It has long been my contention that the worlds of the Art Market and the Rare Book Market are closely connected. This contention may lie in my strong interest in both areas but I believe that a careful look at the history of the strengths and weaknesses of them will show amazing similarities. The desire to own both art and rare books is, in my opinion, rooted in the same spot of the psyche - the place where we long to have not just something lovely but also something with historical significance. We place value on both areas, unlike those who are pleased with just visual stimulation. New heights were recently reached in the art market with the record breaking sale of Walking Man 1 by Giacometti at Southebys. This auction had amazing results both in what sold and what did not - indicating an as yet precarious market that show strong improvement yet volitility. The New York Times Art Beat had this to say:

An Art Market Suddenly at Dizzying Heights
By SOUREN MELIKIAN
Published: February 4, 2010

LONDON — The art market is suddenly soaring to dizzying heights unmatched in the giddiest moments of the pre-recession days.

At Sotheby’s historic sale of Impressionist and Modern art, which netted £146.82 million, or about $233 million, Giacometti’s life-size bronze figure “L’homme qui marche I” (The Striding Man I), cast in 1961, did not walk but leapt to £65 million. In so doing, it became the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction and more than tripled the high estimate set at £12 million to £18 million, plus a sale charge in excess of 12 percent.

Few professionals imagined that the bronze figure, 183 centimeters, or 72 inches, high, could come anywhere near such a level. Seconds before the sale began, David Nehmad, a seasoned international dealer whose experience extends over more than 30 years, told this reporter that the sculpture might perhaps rise to £20 million.

The bronze is not even a unique piece. It is numbered 2/6, meaning it is the second of an edition of six, plus four artists’ proofs. True, three of these casts are now respectively ensconced in the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence in southern France and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

To these may be added the casts of a closely related second version, referred to as “L’homme qui marche II.” Several of them also adorn major institutions, which range from the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Art Institute of Chicago, to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art at Humlebaek, Denmark.

This roll call of museums famous for their collections of 20th century art, all duly listed in Sotheby’s long essay about the piece, gave the bronze a unique aura, transforming it into a must-have for any collection, public or private, with aspirations to an international standing.

Of equal importance is the place that the elaboration of the sculpture holds in the post-World War II history of artistic developments in New York. The late James Lord, the author of “Giacometti: A Biography,” noted that the sculpture was to form part of a project commissioned to the Paris school bronze-maker for the Chase Manhattan Plaza. The installation of sculpted figures never saw the light of day, but “L’homme qui marche I” became an icon in its own right.

A committee of curators and leading museum officials in New York and Boston had selected Giacometti in preference to Alexander Calder and Isamu Noguchi.

While preparing for the project, Giacometti executed at least 40 versions of the walking man, and eventually destroyed all of them except two.

It is against this backdrop of U.S. cultural history that such a price was achieved, essentially through anonymous bidders fighting it out over the phone. Thunderous applause broke out as Henry Wyndham, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, who is also one of the most talented auctioneers of his generation, brought down his hammer on the final £58 million bid.

Interestingly, this fantastic feat had no bearing on another Giacometti. The sculpture in painted plaster of a “Petit buste sur colonne” (Small Bust Atop a Pillar) actually is unique. Yet, the bust, executed around 1952 and estimated to be worth £1.8 million to £2.5 million plus the sale charge, fell unwanted at £1.5 million.

This was not the only contrast in one of the strangest auctions held within living memory.
Other phenomenal prices were paid — and other striking failures observed.

A world auction record was set for any landscape by Gustav Klimt when “Church in Cassone,” done in 1913, realized £26.9 million even though it lacks the Pointillist vibrancy of some of the Austrian artist’s earlier works.

An astonishing £11.8 million greeted the appearance of Cézanne’s still life painted around 1893-1894 in oil on paper laid down on panel. The composition with a table top that takes too much space and is seen in an awkward perspective is hardly the artist’s best ever.

A steep £4.4 million was paid for Matisse’s picture of a woman asleep on a couch done around 1917. The rendition of the reclining figure is not immune from clumsiness and the maroon band spreading across most of the wall above the woman is unfortunate.

Right at the beginning, the sketch in Conté crayon of a seated boy by Seurat shot up to £1.94 million despite the confused interpretation of the figure. Oddly, a deeply poetic sketch by the same Seurat, “Evening, Gravelines” with a sailing boat moored in the distance, which followed on its heels, was unsold as the hammer fell at £220,000.

One of Max Liebermann’s finer landscapes, “Flower Shrubs in Wannsee Garden,” painted in 1919, merely matched the low estimate at £241,250.

Money is ready to flow as never before. But the ups and downs of the bidding pattern, not clearly connected with the intrinsic merit of the works being offered, indicate that the market remains haphazard, making reasonably accurate predictions virtually impossible. This is not going to make life easier for auction house specialists or the buyers they hope to attract.

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