maria Wettergren, was impressed by this new edition, saying on opening night, “It’s matured; there is a statement dimension to it. It’s really, really strong now.” The returning gallerist noted the new space not only allows for bigger exhibitor booths but also offers more open space “in between” that provides a more pleasant experience for visitors to view the works without feeling crowded.

Design Miami/Basel offers collectors an opportunity to see works from different period dialoguing in harmony. For period piece, first-time participant Thomas Fritsch from Paris presents a carefully curated show of French ceramics from 1945 to 1970, while Demisch Danant presents a solo show on post-war designers Antoine Philippon & Jacqueline Lecoq featuring works from 1957 to 1967, and Galerie Pascal Cuisinier of Paris offers French furniture from the 1950s. Meanwhile, on the contemporary side, several galleries have commissioned designers to explore specific materials and shapes to create new work especially for the fair. Galerie BSL from Paris unveils Nacho Carbonell’s first works made of stone and bronze as part of a new collection Time is a Treasure (Carbonell was named ‘Designer of the Future’ at Design Miami/Basel in 2009). Meanwhile, R 20th Century Gallery of New York has a series of new witty zoomorphic designs by the sought-after LA-based twins, The Haas Brothers.

The juxtaposition of period pieces and contemporary is brought together in a joint booth by Carpenters Workshop Gallery and Steinitz of Paris, an unusual collaboration which imagines the home of an eclectic collector mixing cutting-edge contemporary furniture with antique object d’art in a period apartment with boiserie paneling.

Several galleries have recreated historic interiors to contextualize the works of the 20th-century designers they are presenting. Jacksons Gallery reconstructed a room created by Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, called “Paimio Sanitorium,” while Sebastian + Barquet presents a solo show of George Nakashima’s furniture in a landscape modeled on his Pennsylvania studio. Goebl says she had been positively encouraging solo exhibitions especially in the period field as they allow participating galleries to showcase the depth of work of a designer to the public.

Amongst the trends to note this year are an increasing number of works with elements of interaction with the viewer, Goebl said, as well more collaborations between contemporary designers and highly specialized artisans to revive traditional techniques in contemporary concepts. 

The fair remains very European in terms of representation, but it has extended its geographic reach to this year include, for the first time, a participant from South Africa, Southern Guild gallery, and from the Middle East, with the Lebanese Carwan Gallery, which is presenting furniture and objects designed by the Paris-based architect and designer India Mahdavi inspired by traditional ottoman tile making.

Trevyn McGowan, founder and director of Southern Guild, was happy with her first-time participation, having sold one piece on Monday, with another four pieces reserved. “So far, so good. There is definitely a very nice atmosphere to the fair and it looks really good. What is on show is amazing,” she said.

Once again, few Asian galleries are participating in the fair, with only Gallery SEOMI Seoul championing works by Korean designers, even though several strong Asian designers are represented by Western galleries. “Yes, we want more. I think the gallery system is still very much developing in Asia and while there are great designers at an industrial level, there aren’t necessarily the kinds of collectable designs that we represent,” Goebl explained.

“Unlimited,” Art Basel's pioneering exhibition platform for supersized art projects, has proven an instant hit with visitors. Curated for the second-time by Gianni Jetzer, director of the Swiss Institute in New York, the sweeping exhibition offers 79 large-scale works, a true feast for the eyes — though you will have to walk over 17,000 square meters to see them all!

A giant-sized aluminium sculpture by Lygia Clark, “Fantastic Architecture,” greets visitors and sets the tone. Nearby, a giant balloon made of colorful flags by Meschac Gaba offers an attractive visual, seeming to invite visitors to travel to a faraway land. Ai Weiwei, Anthony Gormley, Chen Zhen, Martin Creed, Theaster Gates, Simryn Gill, and Liu Wei are just some of the artists who stand out here.

To see some of the works of Art Basel in Basel's 2013 Unlimited program, click on the slideshow.

The ninth edition of Volta in Basel opened at the Dreispitzhalle on Monday to an audience made up mostly of dealers, rather than the top collectors that have flocked to the satellite in previous years ahead of Unlimited’s Monday afternoon opening and Art Basel’s preview on Tuesday. Many of the 74 international gallerists represented at the fair blamed the thin crowds on an overload of Monday midday offerings — Design Miami/Basel, SCOPE Basel, and Liste all opened around the same time as Volta9.

Still, the competition seemed to do little or nothing to diminish sales. Galleries from Copenhagen, of which there are eight this year, did especially well in the early hours, perhaps due to the relatively eye-catching works among their offerings. Jesper Elg of V1 Gallery was particularly bullish after selling two John Copeland oil and acrylic paintings on vintage Playboy covers. “We always do well here; it’s good to be back,” he says. The gallery will present three two-day exhibitions over the course of Volta9. Elg’s next-door neighbor and fellow Copenhagener David Risley reported sales of several of Charlie Roberts’s “100 Snake Sticks,” 2013, a tempting impulse buy for many at $200 a pop or 10 for $1,000. Helen Frik’s naïve ceramics, a central installation in the booth, were also a hot item in early hours.

Spanish galleries showed up in full force, presenting some of the fair’s subtlest and most sophisticated booths. Valencia’s espaivisor – Galería Visor is showing mostly photography, with special focus on works from the late ’60s and early ’70s by Sarajevo-born conceptualist Braco Dimitrijevíc and the 2013 Hasselblad Award winner Joan Fontcuberta. For “Sputnik,” 1997, she created documentation about the covered-up death of fictional cosmonaut Ivan Istochnikov, pilot of Soyuz 2 (a spacecraft that was actually unmanned, at least according to official records). One of the highest-profile Spanish galleries is a consolidation of the Madrid firms of Raquel Ponce, José Robles, and Eva Ruiz, who joined forces to create the PRO Gallery just two months ago, in hopes of weathering their country’s economic woes. “Galleries that want to survive in Madrid have to travel a lot,” says Ruiz, who now runs the trio’s international outreach efforts. “By doing so and minimizing our costs in Madrid and the number of artists we show, we believe we’ll survive.”

Particularly noteworthy among PRO’s offerings is a wall piece by Almudena Lobera, “Lectura superficial” (“Superficial Reading”), 2012–2013, which displays sculptural versions of must-read texts for the art intellectual (or pseudo-intellectual): Dante, Kafka, Deleuze, Calvino, Marguerite Duras, and Thomas Bernhard, among others. Several collectors were vying for the piece. Elsewhere, New York’s Ethan Cohen, back at Volta after six years at SCOPE Basel, sold an American collector a Michael Zelehoski painting in which a shipping crate is flattened into the picture plane. And one of Volta9’s 16 first-time participants, Gallery Skape, from Seoul, had success with works by Myeongbeom Kim, including “Play,” a 2010 sculpture that combines a vintage tennis racket with the skeleton of a violin; it sold for $7,000. 

To see images, click on the slideshow.

Watch videos of artists' work on display at Volta9 here. 

Last year we set out on what some might call a fool’s errand by selecting the 50 most collectible living artists. Hoping to elevate this sort of list-making beyond a parlor game, we defined the parameters and embarked on research to find those artists who have a proven record in the market and also show promise of the continuing innovation and devotion to craft that will warrant attention for decades to come. The result was a list that peered beyond the headlines.

A year is no time at all in the long game that is serious collecting. For this second outing we decided to add to the challenge by focusing on artists under the age of 50. For such a group, auction stats can be erratic, and artists may just be adding a major museum solo to their exhibition history.

But what follows is not an “emerging” artist list in the style of many art magazines, naming favorites from the latest MFA graduating class. Most names will be familiar to readers from years of gallery shows and even awards. The vast majority among the final selections are in their 30s, because the reality is that artists are still coming into their practice through their 20s, and only after that begin to build a committed collector base. Readers will also note the preponderance of painters. In the discussions during which we hashed out the list, two reasons for this emerged. First, there is a genuine resurgence of nonrepresentational painting as artists under 50 reexamine that key modernist pursuit. Second, collectors perennially favor painting because it is understandable within an established tradition and is comparably easy to display and conserve.

Diversity is the other big trend seen in this list, in terms of geography as well as in the individual artists’ practices. The language of contemporary art is global, and collectors are increasingly interested in seeing differences in dialogue. Today artists may be born in the Middle East, live in Europe, and sell to collectors in Asia and America, and our list reflects that ubiquitous internationalism. Just as pervasive, it seems, is the desire among artists to operate free of the constraints of medium. Even as recent years have seen a return to a focus on craft and the object and, sometimes, beauty, it seems that the ultimate triumph of Conceptualism has come in the form of younger generations who embrace the artist’s role as that of universal creator. Photographers sculpt, sculptors bridge the divide between two and three dimensions, and painters make films. Innovation is everywhere. —The Editors

To see images of works by the artists mentioned here, click on the slideshow. 

Nevin Aladag

The Turkish-born, German-raised sculptor-by-training has adopted various media, including performance, video, and photography, to explore both personal and cultural differences. For Leaning Wall, 2012, produced for her first solo show at Rampa in Istanbul, Aladag cast 84 ceramic molds of body parts from models of both genders and mounted them climbing-wall style, inviting viewers to try fitting their own forearms or fists inside. The video triptych she contributed to the 2013 Sharjah Biennial records wind, rain, and sand “playing” various percussion instruments, while her ongoing “Pattern Matching” series employs sliced-up carpets from various regions of Turkey recomposed as basketball courts. “She’s basically interested in cultural codes and how we perceive them,” says Ustüngel Inanç, of Rampa. Currently, prices range from $6,000 to $65,000 at Wentrup Gallery, in Berlin, where she had a solo show this year. (She also shows at Gitte Weise Gallery, in Sydney.) Her work is held in the collections of the Vehbi Koç Foundation, the Neue Nationalgalerie, in Berlin, and the Pinakothek der Moderne, in Munich and is currently on view at Musée d’Art Contemporain, in Marseille. —Sarah P. Hanson

Ahmed Alsoudani

With its fractured imagery and turbulent mix of oil, acrylic, charcoal, and gesso, Alsoudani’s work conveys the carnage and chaos he witnessed as a young man in war-torn Iraq. (He fled to Syria and was later granted asylum in the United States.) His pieces, highly prized by Baghdad-born collector Charles Saatchi and businessman François Pinault, have brought from $17,500 for limited edition prints to the £713, 250 ($1.12 million) fetched by Baghdad I (2008) in a 2011 sale at Christie’s London. L&M Arts represents Alsoudani, and prices there generally reflect those achieved on the block. His first major museum show, “Ahmed Alsoudani: Redacted,” exhibits 21 of his works through July 7 at the Phoenix Art Museum. “Despite the dark nature of his subject matter, he takes such joy in painting,” says Sara Cochran, the museum’s curator of modern art, “which is life- affirming.” —Angela M.H. Schuster

Diana Al-Hadid

Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based Al-Hadid makes large- scale multimedia works drawing on influences from Renaissance painting and Greek sculpture to the architecture of Salvador Dalí and Antoni Gaudí. Her works appear to defy gravity, with solid elements resting atop delicate plinths of paint-drip icicles. “It was hard not to take notice,” says dealer Marianne Boesky, who has worked with Al-Hadid since 2010. “Her work was unusually resolved for an artist in her 20s.” Although sculptural works range in price from $45,000 to $160,000, paintings on vellum can be had for $20,000 to $45,000. The latter, Boesky says, “come into the gallery and leave pretty much immediately.” Broad collector interest comes from the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. After more than a dozen solo exhibitions at museums and galleries, including two with Boesky in New York, Al-Hadid steps out at the Akron Museum of Art this fall. —Eileen Kinsella

David Altmejd

As the youngest artist to represent a national pavilion (Canada) at the 2007 Venice Biennale, Altmejd exploded onto the international scene with what the Guardian deemed a magical but creepy installation of semi-human forms in a hall of mirrors. His sprawling works dare viewers to find a focal point. “You have to engage with the work on a physical level,” says Andrea Rosen, who first showed the Montreal-born artist in 2004. Despite the monumental scale, Rosen says interest “is not just institutional,” noting that many vertical works have “domestic possibilities.” On the primary market, prices range from $45,000 to $350,000, though most works fall in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. Only a handful of pieces have come to auction; the top price of £217,250 ($340,000) was earned by The New North, 2007, at Christie’s London last June. The artist’s third solo show at Xavier Hufkens, in Brussels wrapped this past March. —EK

Cory Arcangel

Adding to the din of the 2004 Whitney Biennial’s opening party was buzz over Super Mario Clouds v2k3, for which Arcangel hacked into the classic game and banished the characters, sounds, and scenery, leaving only cartoon clouds set against a blue sky. Seven years later, he became the youngest artist since Bruce Nauman to garner a solo show at the same museum. Videos by the 33-year-old currently range in price from $12,000 to $22,000, while installations top out at $150,000. Most collectors, however, seek two-dimensional works, especially abstract color field prints, priced around $22,000. “There is a waiting list,” says Kim Klehmet of Lisson Gallery of London, which shares representation with Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris. “We don’t want him to overproduce.” Still, those interested in acquisitions don’t need to wait for years or break the bank: Arcangel’s drawings of cars and palm trees, computer- rendered and automatically printed, cost a comparatively affordable $3,000. —Julia Halperin

Sadie Benning

First known for her pioneering videos on queer issues, shot with a toy camera in the 1990s and shown in the Whitney Biennials of 1993 and 2000, Benning has recently become a collector darling with her dense and delicious painted color studies. Although the artist continues to make videos, she brought her painting practice to the fore after becoming frustrated by technology’s mechanical demands and lightning-speed obsolescence. Her geometric works—priced at $4,000 to $7,000 for a drawing and $10,000 to $45,000 for paintings and groups of paintings—regularly sell out at art fairs from nada Miami to Art Rio and at New York venues Johannes Vogt Gallery and Callicoon Fine Arts. Part of the paintings’ appeal, according to Miami- based art adviser Jacqueline Fletcher, is that they’re “intimate but also bold. The way the individual pieces of the painted geometric groups speak to each other is engaging and brilliant.” —Doug McClemont

Tatiana Blass

The versatile 34-year-old Brazilian has a flair for the dramatic. One of her most famous works, Luz que cega Sentado (Blinding Light-Seated), 2011, which won her the PIPA prize that year, is a seated man cast in wax with a light trained on his back. A concentrated beam slowly melts the figure, leaving a spinal column cast in shiny bronze. Wax also made an appearance in Blass’s Metade da fala no chão—Piano surdo (Half of the speech on the ground— Deaf piano), a 2010 performance for the Bienal de São Paulo, in which a pianist plays Chopin while wax is poured into his baby grand, gradually muffling—and ultimately thwarting—his efforts. Smaller silenced instruments were snapped up for $25,000 at Art Basel Miami Beach last year at the booth of Galería Millan, in São Paulo, which also showed her dreamlike, picture-plane-distorting “Acidente” paintings. Collectors at home and abroad have come to appreciate Blass’s deftly devastating touch, according to gallery owner André Millan. Paintings, videos, and photos range from $3,000 to $25,000; sculptures go for $20,000 to $75,000. Blass is set for a breakout year with her first U.S. solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, opening July 16, and at her new New York representative, Johannes Vogt Gallery, in September. —SPH

Matthew Brandt

Brandt transmutes photography through unconventional materials, but with a meta twist: Portraits of friends and family are printed using their own sweat and tears; his “Honeybees” series uses victims of a found colony collapse to make an emulsion for resulting photographs. A former assistant to photographer Robert Polidori and a UCLA MFA student under James Welling, the 31-year-old Brandt centers his conceptual body of work on archaic photographic processes like gum-bichromate prints. “He has tremendous knowledge of the history of photography and such enthusiasm for what he’s doing,” says New York gallerist Yossi Milo, who placed pieces from Brandt’s first solo show at the gallery with the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art last year. (Brandt is also represented by M+B, in Los Angeles.) Works from his “Lakes and Reservoirs” series—images soaked in water taken from the bodies they depict—met with clamorous success at fairs, selling at prices from $5,600 to $20,000. Brandt’s mining of the medium, melded with environmental concerns, has resulted in his first institutional solo show, at the Columbus Museum of Art this fall. —SPH

Carol Bove

The market for Bove’s meditative assemblages—painstakingly arranged objects such as driftwood and carefully selected books—took a turn upward in 2011 when it was announced her longtime gallery, Maccarone, would co-represent her in New York with David Zwirner. The deal quickly expanded the artist’s international reach: After presenting her work at Art Basel Miami Beach, Zwirner sold a sculpture to Mexico’s Colección Jumex, and the galleries coproduced Bove’s sprawling installation at Documenta (13). “It’s good for her career,” art adviser Lisa Schiff says of the novel arrangement. “Staying with Michele [Maccarone] lets her keep her edge—she’s not going vanilla.” In addition to making pieces for a solo show at Maccarone this fall, Bove is at work on six new sculptures to be shown at the Museum of Modern Art, along with a seventh from the museum’s collection, this summer. Sculptures and installations cost up to $300,000, while paintings, including a new, sought-after series that incorporates peacock feathers, range from $75,000 to $175,000. —JH

Anne Collier

A rigorous descendant of the 1970s and ’80s Pictures Generation, Collier photographs books, magazines, and ephemera in curious and unexpected compositions. “Anne is going to prove to be one of the most important photographers of her generation,” says Phillips specialist Benjamin Godsill. “She has an ability to find subtle variances and changes and track them in a way that’s not documentary and dry but sexy and seductive.” Collier’s career has seen a marked acceleration in the past few years. She nabbed New York’s High Line billboard commission in February 2012, was included in the Museum of Modern Art’s New Photography series the same year, and has solo museum exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and the Modern Institute, in Glasgow, on deck for 2014. Marc Foxx, in Los Angeles, Anton Kern, in New York, and Corvi-Mora, in London, represent her work, which has fetched up to $27,500 at auction. —Rachel Wolff

Matt Connors

For those looking for fresh takes on painting, spending some time with an exhibition of Connors’s meticulously executed representations of abstraction is required. Fortunately, fans have had ample opportunity to do just that with solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 and Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in the past two years, along with his inclusion in “Painter Painter,” the Walker Art Center’s first survey of abstract painting in more than 10 years, up through October. Somewhat reluctant, however, to be pigeonholed as a herald of the new abstraction, Connors “has a broader interest in representation and expressiveness; the art object, how we experience it, and how it is made,” says Cherry and Martin director Philip Martin, who currently sells the artist’s thinly painted (almost scrubbed) canvases and perceptual constructions to L.A.–based and international collectors for prices in the range of $5,000 to $25,000. The gallery will also feature a freestanding three-dimensional object by Connors in its booth at Art Basel this month. Although the 2012 Guggenheim Fellow currently has no auction record, renewed interest in nonrepresentational painting will likely boost his primary market. —Deborah Wilk

Aaron Curry

The artist’s appealingly eccentric, frequently fluorescent figures, created from flat interlocking cutouts of metal or wood, effectively transform two dimensions into three. And devoted collectors, including Donald and Mera Rubell, Rosa de la Cruz, and others from Germany, France, Italy, the U.K., and the U.S., have happily whisked these goofy-yet-brainy compositions off into their homes. Large sculptures range from $75,000 to $125,000 at Michael Werner Gallery, Curry’s representative in New York and Berlin, and at David Kordansky, in Los Angeles, where the artist is based. Collages can be purchased for $8,000 to $30,000. The artist’s prices at auction, evidenced by the $75,000 sale of One, 2006, at Sotheby’s New York this past March, remain in line with his primary market, where he continues to be supported. In May, Curry’s sculpture stood alone in Werner’s Art Basel Hong Kong booth, which was clad entirely in Curry-created wallpaper. The 14 large-scale aluminum pieces to be unveiled in New York’s Lincoln Center, on view from October through January, will form an impressive installation of the artist’s outdoor sculpture. —DM

Jose Davila

Trained first as a sculptor and then as an architect, Dávila has a varied practice that stems from his investigation of urban and interior spaces. In exhibitions from Vienna to Valencia and in his galleries (which include Galería OMR, Mexico City; Figge von Rosen, Berlin; Travesia Cuatro, Madrid; and Galleria Gentili, Florence), the Guadalajara native has displayed a knack for playful geometries that expose the ways in which our built environment orders movement, as in his Joseph Albers squares reimagined in three dimensions. This inside-out approach is also seen in site-specific installations that demarcate a room’s architecture and in his series of altered photographs in which well-known images of artworks or artists have been removed. Works from these have been acquired by the Albright-Knox and the Colección Jumex, among others. According to Rebecca Gremmo of London’s Max Wigram Gallery, where Dávila’s first solo show in a U.K. gallery, “Shadow as Rumor,” is currently on view through July 13, “he has had considerable success with us at various art fairs.” The cutout series is among the most popular, with prices starting at $25,000 and going up to $100,000. — SPH

Roe Ethridge

When Goldman Sachs commissioned Ethridge to document construction of its New York headquarters, they sought to engage the astute eye typically focused on gamine models, rotting still lifes, advertisements, and pixelated screen grabs, which he then manipulates to illuminate their flaws. “His work pivots on this very strange edge between commercial and poetic,” says Rachel Greene of New York’s Art & Advisory. “Roe’s practice has always been full of mystery, which is why I think his collectors keep coming back to him.” Since Ethridge’s inclusion in the 2008 Whitney Biennial, his steep career incline has included a 2011 solo outing at New York’s Andrew Kreps, with a concurrent show at Gagosian Beverly Hills; a new body of work seen at Gladstone Gallery’s Brussels outpost in the fall of 2012; and prominent inclusion in this year’s Lyon Biennale. (He’s also represented by Campoli Presti in London.) Auction results have ranged from $4,000 to $20,000. —RW

