Editorial by Ariane de Rothschild
ART, OFF THE WALLS
Driving Emancipation and Change
The Art Market and the Digital World
Zao Wou-Ki
The Art of the Intangible
Emphatic Wealth Management
Upsets in the Market
Innovation or Tradition?
Entrepreneurial Artists
An Artistic and Technological Marvel
The Maxi Edmond De Rothschild
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In the 80s, Ariane de Rothschild discovered street art in New York. She was fascinated by the young artists who used all kinds of canvases available to them in the streets to express their artistic talents with much audacity and panache. She was very sensitive to the environment in which these artists grew up and particularly the urban violence with which they were confronted on a daily basis. She would eventually make this a strong theme in the programs that the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations put in place, focusing on social progress, inclusion and creating social gateways that enrich every society. Continuing on this, it’s no surprise that she looked to the Palais de Tokyo and her deep knowledge of street art to choose a street art artist, Cleon Peterson, to decorate the new flying trimaran of the Gitana fleet.
In the 80s, Ariane de Rothschild discovered street art in New York. She was fascinated by the young artists who used all kinds of canvases available to them in the streets to express their artistic talents with much audacity and panache. She was very sensitive to the environment in which these artists grew up and particularly the urban violence with which they were confronted on a daily basis. She would eventually make this a strong theme in the programs that the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations put in place, focusing on social progress, inclusion and creating social gateways that enrich every society. Continuing on this, it’s no surprise that she looked to the Palais de Tokyo and her deep knowledge of street art to choose a street art artist, Cleon Peterson, to decorate the new flying trimaran of the Gitana fleet. Cleon was exposed to the horrors of street life, his art is the representation of this unending battle to survive. Isn’t this also the battle our skipper confronts in the most hostile of seas?
The Lasco Project
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Walls of the LASCO PROJECT- an urban art program of Palais de Tokyo
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DRIVING EMANCIPATION AND CHANGE
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Associating the Edmond de Rothschild brand with street art was a surprising move. And yet, the patronage which we suggested to the Palais de Tokyo is an extension of our artistic history. Our family's support of the arts has always been defined by ambitious and personal choices, by a taste for innovative work. Since the 1980s, I have been fascinated by the young talents speaking their truths on the walls of the city. Their braveness, their panache and their fighting spirit embody the values of the Edmond de Rothschild group. I am delighted that we are able to support the Lasco Project and bring that transgressive spirit into this high place of contemporary art. Among the sixty or so artists who have participated in the programme since 2012, I decided to entrust Cleon Peterson with designing the visual identity of Gitana Team's new multihull. The author created an original work adapted to the unusual dimensions of the maxi Edmond de Rothschild. It covers the hull and sails over a surface area of over 900 square meters. This edition of the Art & Entrepreneurs Letter reveals its secrets. Art has left its walls, and this time has taken to the sea. These partnerships symbolise our Group's desire to continue its transformation with pride and determination, to leave the beaten track, to show that our financial and non-financial activities are closely intertwined, to explore new territories on which to build the future and fully flourish in it, and to make that difference our own before recommending it to you.
by Ariane de Rothschild
Art, off the walls
Through the arts, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations champion a society based on inclusion and collaboration.
The online shopping revolution requires rethinking methods used to reach the greater public, and the entirety of the services offered to art enthusiasts.
Yann Hendgen, artistic director at the Zao Wou-Ki Foundation, tells us about his passion for the artist and his oeuvre.
Mélanie Damani explains how Edmond de Rothschild assists his clients in each step of the life of an artistic investment.
The art market has experienced many unprecedented changes over the past 15 years: a true revolution.
Creators who employ dozens of people to produce monumental works of art: Artists or entrepreneurs?
The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is the pioneer of a new generation of large ocean multihulls.
The art market and the digital world
Philippe Baudelocque, - + / = +, Palais de Tokyo, 2016, Lasco #6 Photo : Aurélien Mole
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In the 80s, Ariane de Rothschild discovered street art in New York. She was fascinated by the young artists who used all kinds of...
by Tiphaine Combot-Seta, Gitana Team
The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
DISCOVER
First flight, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
Launch, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
– Tiphaine Combot-Set, Gitana Team
It draws parallels between the physical and psychological struggle of someone who has experienced street violence and the skipper’s struggle when facing the power of the sea and the winds.
– Tiphaine Combot-Seta, Gitana Team
This is how a family’s unique passion for the sea, which started on the Swiss shores of Lake Geneva in 1876, has been perpetuated through the ages.
The four warriors symbolise the four daughters of Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild and this parallel highlights the self-explanatory importance of transmission to future generations evidenced in each of the Rothschilds' actions. Thanks to this long-term vision and its incredible attraction to innovations, the Rothschild family remains at the forefront of modernity. Gitana Team's daily challenge involves moving forward with ever more avant-garde ships and taking the lead over their contemporaries using technical innovation and know-how, all while passing on the tradition to the next generation at the helm. This is how a family's unique passion for the sea, which started on the Swiss shores of Lake Geneva in 1876, has been perpetuated through the ages. The five arrows held in the hands of the warriors that can be seen on the sails naturally reference the five Rothschild arrows. The arrows represent the five sons of dynasty founder Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744- 1812) and therefore the five branches of the family. The Rothschild crest shows the five arrows joined at a central point and pointing outwards, because 'taken individually, the arrows would easily break. Together, they are strong". The five arrows joined together are strong and conquering. The mermaid, Gitana Team's emblem since its creation in 2000, under Cleon Peterson's deft hand, becomes a goddess with an unbridled mane holding the earth in the palm of her hand. This is undoubtedly a reference to Gitana Team's "planetary" ambitions for upcoming seasons at the helm of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. Jean-Baptiste Epron adapted the design created by Cleon Peterson, who is better known for his works in black & white and red & black, to the historic colours of the Rothschild family, with the dominant of azure (blue) on a silver grey background and touches of gold (yellow) which, in spite of their discreteness, continuously emphasize and assert the uniqueness of this original work.
American artist Cleon Peterson was selected. He specifically designed a monumental work measuring over 900 m2 that Jean- Baptiste Epron, Gitana Team's faithful designer, adapted to the silhouette of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. It is a socially-aware creation in perfect harmony with the character and elegant lines of this "giant" of a new kind. It draws parallels between the physical and psychological struggle of someone who has experienced street violence and the skipper's struggle when facing the power of the sea and the winds. It is a way of asserting that the street and the sea are two indomitable territories that galvanize the body, the mind and the imagination. With this invitation, Cleon Peterson's art sets sail to confront the sea, far from its urban origins. The American artist animates his painting using the power of waves, and recalls that art and navigation pursue the same mirage: crossing boundaries like the horizon.
The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is the pioneer of a new generation of large ocean multihulls. Over 170,000 man hours went into designing and building this marvel of innovation over the course of twenty months. The project's technical audacity was paired with an equally unique artistic approach. The graphic design of the maxi-multihull was the result of a formidable collaboration between Gitana Team and the Palais de Tokyo, initiated by Ariane de Rothschild. In order to sublimate and support this new, atypical project, Gitana Team's owners wished to entrust the "visual personality" of the outsized ship to an artist. Thanks to the commitment and dynamism of its President Jean de Loisy, the Palais de Tokyo embarked on this adventure and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild joined one of the Palais' artistic programmes called the "Lasco Project". In so doing, it became one of the Parisian institution's "off-the- walls" works.
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THE LASCO PROJECT
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1. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again), 19751. 2. The Cross, 24 May 2012, reporting by Elodie Maurot
The contemporary era really did give birth to “l’artiste-entreprise”, to quote Xavier Greffe, a professor of economics at Université Paris I who specialises in the economics of cultural products. A jarring expression given our concept of a “free” culture supported only by money from sponsors or the Ministry of Culture. As Greffe says, it contradicts “the idea that the artist is always an ‘economic child’ who expects others to find solutions for him” . In reality though, the development of capitalism and the financialisation of the economy have made the different segments of society interchangeable. Value has become the standard. This is undeniably a factor in the emergence of the business artist. At the same time, the “growing complexity of the cultural environment is prodding artists towards a corporate mindset”. And this evolution is global, affecting “design, fashion, Japanese mangas, British music... and contemporary art. Artists have become entrepreneurs working to make money”.
– Andy Warhol
Business art is the step that comes after art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist.
Andy Warhol exhibit (Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin)
Andy Warhol. Campbell's Soup Cans. 1962
However far back you go, artists always led the workshops. Artistic creation has always required teamwork...
Felipe Pantone, Palais de Tokyo, 2016, Lasco #5 Photo : Nicolas Gzeley
– Xavier Greffe
Artists have become entrepreneurs working to make money.
Futura 2000, Palais de Tokyo, 2014, Lasco #3 Photo : Nicolas Gzeley
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BUSINESS ARTISTS
ARTISTS AS DESIGNERS
They derived their authority from mastering their art. Many contemporary artists, on the other hand, are merely idea people or designers. The method of production is not essential to their art. As in the case of Andy Warhol and Richard Prince, it may even consist of “borrowing” images using mechanical reproduction techniques. This is quite similar to conceptual art, the difference being that with conceptual art, it is the idea itself, or the attitude on which it is based, that constitutes the work of art: L’Exposition du vide by Yves Klein, Galerie Iris Clert, Paris, 1958, followed two years later, in the same place, by L’Exposition du plein by Arman, are good examples of this.
The surprise comes from the media angle of the phenomenon, which started with Andy Warhol, as well as the disconnect between the idea and its materialisation. Jeff Koons never touches a paintbrush or tool. In 1986, he told the Journal of Contemporary Art : “I’m basically the idea person. I’m not physically involved in the production”. He also admits that he does not have the necessary abilities. Verrocchio, Da Vinci and the others did not merely direct production: they painted themselves, passed on their knowledge and helped many of their apprentices become great artists themselves.
ARTISTS AS MASTERS AND PRODUCERS
However far back you go, artists always led the workshops. Artistic creation has always required teamwork, with tasks shared around and work optimised through different people’s input. During the Renaissance, botteghe, ateliers and talleres chain-copied models of Madona con Bimbo or Sagrada Conversación without ever raising any kind of problem or conflict of interest regarding authorship. Workshops were all the more essential as, at the time, they were the only medium for knowledge to be passed on. Students trained in workshops like Verrocchio’s, where Leonardo da Vinci began his apprenticeship before opening his own bottega three years later. So there is nothing new about artists as entrepreneurs. In the 17th century, Rubens’ workshop had nearly 150 assistants. Jeff Koons’ workshop in the United States operates in a similar way today. He uses 80 assistants who carry out the work, applying a range of traditional and computer-based techniques. French sculptor Xavier Veilhan uses the same process, starting with a 3D digital image to produce a template to be enlarged in his technical workshop, just like traditional sculpture. The artist’s workshop serves to coordinate the different stages of these activities. So if there’s nothing very new about this, why are we so surprised?
THE SPIRIT OF THE GREAT WORKSHOPS
Factory moved a few years later: the silver paper and shards of mirrors gave way to waxed floors and precious furniture. It was more like a company’s headquarters than an artist’s studio, even if it did witness the birth of the Mao portrait series. After moving again in 1974, Warhol asked the receptionists to stop using the word “factory” and say “office” instead: “Business art is the step that comes after art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist”, he said . Provocation? If Andy Warhol became one of the most important artists of the 20th century, it was also because he demystified the image of the romantic artist who expresses his most authentic inner self in isolation. He rediscovered the spirit of the great workshops that structured aesthetic production over the centuries.
Media coverage of successful artists, who employ dozens of people to produce monumental works of art, gives the impression that contemporary artists have become entrepreneurs. So: Anish Kapoor, Xavier Veilhan, Damien Hirst, Olafur Eliasson, Maurizio Cattelan, Allan McCollum… artists or businessmen? That art can be linked to business still surprises us. Is there not something revolutionary or even iconoclastic about the very name - Factory - that Andy Warhol gave to his workshop? Opened in 1963, Factory is certainly reminiscent of Courbet and his painting workshop in 1855. As well as being a place for creativity, where Warhol employed his many assistants, it was also a meeting place for high society, minor celebrities and the New York underground.
ENTREPRENEURIAL ARTISTS
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All of these factors have deeply changed the art world and should support growth over the long term. These changes have also led to the financialisation of the market through the development of financial services linked to art and the recognition of art as a genuine asset.
The emergence of new artistic scenes and the proliferation of new infrastructures, such as art fairs and galleries, support the supply.
Pablo Tomek, Palais de Tokyo, 2016, Lasco #7 Photo : Aurélien Mole
Stelios Faitakis, Elegy Of May. Part II: The Round Table. Palais de Tokyo, 2016, Lasco #6 Photo : Aurélien Mole
FINANCIALISATION OF THE ART MARKET
TRANSFORMATION OF THE CULTURAL SECTOR
We live in a global economy that places great value on knowledge, innovation and symbolic goods. Globalisation has also influenced cultural institutions. The increase in the number of private and public museums, as well as cuts in cultural budgets in certain countries have created a new form of competition to attract visitors and philanthropists. The emergence of new artistic scenes and the proliferation of new infrastructures, such as art fairs and galleries, support the supply. This is all the more true as culture is increasingly perceived as a source of economic growth and managed as such by certain States.
THE DIGITISATION OF THE ART MARKET
The digitisation of the market continues, supported by the omnipresence of the Internet and the creation of new business models. According to the 2017 Hiscox Online Art Trade Report, online sales (galleries and online auctions) are estimated at around 3.75 billion dollars for 2016, a 15% increase over 2015. Other business models are emerging: B to B or peer to peer platforms, leasing of works of art with a purchase option, rental of works of art, lending platforms for museums or involving collectors and museums, sites for discovering to make the market more accessible, but also to make it more transparent through specialised informational websites. According to Barnebys, a search engine for auctions of art, antiquities and collectors' items, today's buyers are from all over the world and are an increasingly younger demographic. 8 out of 10 buyers between the ages of 18 and 35 started purchasing online. The virtualisation of the market and works alike is underway. This suggests that the cultural experience is also at a crossroads. Education and the transmission of knowledge relating to the arts will also likely greatly benefit from this new development.
THE GLOBALISATION OF THE ART MARKET
Sotheby’s sales increased by 28%, but Christie’s were up by 115.9%, mainly due to the sale of major Chinese works from the Fujita museum in the amount of 262.8 billion dollars. Without this exceptional windfall, sales still would have increased by 49.4%. Still according to the ArtTactic report, Christie’s market share increased from 41.9% in 2017. The impressionists and modernists sales conducted by Christie's on 15 May 2017 brought in 289.1 million dollars. According to the Artsy online platform, this is a new record since 2010 and a sign that the appetite for major works has not diminished in the least. Sales of post-war and contemporary art by Christies, Sotheby’s and Phillips in May 2017 confirmed the demand for major works, in particular with the record sale of a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat for 110.5 million dollars to a Japanese collector.
Globalisation and increasing wealth have led to art becoming the focus of growing interest and record demand. The emergence of new artistic scenes and a proliferation of new infrastructures such as art fairs and galleries with international networks support the supply. The preliminary results for 2017 are very interesting. According to the April 2017 ArtTactic report, the combined auctions of Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips increased by 61.8% to 1.53 billion dollars in the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year.
by Adriano Picinati di Torcello Art & Finance Coordinator, Deloitte
UPSETS IN THE MARKET
Cokney, Palais de Tokyo, 2014, Lasco #3 Photo : Aurélien Mole
Craig Costello, Palais de Tokyo, 2015, Lasco #4 Photo : Aurélien Mole
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– Mélanie Damani
...it is important to remember that there are still many fakes in circulation, despite advances in forensic techniques aimed at foiling counterfeiters’ techniques.
...planning an artistic investment is all the more delicate as it comprises emotional assets.
Cleon Peterson, Palais de Tokyo, 2014, Lasco #3 Photo : Aurélien Mole
Craig Costello, Palais de Tokyo, 2015, Lasco #4 Photo: Nicolas Gzeley
Several solutions can satisfy both parents and children. They include the implementation of a specific governance scheme, appointing an artistic advisor for the family, a family collection policy, and defining common artistic values. When parents become aware of their children's lack of interest in time, they may also opt for alternative solutions such as a properly prepared and well- considered sale to another collector. Although they may not share their parents' tastes, the children can also consider the collection they have inherited with respect, want to showcase the works, make donations to prestigious museums, or set up foundations. This philosophy of transmission through the generations, a fundamental appreciation of art and patronage can be a common thread, which incidentally can be seen throughout the Rothschild family's history.
How best to prepare the transmission of a collection?
It involves combining legal, tax-related and commercial know-how with an understanding of each individual, of their aspirations, and respecting their choices. We study the links between the various generations and we consider the context of the family situation when structuring inheritances and successions. However, we also assist our client at every step of a collection's life, advise them of the risks inherent to the art market, and remind them of certain crucial reflexes. We help them compose their collections, and to open themselves up to eras or genres with which they may be unfamiliar.
What does the concept of empathetic asset management cover?
We are able to manage general and artistic investments. We always use a long-term approach. However, planning an artistic investment is all the more delicate as it comprises emotional assets. Some clients consider that their collection is a highly intimate thing which should not be included in the overall approach. Addressing this personal and sentimental subject therefore requires a tactful and well-meaning approach, particularly when broaching the subject of transmission, and their collection does not appeal to their children. We call this "empathetic asset management".
How is managing an art collection different from managing a traditional investment?
Many issues, including tax-related issues, arise at every step of a collection's life. Will the investment be exempt from VAT? Will the works held be subject to the wealth tax? The work we carry out for our clients involves investigating the tax schemes in each of their countries of residence. In the event of holding works in several countries at once, we propose solutions aimed at unifying a collection's tax liability. By working with local experts, this planning work also prepares the field for transmission, which is often subject to the inheritance or gift tax.
What precautions should be taken when creating an art collection?
It is wise to plan ahead for the administrative formalities required for importing and exporting the work, as well as transport conditions and the future location. In the event of a lack of sufficient space, the free port solution provides all the requisite guarantees in terms of security and storage. It is also important to take out insurance, even though some collectors do not insure their works, out of choice or negligence.
Which questions need answering before proceeding with an acquisition?
Art has become so accessible, in particular thanks to the growing number of art fairs and online sales, that collectors are indeed led to focus on the act of acquisition, and even on continuously acquiring new works. The inherent risk is that of neglecting possession and transmission, two essential steps which involve many legal and financial issues.
Do collectors tend to focus on the transaction rather than possession and transmission?
Collectors must inquire about provenance and authenticity first and foremost. This requires checking the history of ownership of the work, in particular for Modern Art and Impressionism, many works of which were stolen during the Second World War. Former ownership by an important family or a famous collector can factor into the work's value. As regards authenticity, it is important to remember that there are still many fakes in circulation, despite advances in forensic techniques aimed at foiling counterfeiters' techniques. The certainty of owning an original work remains paramount. It is also important to pay attention to the condition of the works!
What precautions must collectors take when acquiring a work of art?
Great care is required when forming an art collection. However, purchasers too often neglect possession and transmission of these emotional assets. Mélanie Damani explains how Edmond de Rothschild assists his clients in each step of the life of an artistic investment.
Art Services, Edmond de Rothschild
An Interview with MÉLANIE Damani
24.11.80 – Triptyque, 1980 Oil on canvas, 200 × 525 cm. Rights reserved
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Zao Wou-Ki is undoubtedly one of the first Chinese painters of the 20th century to attempt to merge East and West, anticipating the globalised art of our modern times.
“He discovered a certain immediacy, a freshness in watercolours that captivated him.”
In front of an F. Walch ink, 1983
In his atelier - around 1998
We can also simply follow the projects and ideas of other researchers, which can be useful for exploring themes we may not have considered, thus opening up new interpretations. We open up the archives, help to locate the works to be lent out and advise curators, all while leaving them the greatest freedom as regards their project. We consider it important not to impose our own vision. This was the case for the "No limits: Zao Wou-Ki" exhibition developed by two researchers from the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine, in the United States. They spent eight years researching Zao Wou-Ki's presence in the United States, located paintings in major museum collections and private collections, and convinced the Asia Society Museum in New York to host the exhibition in 2016. The catalogue, published by the famous Yale University Press, contains exclusive content, including a text written, by the widow of Zao Wou-Ki's brother which paints the artist in a new and family-oriented light.
The purpose of the Zao Wou-Ki Foundation, which was created in Switzerland during the artist's lifetime, is to promote and disseminate his works and to pay tribute to his work. In practice, this involves holding exhibitions and publishing books to showcase one or more aspects of Zao Wou-Ki's work from a different angle for each exhibition. The Foundation partners with museums that ask to be allowed to exhibit the artist's works. It may take an active role in the exhibition, if the institution so desires, by helping to select the works and even the concept, such as happened for the "Zao Wou-Ki collector" exhibition at the musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch d’Issoudun in 2016. The purpose was to present the donation of the artist's personal collection, donated by his wife. I was co-curator with Sophie Cazé who was in charge of the collection. Our aim was to bring together Zao Wou-Ki and his friends together through his collection, to evoke their relationships and therefore to understand the man behind the artist. It was a completely innovative approach.
What is the Foundation's mission and how do you implement it?
Zao Wou-Ki did not like anyone watching him paint. Except for his wife, very few people were with him during these moments of creation. I would make arrangements to not hang around the studio too much when he was painting. However, I was able to see the work at each step on the path to completion. Witnessing the birth of a painting and following it every step of the way since its creation was a privilege. How do painters begin a painting? How do they reach the final result? Being able to see the artist's process gave me the keys to gain a better understanding of his body of work.
Can you tell us something that stood out about Zao Wou-Ki?
That curiosity and thirst for discovery were visible in his work from the outset. In Shanghai, in 1946, he was able to get a copy of the famous Picasso book Fifty Years of his Art by Alfred H. Barr Jr., published by the New York Museum of Modern Art just a few months previously. At a time when means of communication were limited and ideas moved around more slowly, he sought out the most recent publications. He was undoubtedly one of the first Chinese painters of the 20th century to attempt to merge East and West, anticipating the globalised art of our modern times. Following China reopening to the outside world, Zao Wou- Ki made many trips to the country to see his family in the 1970s. China began discovering his work in the 1980s and devoted an increasing number of exhibitions to his work. Zao Wou-Ki also rediscovered Chinese museums and landscape, and purchased Chinese paper and ink. A Chinese influence can be felt in his works of the period and those of the 1990s when he sought greater fluidity in oil painting. In the 2000s, Zao Wou-Ki was a recognised painter rediscovered by his birthland. Although he was as demanding as ever, he gradually let go of certain obligations he imposed upon his works. His experiments led him to greater freedom in constructing his paintings, in his choice of colours. As ageing prevented him from making large format paintings the way he used to, he turned to other disciplines. He discovered a certain immediacy, a freshness in watercolours that captivated him. We very quickly decided to exhibit this new work, with accompanying publications explaining his process. His last work, although lesser known, can be read as a renaissance of shapes. This final effort was one of complete audacity and freedom.
To Chinese art critics, Zao Wou-Ki is a Chinese artist. However, this does not take into account the fact that he spent most of his life in France. His roots are Chinese but he also considered himself to be a western artist. His many trips to the United States in the 50s and 60s and the discovery of the New York School abstract movement also influenced him tremendously. He switched between those influences and drew from both cultures, mixing them harmoniously. Jean- Paul Desroches, general curator of heritage at the musée Guimet, nicknamed Zao Wou-Ki: "the man from both shores".
It is a door to another world: he wanted to paint differently, without being a slave to tradition or a given school, capture and show intangible things such as the wind, space and the tumult of feelings.
Yann Hendgen, how would you sum up Zao Wou-Ki's work (1920-2013)?
Yann Hendgen has been the artistic director at the Zao Wou-Ki Foundation since its inception in 2012. A graduate of the École du Louvre, it was during an internship at Paris' Musée du Petit Palais in 1998 that he met Françoise Marquet, the wife of artist Zao Wou-Ki and current President of the Foundation. A few years later, in 2002, while preparing the artist's retrospective at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, she recruited him to work at the Foundation. Yann Hendgen spent eleven years working alongside Zao Wou-Ki. He tells us about his passion for the artist and his oeuvre.
Artistic Director of the Zao Wou-Ki Foundation
An Interview with Yann Hendgen
ZAO WOU-KI THE ART OF THE INTANGIBLE
Hommage à Claude Monet - Triptych, oil on canvas, 1991, 194,5 x 484,5 cm, private collection (photo Jean-Louis Losi) Zao Wou-Ki © ProLitteris, Zurich
Direct, Fixed-Price Sales
Online Only Sales
("Make an offer and buy now") made on online stores/in corner shops
Live Auctions
Traditional auction sales in which Internet users bid in the same way as buyers in the auction room or on the telephone
Evol, Palais de Tokyo, 2014, Lasco #3 Photo : Aurélien Mole
100% dematerialised sales, generally without a paper catalogue and sometimes without a prior exhibition
Multi-operator platforms
Multi-operator platforms or aggregators such as Invaluable, Artsy, Ebay, and, in France, Drouot Live, which group together various auction houses and galleries on a single platform
Exclusively online auction houses
"Traditional" auction houses
Exclusively online auction houses (also known as "pure players"), such as Auctionata/Paddle 8 and Artnet, which do not offer a paper catalogue or exhibitions in most cases
"Traditional" auction houses such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips, and Heritage auctions, which have developed an online service enabling Internet users to take part in all of their physical auctions
These figures mainly cover three types of transactions:
By Mario Tavella, President Director General, Sotheby’s France, Chairman, Sotheby’s Europe
An international auction house such as Sotheby’s can also set up a partnership with an aggregator in order to increase its audience. Sotheby's has been doing this with Ebay and Invaluable since 2014, which has contributed to increasing its number of online auctions by 55%. In order to study market trends and provide better advice to its clients-buyers, Sotheby’s acquired the Mei Moses index in October 2016. The index provides a database of 45,000 works that have been auctioned several times, and provides insight to market trends across the world.
