To buy this Basquiat, swipe right
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, October 31, 2024


To buy this Basquiat, swipe right
A photo provided by Fair Warning LLC, an untitled acrylic and oil stick on paper by Jean Michel Basquiat (1982). The auction veteran Loic Gouzer is selling major works of art on his new app. Fair Warning LLC via the New York Times.

by Robin Pogrebin



NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Testing the notion that blue-chip art can be sold with a swipe, former Christie’s executive Loic Gouzer on Monday will use his new app as the auction block for a large drawing by Jean-Michel Basquiat that is estimated to sell for $8 million to $9 million.

The app, called Fair Warning, started as a lark, Gouzer said, a way to keep busy under lockdown and to see whether the art world could pivot to online sales in a meaningful way. (Auction houses have since held their first — successful — completely online sales.)

The first piece he auctioned on the app, Steven Shearer’s 2018 portrait “Synthist,” sold to a private European collector for $437,000 — an auction high for the artist — on an estimate of $180,000 to $250,000.

Gouzer said he has sold two works since then: a body print by David Hammons that sold for about $1.3 million (estimated at $500,000 to $700,000) and a piece by Steven Parrino that sold for $977,500 (estimated at $650,000 to $750,000).

“It’s really an experiment,” said Gouzer, who while at Christie’s built a reputation as a bad-boy rainmaker for coming up with unorthodox sale ideas as well as procuring and positioning big-ticket artworks, most famously Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” for $450.3 million in 2017.

“The idea was to create a guerrilla type of auction system,” he said, “where you could start moving paintings by using the cloud rather than physical locations.”

So far, the large auction houses seem unconcerned about Gouzer taking a significant piece of their business. “The availability of only a single lot is a construct easily replicated,” said Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas, who called the app “clever and inventive.”




“The key factor will be the breadth of audience,” Porter added. “In that, he must contend with the worldwide data that the large auction houses, art fairs and megadealers have been investing in for years.”

Buyers must apply for admission to the app, where they are evaluated for the seriousness of their collecting. Gouzer is trying to keep out speculators who would flip the works for higher prices to make a quick profit.

He had hoped to avoid guarantees — lining up a minimum bid in advance — which have become routine among auction houses. But he said sellers demand them these days. (The Basquiat is guaranteed for an undisclosed amount around the low estimate, Gouzer said.)

The untitled Basquiat, an acrylic and oil stick on black paper that measures about 4 by 6 feet, features many of the qualities for which the artist was best known, such as “all the obsessive scribbling and those words that come all the time like ‘tar’ and ‘asbestos,’ ” Gouzer said.

He transformed his garage in Montauk, New York, into a climate-controlled viewing room where interested buyers can view the Basquiat starting Thursday (he hired security to guard it). The piece will sell on July 30.

At this point, Gouzer is planning to sell one piece a week — assuming inventory cooperates — with auctions taking place on the app at 5 p.m. sharp on Sundays. The sales are conducted live with the app registering bids. Gouzer takes a 15% flat commission.

While Gouzer has already been deluged with prospective future lots, he said he is picking and choosing carefully; should he fail to find pieces that satisfy his standards, he will simply wait until he does.

“I only put works that I would buy for my invisible collection. My taste is eclectic but very selective,” he said. “I don’t have pressure, because I don’t have investors. It’s an extension of the curation I did when I was at Christie’s, but with complete freedom.”

© 2020 The New York Times Company










Today's News

July 20, 2020

Kunstmuseum Basel opens its first exhibition dedicated to the history of photography

McNay Art Museum acquires three new outdoor sculptures for permanent collection

To buy this Basquiat, swipe right

57 works by Edward Hopper on display all summer at Indianapolis Museum of Art

Exceptional collection of Post-Impressionist art on view in Canada for the first time

Ancient mosaic from Roman Dorset at risk of export

Luther Price, experimental artist and filmmaker, dies at 58

Aperture announces a time-limited sale of three collectible prints by Joel Meyerowitz

2001: A Space Odyssey suit and Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 control stick each sold for $370,000

Gerald Peters Gallery opens an exhibition of paintings by Michael Cassidy

H&H Classics to offer wonderful barn-find discovery

The Met Opera tests pay-per-view model

Thai metal workshop dazzles tourists with movie-inspired creations

Exhibition celebrates a reunion of work by the artists Art Below has presented throughout its 15-year history

Man questioned in arson probe into French cathedral fire

Thierry Goldberg opens summer group show

Museum of Graffiti opens "The Fabric of America: Artists in Protest"

Southern Europe opens its doors to tourists. Not many are coming.

Designers rally to support the East Hampton Historical Society Online Auction

Soho House announces the inaugural Soho House Art Prize with Bombay Sapphire

"Finite Rants" presents a visual essay by Bertrand Bonello

Korat will host the next Thailand Biennale 2021

Turkey's Erdogan visits Hagia Sofia after reconversion to mosque

Heritage Auctions promotes Leon Benrimon to Vice President of Modern & Contemporary Art

Kohn Gallery opens a solo exhibition of paintings and sculpture by artist Nir Hod




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful