Jhender

from Artinfo

The second evening session of the now historic auction of the Collection Yves Saint Laurent et Pierre Bergé, elaborately staged at the Grand Palais by Christie’s in association with Pierre Bergé & Associes, took over five hours, and yielded results even the most experienced dealers couldn’t comprehend.

…

But Simon Andrews, director of 20th-century decorative art and design at Christie’s London, defended the bidding fever, which turned into a one-on-one duel after the €3 million mark. He described the Gray record as the result of “two people with the passion and the means, not madness.”
…

It seems that Christie’s investment of close to €2 million — for staging the pre-sale exhibition and auction at the Grand Palais and publishing the lavish set of catalogues for the six sessions — paid off handsomely, since the low estimate for the entire marathon was exceeded in the first evening session, and the low estimate for tonight’s session was met by the Dragon chair alone.

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For all the marathon sale’s drama, however, some people were shaken and confounded by the results.

Early in the extraordinary evening session, shortly after the first of the Eileen Gray pieces sold, New York collector and dealer Jose Mugrabi left his seat to observe, “I think this sale is close to vulgar. You couldn’t sell these pieces in any other place for even the commissions they’re bringing. People are hypnotized. They don’t know what they’re buying.”

That sense of disbelief that prices could go so high for 20th-century decorative art, and, in the case of the Gray’s Dragon Chair, even higher than for Piet Mondrian’s record-breaking Composition avec bleu, rouge, jaune et noir (1922), which made €21,569,000 last night, will take some time absorb. It’s unclear whether tonight’s result will represent a kind of one-off, mad-hatter price or become the harbinger for a new price structure in the field.

and really these ppl are professional art buyers. perhaps their clients are obsessed.

art sites are so intriguing.

i should love to have a piece of Impressionism.

which makes me wonder, how much is Musée de l’Orangerie with those 2 oval rooms worth? each room contains 2 long 2 short sides, full-wall sized stuff. 30 mil each painting? 100 mil each? 1 billion for the set, with the custom-designed building? freaking priceless.

and how much would Louvre be worth? they own 380,000 pieces and display 35,000 in the main site. the Met is also of similar astronomical scale.

how long does a piece of art last?