London, November 2016 – The Bowie/Collector sale reached a total of $41.1 million. 62% of bidders took part online, and 71% were new customers for Sotheby’s
This distinction by geographical area ceases to be important when new market places are created, such as the art fairs of Maastricht, Basel, Miami, and the FIAC.
This distinction by geographical area ceases to be important when new market places are created, such as the art fairs of Maastricht, Basel, Miami, and the FIAC. It is simply a matter of grouping the best offers at a single place in the world at a given time, and buyers will add the event to their schedules. In this context, online sales of works of art, whether through the traditional websites belonging to art dealers or during auctions held on the Internet, have experienced explosive growth: they now account for close to 5 billion dollars, with over 20% growth per year in the past three years. Forecasts value such sales at around 10 billion dollars by 2020*. The figures must therefore be analysed with caution as the three categories are grouped together without differentiation: the increasing number of online purchases does not necessarily mean that buyers make their purchases sight unseen. The buyers in the second category have often seen the objects on which they then bid online.
The quality of visual content is now impeccable. Images and videos enable the works to be promoted indefinitely and many lots to be offered simultaneously. Since January 2017, Sotheby’s has been working with Artmyn, a start-up of the Lausanne Institute of Technology. The company developed a new generation of scanners and algorithms to produce extremely high-quality 5D images to showcase the texture and composition of works, making the slightest detail visible to the naked eye. Thanks to the social networks (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), Iphone applications, and Apple TV, all of that visual content is available to a wide audience. Sotheby’s increased its traffic on the social networks by 120% in 2016. 31% of the respondents in the Hiscox study stated that the social networks influenced their purchases (compared to 24% in 2015). The results also indicate that Facebook and Instagram remained art buyers' favourite social networks over the past two years. "Millenials" now assess a market stakeholder's competence on the basis of the speed with which they respond to their questions. The digital world has revolutionised the way in which a collection or inherited works are sold. The first point of contact often involves sending photographs by e-mail. The auction house attaches great importance to providing a quick, reasoned and precise answer, without - as was the case recently - any "face-to-face" contact at all. Although auction houses are moving with the times, 39% of the galleries interviewed as part of the Hiscox study stated that they did not have an e-commerce strategy. Such a strategy can be a costly investment at the outset, but it seems to be crucial for continuing to exist on the world art market.
The advantage of online sales for buyers is obviously the fact that the process is made less intimidating, functioning as a "point of entry" when they are not yet aware of certain customs and desire a certain degree of discretion. Online purchases often enable buyers to test a company and an after-sales service. Online sales therefore seem to benefit certain specialties in particular: wine, luxury items (jewellery, watches, handbags, etc.), old toys, and multiples such as engravings and photographs. They are easy-to-ship items whose rating reassures buyers who can easily find a point of comparison with similar objects sold previously. The fact of not always being able to see the item before purchasing is no longer an obstacle, as most websites now enable items to be seen on demand or at exhibitions, and Internet enables extremely high-quality images to be provided.
Although the potential of the online art market is encouraging - 92% of online art buyers intend to buy the same quantity or works or more in the next 12 months (2016 Hiscox report) - online art purchasers generally remain below 10,000 dollars. Buyers are still hesitant to invest without having seen the works or having consulted a specialist. The income from online sales therefore comes more from the volume of transactions rather than the individual amount of each transaction. There are currently three types of online art market platforms:
The figures for 2016 have not yet been made public, but a 25% drop is expected in the art auction market, as well as a likely decline in the number of private transactions. This decline in the market most likely results from a weakening of supply in the high-end segment of the market (in 2015, 57% of the overall value came from the 1% of transactions over 1 million dollars), the reasons for which may be found in the increasing scarcity of available works. Although the "stock" of contemporary works is inexhaustible, that of impressionist and ancient works is unequivocally limited; when a museum or institution purchases a work, it is removed from circulation. Low interest rates do not encourage sellers to monetise their collections, and the political and electoral situations in several countries (USA, UK, France) may be contributing to fostering a wait-and-see attitude among sellers. For the past decade, the auction market has been dominated by four major countries: the United States, China, the United Kingdom and France (the latter has decline considerably after having occupied first place in the 1960s).
