Roman Abramovich
[UPDATE: You can now click on my podcast, at the end of this post. SECOND UPDATE: Oh what a glitchy morning! At this writing, nothing happens when you click the podcast, below. But I’m leaving it up because WNYC says it will fix the problem. We can only hope. THIRD UPDATE: There’s now audio up, but it’s the podcast for my WNYC auction report from last fall! Patience, Art-lings!]
If you listened this morning to my very rapid-fire analysis of the art market on WNYC, you heard me mention that Roman Abramovich—an orphan, a college dropout and now #15 on the Forbes billionaires list—is said to have bought the two big record-setters in the latest round of New York contemporary art auctions: Francis Bacon’s “Triptych,” which (at $86.28 million) set an auction record for a work for any contemporary artist; and Lucian Freud’s “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,” which (at $33.64 million) set an auction record for a living artist.
The Art Newspaper, which had this scoop on Saturday, reports:
He [Abramovich] has not previously been known to purchase works of art at this level. These purchases demonstrate how the balance of power in the art world is shifting away from the U.S.
Speaking of globalism, Art Newspaper had previously reported that the “Rockefeller Rothko,” auctioned last May, had gone to a Qatar sheikh and the Koons “Hanging Heart,” auctioned last November, had gone to a Ukrainian billionaire.
Meanwhile, the Big Two auction houses have already laid plans for “Bacon and Freud, the Sequel.” Bloomberg reports that Christie’s is going to offer in London on June 30 Bacon’s “Three Studies
for a Self-Portrait,” estimated at more than £10 million, and Freud’s “Naked Portrait With Reflection,” with a top estimate of £15 million. Bloomberg reports here that Sotheby’s has snared Bacon’s “Study for Head of George Dyer,” for its July 1 London sale, where it is estimated to bring more than £8 million.
Here’s the podcast of my three-minute mini-analysis: