Let’s talk about the sale that almost caused the art market to explode.
I have covered many auctions in my career as a journalist. Most are blurry. A few are memorable because they took the market to unexpected highs or brought it down to surprising lows.
The evening sale of the Gerald Fineberg Collection was a classic example of a reset happening in real time before our eyes. Bidders seemed stunned in the inaction as many after lots sold off on a bid or two at huge discounts to their pre-sale estimates. Richter, Krasner, de Kooning, Wool, Fontana, Lichtenstein, all at bargain prices. Grotjahn, Rosenquist, Bourgeois, Kippenberger – unsold.
The next day, the shock gave way to excitement: “Good deals! People started buying lesser-value artwork, stocking up on deals like Walmart customers on Black Friday.
Christie’s Global Chairman Jussi Pylkkänen Sells Barkley L. Hendricks’s Stanley (1971) for a record $6.1 million. Photo courtesy of Christie’s.
In the end, most of the 214 lots found takers. Christie’s totaled $159.8 million (excluding buyer’s premium), well below pre-sale estimates of $198-286 million (although records were set for artists such as Barkley L. Hendricks and Alma Thomas). There are still many, many lots left to sell. Some will be included in upcoming Hong Kong auctions in late May, the New York Design Sale in June and other events yet to be announced, according to Christie’s.
There are lingering questions about how the sale was handled and what its long-term impact might be. John Silberman, an attorney who represented the estate, did not respond to calls or emails seeking comment. Christie’s executives said they advised the Fineberg estate to reduce reserves to adjust to changing market conditions.
“It’s not a good result for owners or the market,” said an auction manager from a rival company.
One thing we do know: the heirs had very optimistic expectations for the auction and decided not to accept collateral (which I’ve heard north of $200 million). Instead, they pushed for – and got – an aggressive upgraded hammer deal, splitting a large chunk of Christie’s buyer’s bounty (which has so far generated around $37.4 million) . In hindsight, they left money on the table.
Christopher Laine, Untitled (2000). © Christie’s Images Ltd 2023.
To be fair, the succession of Mo Ostin at Sotheby’s, pointed out market players. Ostin’s heirs would also have been better served by taking out collateral (although This the estate took four irrevocable offers in the 11th hour; the Fineberg heirs had refused all these offers).
Amid the reality of the recalibrating market, one moral of the story is clear. “If someone is willing to give you a guarantee for a photo, sometimes it’s better to take it than to go naked,” as one top art buyer once said.
And another note to sellers: don’t be greedy! Let the auction house make money too.
For what? The construction of the Fineberg sale appears to have had a demotivating effect at Christie’s, where callers may not have had the financial incentive to work hard for the collection, several people said.
“There comes a time when bids no longer make sense for the amount of time and effort,” the auction manager said. “There are hundreds of items that had to be packed, shipped, unpacked, installed, uninstalled, insured, it all costs money. Working for 2%, theoretically, isn’t that exciting.
Gerard Richter, Badende (1967). Courtesy of Christie’s.
Highlights from Fineberg were installed in a salon-style hallway during the first week of the auction, while more prestigious galleries exhibited sole proprietor collections from media billionaire SI Newhouse and Alan and Dorothy Chicago Press. By the time the group was reorganized more centrally, many of the European buyers browsing the previews had already gone home.
Within days of the sale, the estimates – which had been set in January – suddenly seemed out of step with the grim reality of debt ceiling negotiations and a faltering banking sector. (It’s an old game: competing auction houses feel compelled to make high estimates to win the hardware.) The estate agreed to reduce reserves but still refused to accept third-party guarantees. Time passed.
In the end, all the unfunny comedy of errors can come down to the quality and quantity of material.
Christie’s built its story around the vision and passion of the Boston-based real estate billionaire, who died in December, highlighting his “thought of the curator and the breadth of the collection, from Man Ray’s 1923 portrait of his lover and muse Kiki de Montparnasse to ultra-contemporary works created a century later.
“They tried to make it look like it was the mona-lisa for sale,” the top art buyer said of Christie’s efforts. “The market is not stupid.”
Lee Krasner, Crossing the Twelve Hours, March 21 (circa 1971-1981). Courtesy of Christie’s.
But those familiar with the Fineberg collection pointed out that in fact it reflected the eye of a long-time adviser, behind-the-scenes collector-dealer Michael Black, who was not mentioned in the catalog.
“I’m amazed at the narrative that has emerged from it,” said a New York City art adviser. “Literally a lot of these works he bought over the last three or four years from Michael Black.”
Others in the know saw Fineberg more as a merchant than a visionary.
“Jerry was a hondler,” said a dealer who sold many works to Fineberg. “You offered him a good thing for a price and an average thing for a discount, and he always took the one with a discount.”
Black, it turns out, has helped shape the collection over the past two decades.
“We had a lot of fun,” Black told me this week. “Buying art for him kept him alive. It gave him something to do.
A few years ago, Black bought a book from Fineberg, Ninth Street Women, about Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler and Joan Mitchell. “These women are good,” Black said. Soon their paintings entered Fineberg’s collection.
Some of them did incredibly well in Christie’s sale of the day. by Hartigan On Orchard Street (1957), purchased in 2019, grossed $1.2 million, 12 times the low estimate of $100,000. Krasner’s 1975 untitled oil on paper, also acquired in 2019, sold for $1.2 million, more than double the low estimate of $500,000.
Lynne Drexler, summer flower (1962). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
One of Fineberg’s last purchases was that of Lynne Drexler summer flower, which fetched $1.4 million at Christie’s today’s sale, against a low estimate of $150,000. It was the second highest price of the day’s sale. “I bought it for him when he was dying,” Black said. “I wanted something pretty that he could look at when he goes to the bathroom.”
So the Fineberg collection didn’t blow up the market, after all. And, for some people, the key takeaway was the resilience of art as an asset class.
“It was an incredible opportunity,” said the main art buyer. “That’s what smart people do. They buy when things are bad and sell when things are good.
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