Online shopping and digital marketing have profoundly changed the everyday lives of art market stakeholders. Social networks, the new drivers of marketing, are more effective than any other type of advertising, and advertisements can reach an audience spanning the whole world in just a few hours. Online shopping, which is experiencing incredible growth, has become the favourite purchasing method for those in the 30-40 demographic. This revolution requires rethinking the methods used to reach the greater public, and the entirety of the services offered to art enthusiasts. These new purchasing and communication methods have profoundly changed relations between professionals and amateurs, whose number can only increase exponentially. In 2015, the global art market was valued at 64 billion dollars. Public auctions accounted for half of this figure, alongside private transactions carried out by galleries, brokers and auction houses. Galleries have estimated that 40% of all sales are made at art fairs, the number of which is growing rapidly.
Mario Tavella
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These initiatives open the mind up to the realms of sensitivity and knowledge and provide unique opportunities for very different communities to get to know one another and build together.
One of the values and the greatest strengths of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations lies in diversity.
Finally, 1er Acte – a pioneering programme of acting workshops for underprivileged young people who want to become professional actors, developed by the Strasbourg National Theatre, the Avignon Festival and the Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe. Since 2014, as part of a public-private partnership, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations and the SNCF Foundation give 15 young talents from all over France to benefit from a sponsorship and master classes given by renowned artists: Stanislas Nordey, Annie Mercier and Denis Podalydès, to name a few. Thanks to this bold initiative, over two-thirds of the winners have entered a national conservatory or a theatre company. A collection of experiences, bridges of contrasts, these original experiments show the strong commitment of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations to the crucial role of art as a driving force for social innovation. We are convinced that sustained exchanges between education, artistic creation and social responsibility will lay solid foundations for an open and promising world.
A few other examples: Una ciudad, muchos mundos in Madrid, Guggenheim Social Practice in New York, and Master TRANS in Geneva, are innovative community art initiatives. They foster new forms of collective commitment towards helping contrasting communities often separated by cultural, economic, social, and sometimes even psychological barriers. They bring art where you would least expect it. These initiatives have united the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations with the City of Madrid, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Geneva University of Art and Design in a process of joint reflection and collective creation.
The arts are a key part of this ambitious approach, which opens up new possibilities, building bridges to the future and championing a society based on inclusion and collaboration. The ambitious programmes that we develop promote interaction and sharing between different worlds: wealthy neighbourhoods and precarious areas, children and adults, professionals and amateurs. Art finds its way in an approach through which we leave the beaten track to reinvent the links between education, society and culture. It calls for imagination and creativity; it frees up speech; it honours diversity. For example, the Ensemble Connect and AIMS (Formation d’Artiste Intervenant en Milieu Scolaire - artist working in a school environment) programme, the first of which was developed with New York’s Carnegie Hall and the second with the five National Art Universities in Paris, combine the transmission of knowledge with the sharing of artistic practices. Young artists give workshops at schools in the Bronx, in Harlem as well as Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine and Montreuil throughout the year. Mainly with children, but also with teachers and parents, they create an artistic, educational project which leads to a collective exhibition. These initiatives open the mind up to the realms of sensitivity and knowledge and provide unique opportunities for very different communities to get to know one another and build together.
One of the values and the greatest strengths of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations lies in diversity: the geographic diversity of their philanthropic network, of their partners and of the programmes they support; diversity also through a professional, multicultural and socially-responsible team; and finally, diversity through their acceptance of the many identities that create richness and progress for society.
A one-of-a-kind philanthropic network, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations comprise some 10 institutions involved in social engagement in France and around the world, and acting as genuine gateways between individual fields and skills. They combine willingness and generosity with performance and impact by promoting original experiences and new models. Together with their partners, they raise a widely-respected voice and beliefs on today’s social challenges, which it meets through an entrepreneurial and sustainable approach.
by Firoz Ladak, CEO, The Edmond de Rothschild Foundations
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