Sandra Gamarra

In 2002 Gamarra founded the Lima Museum of Contemporary Art, a theoretical institution populated with her own renditions of art and artifacts cribbed from museums around the world. Her appropriations of images from art history can be charmingly naive in style, yet affect a pointed study of how our memories, cultural and personal, are constructed. Often arriving in groups, they are vaguely scientific in their act of quantification but achieve discursive, dreamlike results. For her exhibition this past spring at the Juana de Aizpuru gallery, in Madrid, Gamarra (also represented by Galeria Leme of São Paulo, as well as Galería Lucía de la Puente, in Lima) repainted some of her own pieces. The Peru-born artist, now based in Spain, explains that in pre-Columbian cultures, time was seen as circular; past and future ran in the same direction. According to de Aizpuru, “She’s an artist who uses painting as a means to do conceptual works,” which have been acquired by Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art. Her larger canvases, which range from €30,000 to €40,000 ($40–50,000), collapse many referents in one space and pose questions rather than providing answers. Next up is a group show at Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, curated by Adriano Pedrosa. —SPH

Tom Friedman

At 48, Friedman hasn’t strayed far from the ephemeral antics of his early practice, when he filled a square marked on the wall with the contents of a tube of blue gel toothpaste or chewed enough bubble gum to create a five-inch-diameter sphere, installing it in a gallery corner where viewers were treated to its distinctive odor. Although vultures dined on the seeming decline of the artist’s market and practice following his move to Gagosian Gallery in 2006, his cult-like following patiently bided its time. That faith was rewarded last year when, after departing Gagosian for Luhring Augustine Gallery, Friedman enjoyed his first New York exhibition in seven years. “It was a really successful show,” says gallery director Lauren Wittels. “People had been waiting a long time for it.” (Friedman is also represented by Stephen Friedman, in London, John Berggruen, in San Francisco, and Tomio Koyama in Tokyo.) Current works, such as a life-size pea and a wall-size pizza, however, are now made of foam rather than potentially deteriorating materials. This speaks well for the future condition of these pieces coming to his secondary market, which recently has dipped and risen, depending on what’s on the block. Making its commitment clear, Luhring Augustine devoted its entire Frieze New York booth to Friedman, whose works ranged in price from $35,000 to $275,000. Those hungry for a large pizza, however, were out of luck. It sold a month before the fair opened. —DW

Abdulnasser Gharem

Gharem is not only a central figure in the isolated, rapidly changing, contemporary Saudi art community but also the highest-selling living Persian Gulf artist. He has held this position since 2011, when his copper-and-wood Message/ Messenger, 2010, sold for more than $800,000 at Christie’s Dubai. His day job as a lieutenant colonel in the Saudi army might provide fodder for the bureaucratic nature of his performances, site-specific installations, and paintings, which are largely done as calligraphic rubber stamps. As a cultural activist, Gharem is helping grow the Gulf’s art world infrastructure through his contributions to the nonprofit Edge of Arabia exhibitions. His work is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, the François Pinault Collection, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and in October he will have his first outing with Ayyam Gallery in London, which also has venues in Damascus, Beirut, Dubai, and Jeddah. —Sehba Mohammad

Jacob Hashimoto

The seductive beauty of Hashimoto’s work is cleverly deceptive. Although the traditional materials used by this Japanese-American—rice paper, bamboo, and string, usually formed into kites—threaten to induce a one-dimensional interpretation of chrysanthemum-like lyricism, the compositions’ astute draw on both pop culture and art history gives them the power of a double-edged sword. This cunning balance makes Hashimoto a perennial crowd favorite at fairs. “We’ve sold everything we’ve ever had of Jacob’s pretty readily,” says Mary Boone director Ron Warren, who brought four of the artist’s works to Art Basel Miami Beach last December. It also makes him a natural choice for institutional and commercial commissions, completed for clients such as the University of Houston and Andaz West Hollywood, requests for which come so frequently that the 30-year-old has the luxury of picking and choosing his projects. Prices for installations vary depending on scale, but wall pieces currently sell for $45,000 to $75,000. In May, Hashimoto opened his seventh show at Studio la Città in Verona, Italy, where he has added a home to his New York City base. (He is also represented by Rhona Hoffman Gallery, in Chicago, Ronchini Gallery in London, and Helsinki’s Galerie Forsblom.) —DW

Hayv Kahraman

In the Baghdad-born painter’s highly stylized oeuvre, raven-haired beauties wax each other’s upper lips, Botox each other’s wrinkles, clutch each other in solidarity, and pose gracefully in the nude. “She tackles femininity in the Middle East, the role of women, and the role of beauty,” says Hala Khayat, a specialist in modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian, and Turkish art at Christie’s Dubai, where Kahraman’s The Triangle, 2012, realized $98,500 on a $25,000-to-$30,000 estimate last fall. “Technically she’s very strong,” Khayat adds. “I visit a lot of collectors who own her work in New York and London, as well as here in Dubai.” Many more are actively looking for pieces, which tend to sell quickly on the primary market. Kahraman, who studied in Florence and is based in Oakland, California, exhibits with the Third Line, in Dubai, and Jack Shainman in New York; her work has been acquired by the Saatchi Gallery, the Rubell Family Collection, and Qatar’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. —RW

Ali Kazma

Kazma’s videos have a hypnotic quality—his recent works include portraits of a butcher, a brain surgeon, and a desk clerk, all executing their respective tasks with grace, rigor, and studied precision. In the past three years, such pieces (which sell for upwards of $15,000 at New York’s C24 Gallery, Milan’s Francesca Minini, and Qbox, in Athens) have propelled the Istanbul-based artist to international acclaim: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden hosted a solo exhibition of his work last year, and the artist will represent his native Turkey at this summer’s Venice Biennale. “Kazma often focuses on movement, labor, and the nature of beauty in the unobvious,” C24 director Lisa De Simone says of the artist’s appeal. “He translates seemingly mundane actions into something mesmerizing, romantic, timeless. His films are often shot in restricted sites, making them even more mythical.” They are also rare, produced in strict editions of five, with two artist proofs. —RW

Rosy Keyser

Keyser’s rough-hewn, large-scale panels in a rusted palette grapple with the legacy of Abstract Expressionism in an almost literal sense—labor is intimated on every surface. According to Renée Albada Jelgersma of the Peter Blum Gallery, in New York, where Keyser recently had her fourth solo show, the artist is interested in “the idea that energy can be changed but never disappears completely.” Instead, it skips from canvas to canvas, transmitting a rhythm like a song or a poem. Newer, shaped canvases like Mnemonic Land Device (For Blind Willie McTell), 2013, incorporating egg cartons, broomstick brush, corrugated metal, and wire, recall Rauschenberg’s “Combines,” but the hillbilly materials belie a rigorous internal logic. Prices range from $45,000 to $75,000, but they’re not likely to stay at that level for long: She has found fans in Poju and Anita Zabludowicz and Stuart and Maxine Frankel, and she is included in “Painter Painter” at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, on view through October. —SPH

Idris Khan

At 35, this Welsh and South Asian artist has exhibited at the Guggenheim and the Centre Pompidou; has global representation, including Yvon Lambert, in Paris, Galerie Thomas Schulte, in Berlin, Fraenkel Gallery, in San Francisco, and Sean Kelly, in New York; and is featured in prominent private holdings, such as the Saatchi Collection. His distinctive overlaying of digital images results in eerie, minimalist photographs, videos, and sculptures that draw from literature, theology, and classical music. “Khan constantly invents new series that have proved very successful with collectors,” says Fabian Lang, of London’s Victoria Miro Gallery, the artist’s representative since 2005. At last month’s Frieze New York, videos in Miro’s booth ranged in price from $67,000 to $76,000. At auction, a unique triptych of mural prints based on the Bechers oeuvre doubled its high estimate to reach £181,250 ($290,000) at Christie’s London last October.—SM

Ragnar Kjartansson

In a slow-burning career, this Icelandic artist has produced painting, drawing, sculpture, and video installations. Represented by Luhring Augustine in New York and i8 in his native Reykjavík, Kjartansson has earned strong institutional support, with many acquiring pieces such as The Visitors, 2012, a multiscreen installation priced at $125,000. The artist staged The End—Venice at the 2009 Venice Biennale, a months-long live performance during which he made paintings exclusively of fellow Icelandic artist Páll Haukur Björnsson. The 144 works—initially exhibited salon-style at Luhring Augustine—were sold for approximately $250,000 to Turin’s Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo. Individual paintings, mostly landscapes, sell for around $6,000 to $10,000. The online vendor Artspace works with i8 to sell modestly priced works, such as drawings from the artist’s “Lick” series ($4,000); a hand-painted sculpture, Feuerchen! (“Little Fire”), an edition of 30, quickly sold out for around $600 each. “Amid the humor, melancholy, and romanticism, Ragnar’s work really moves people,” says i8 owner Börkur Arnarson. Savvy collectors would be wise to snap up one of the artist’s neons, which sell in the range of $55,000, as museums foster his rapid climb. —Scott Indrisek

Lu Song

Lu’s moody and mysterious landscapes, many bearing a Richter-like blur and elements of Surrealism, have been highly sought by international collectors ever since his 2010 solo debut at the Alexander Ochs Gallery in Beijing. His appeal lies in the hybridity seen in much recent contemporary Asian work. “He uses Western colors but applies his paints with a Chinese brushstroke,” explains Ochs, who runs a space out of Berlin as well. (Lu splits his time between the two cities). “He feels like a European artist; he is very romantic. But he also captures the melancholy currently prevailing in China,” Ochs adds. “It’s a position in between cultures that many people can relate to.” Lu’s price points are still extremely approachable at $4,000 to $15,000, but perhaps not for long—his work was featured prominently in a group show at Sean Kelly, in New York, this spring. —RW

Nathan Mabry

Collectors looking for clever humor might turn to the sculptures and drawings of West Coast native Mabry, who enjoyed his first solo outing at New York’s Sean Kelly gallery this past spring. (He is also represented by Cherry and Martin, in Los Angeles, and Praz-Delavallade, in Paris.) “He takes modernism and plays with it, mixing it with different ethnographic sources,” says Kelly. The show’s mashup of stylistic references included pre-Columbian iconography, the sculpture of Donald Judd and Richard Serra, and surf culture. Setting Mabry apart from his peers, according to the dealer, is “something that seems simplistic: quality.” Prices ranged from $40,000 to $75,000, and several pieces sold in the show’s first weeks. Mabry’s strong Los Angeles collector base is enhanced by a roster of fans in Europe and Korea. A solo show at the Nasher Sculpture Center, in Dallas, opened last April, and prices for the commissioned work featured in that show started at $350,000. —EK

Justine Kurland

Kurland “is working in the great tradition of American landscape photography—of Carleton Watkins, of Timothy O’Sullivan,” says Jay Gorney, a director at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, where her work sells for $6,500 to $12,000. Indeed, the world around us figures prominently in the New York photographer’s oeuvre, which includes images of lush Western vistas speckled with members of willfully off-the-grid families, communes, and resilient vagabonds in transit. Her work is avidly collected by such museums as the Guggenheim, the Whitney, the National Gallery of Art, and the Henry Art Gallery, in Seattle. And in addition to Mitchell-Innes & Nash, Kurland exhibits with Frank Elbaz, in Paris, Elizabeth Leach, in Portland, Oregon, and Monte Clark, in Vancouver. “She tends to be collected by people who really understand photography,” Gorney notes. “Even when they’re photographs of trainspotters and hobos, they’re beautifully composed and visually arresting. She treats her subjects with dignity and intelligence.” —RW

Antiquorum’s June 22 auction of Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces in Hong Kong includes a top-notch group of tourbillon wristwatches from brands including Jaeger-Le Coultre, Harry Winston, and Audemars Piguet.  Among the highest estimated lots is an A. Lange & Söhne Ref. 702.025F “Tourbograph Pour Le Mérite” platinum watch, one of a limited edition of 51 examples made in 2007. The auction house expects the timepiece to take a price between $HK1.8 million and $HK2.8 million ($232–360,000). Also included in the tourbillon offerings is a Jaeger-LeCoultre “Gyrotourbillion” platinum wristwatch with tourbillon and perpetual calendar, estimated at $HK1.7 million to $HK2.3 million ($218–296,000). Another contender for a top slot is a Harry Winston“Opus 2” platinum skeletonized double-dial watch with a perpetual calendar and tourbillon regulator (est. $HK1–1.5 million; $129–193,000).

Tourbillons are regulating mechanisms that were developed with the aim of attaining better precision. The movement was invented by watchmaker Abraham Louis Breguet in 1795 and is widely considered one of the most complicated achievements in the horological world. Antiquorum’s watch expert in Tokyo, Genki Sakamoto said “the highly valuable timepieces offer collectors and enthusiasts a rare opportunity to acquire outstanding examples of complicated watches from some of the world’s leading brands.”

Another highlight, though at a more modest price range, is actor James Dean’s Elgin pocket watch, bought in late 1951 when he was still a struggling young actor working in New York. According to Antiquorum experts, it was Dean’s first big purchase, and he was so proud of it he had his initials engraved on the gold cover. The actor considered the watch his good luck charm, wearing it in his pants pocket (as opposed to a vest pocket), with the chain dangling from a belt loop, reportedly despite the protests of director Elia Kazan during the filming of East of Eden. Dean’s prized timepiece is priced at $5,000 to $10,000, but could likely fetch more given its illustrious history.

BASEL, Switzerland — The space age has arrived at Europe’s greatest modern and contemporary art fair, courtesy of the woven aluminum bands of Herzog & de Meuron’s huge new exhibition hall, which transform the look of the once quaint Messeplatz. Combine this with Tadashi Kawamata’s faux-favela shacks temporarily sited outside the main entrance, and Art Basel’s 44th edition seems to convey two quite different messages about the future at once. Luckily, the mood and tenor emanating from the 304 international exhibitors inside is decidedly more upbeat this year than last, thanks to a veritable river of commerce flowing through the great hall.

That flow began on Tuesday, courtesy the unhurried first influx of VIP collectors, curators, art advisors, and well-connected hangers-on. Important American collectors including Eli Broad, Ron Pizzuti, Marty Margulies, Peter Brant, Leon Black, Howard Rachofsky, and Don and Mera Rubell roamed the aisles, as did the Russian Roman Abramovich.

Commerce ignited instantly at Paris Galerie Kamel Mennour as “Overlapping Figures,” a pair of bronze, plaster, and wood sculptures from 2011-12 by Venice Biennale Silver Lion winner Camille Henrot sold at €18,000 ($23,900) each, as did six of the nine limited-edition videos of “Grosse Fatigue,” the work that won Art Basel's own emerging art prize, selling at prices ranging from €30-50,000 ($39,800-66,400).

The scent of Venice was also in the air at London’s Victoria Miro, where Sarah Sze’s 48-inch-high “Standing Pile (Cairn)” (2013), a deceptively light sculpture in mixed media and concrete block, sold for $32,000. It is close in spirit to the sculptures she made for the American Pavilion.

Bigger transactions were also registered quickly at Milan/London’s Massimo de Carlo, where a suite of five small canvases by Rudolf Stingel, “Untitled (Bolego)” (2006) — which features the artist with his head bowed, presumably blowing out birthday candles whose light is suggested at the bottom edge of the canvases — sold to an American collector for approximately $2 million. Moments later, New York private dealer Philippe Segalot entered the stand, heard the Stingels had sold and threw up his hands, exclaiming, “Shit, I can leave now.”

Stingel’s stature was further burnished at London’s Sadie Coles which was displaying his huge “Untitled” self-portrait from 2012 — also sold for approximately $2 million.

A lot of art prospecting was also going on at New York’s 303 Gallery as two large untitled silver paintings from 2013 by Jacob Kassay — a new addition to the gallery’s artist roster — sold at $150,000 apiece. Swiss artist Valentin Carron’s “David,” a Robert Gober-esque floor piece of entwined feet in acrylic, lacquer, and dichroitic glass in two parts, sold for CH35,000 ($37,700). Another Carron work, an impressively scaled painting resembling a stained glass window and bearing a long title, “Ein auto, ein Schiff, ubelriechernder schmerz Weiss und gedampft” (2013), also went for the same price.

At Antwerp’s Zeno X, “Unfired Clay Figures” by Mark Manders (another Biennale participant, representing the Netherlands), sold for €140,000 ($185,900), while a small figurative painting by Michael Borremans, “The Well” (2013), sold for €150,000 ($199,200).

Los Angeles-based Blum & Poe, slated to open a New York satellite in the near future, sold many works in the opening hours of the VIP view, including Yoshitomo Nara’s smiling oil-on-canvas “Cloudy” (2006), for $250,000, as well as lesser-known works by several other Japanese artists connected with the avant-garde Mono-Ha group from the 1970s. These included Nobuo Sekine’s “Part of Nothingness” (1970/1994), a wall relief comprised of cloth, stone, and rope for $150,000, and two works by Kishio Suga — “Fragments of Space” (1973), in wood, glass and ink, and the felt “Entirety of Corner” (1975) — which went for approximately $60,000 apiece.

The gallery also sold two newly cast, incised abstract bronze sculptures by Mark Grotjahn — “Untitled (Sun, out of the shell standing flat SF2.a)” and “Untitled (Two Noses out of the shell standing flat SF.a)” — for $175,000 each. “It’s the unfolding of a new era — not frantic, but super-steady and thoughtful,” philosophized Blum about the state of the art market. “People know their stuff and recognize quality.”

As for what to expect from the remaining days at the fair, Blum added, “Some bigger things are also on reserve and I’m waiting for the more thoughtful people to come back.”

Paris’s Galerie Crousel offered a copper fragment from Danh Vo’s remarkable project, “We the People (Detail)” (2011-13), the artist's recreation of the original panels from the Statue of Liberty. Weighing in at 195 kilograms, this amazing work sold for €65,000.

Hall 2.1, situated on the second floor of the exhibition space, had more primary market material than the more established fare found in Hall 2.0, on the ground floor, where one finds the more blue-chip salons of Acquavella Galleries and Pace. This year, Galerie Bischofberger and Krugier, two major Swiss galleries long associated with Art Basel, didn’t participate, leaving big chunks of sought-after space and some rare chances for galleries to move downstairs. Among those making the move were Metro Pictures and White Cube.

New York’s Cheim & Read also benefitted, moving to more central space, nestled between powerhouses Hauser & Wirth and White Cube. “We used to be by the bathroom,” said John Cheim about his former location, “and now we have better neighbors.”

The gallery has already sold two Joan Mitchell AbEx-era paintings. “Untitled” (1956), for $6 million, went to a French couple, while “Untitled” (1965), was snapped up by a Polish foundation for $2 million. The gallery also sold Sean Scully’s handsome large-scale abstraction “Wall of Light Pink Orange” (2012), featuring rectangle- and square-shaped wedges of color, for $700,000, and Gada Amer’s “Black-RFGA” (2013), for $250,000, to a Mexican collector. Scully’s huge painting, featured nearby at Art Unlimited and priced at $1.5 million, had two museum reserves, according to Cheim.

There was also plenty of action at White Cube, where a £4-million ($5.3-million) Damien Hirst, “Love Remembered” (2007) was one of the more expensive offerings still available. Mark Bradford’s huge, multi-layered “Dusty Knees” (2013), in mixed media on canvas, had already sold for approximately $725,000. Three works by the fast-rising Chicago-bred artist Theaster Gates also found buyers, including the menacing “Shine Study 1” (2013) in wood, roofing paper, tar, and metal, which went for $135,000. 

At a certain point, New York private dealer Alberto Mugrabi walked into the stand, encountering the already sold Gates. After beckoning White Cube’s Jay Jopling, he soon bought a larger one off the dealer’s iPad for approximately $240,000.

One might wonder what accounts for all of this spirited commerce after such a long season of fairs and auctions. “A million and a half to two million dollars doesn’t buy you very much anymore,” reasoned Oliver Barker, a top Sotheby’s contemporary specialist based in London and one of a horde of auction types trolling the fair looking for action (or at least market intelligence). “There’s a lot of unspent money from the May sales,” he continued, “and the mood seems very positive.” It certainly felt that way here, almost anywhere you looked.

New York newcomer Dominique Levy, at last a stand-alone gallerist after years as a partner with Robert Mnuchin in L&M Arts, instantaneously proved her mettle here. Her strong stand was full of delights: Robert Ryman’s “Untitled” painting from 1966, which sold “for north of $7 million,” according to Levy; a stunning Frank Stella suite of six 12-by-12-inch paintings from 1961, collectively titled “Six Benjamin Moore Paintings,” which went for north of $6 million; and a 2013 painting by newly represented gallery artist Pierre Soulages, sparkling with horizontal ridges of glistening jet black, which drew approximately €500,000 ($664,100).

At New York/London’s Helly Nahmad, the atmosphere was much better than recent headlines might lead you to assume. A small, impressive room off the main stand was decorated in thick white carpet and held a pair of white leather Modernist chairs, matching seven white Lucio Fontana“Concetto Spaziale” paintings from 1966 (the year the legendary Italian won the top prize at Venice for his “Manifesto Blanco” installation). So far, three Fontana paintings had sold for between $2 million and $6 million, according to Joe Nahmad, who came up with the idea for the Fontana homage.

The gallery also sold Alexander Calder’s beautiful and massive “Sumac” (1961), a hanging mobile in painted sheet metal and wire, for approximately $10 million. 

Nearby, David Nahmad casually surveyed the action. When asked about the sales, however, he feigned ignorance, offering a seasoned observation from the buy-and-hold school of dealing: “I hope they [the gallery] sell the minimum because when you sell, you lose.”

To see images from Art Basel in Basel, click on the slideshow.

Watch ARTINFO video on the Hidden Gems of Art Basel here.