The Art Market: first nations fire warning shots
Selling pre-Columbian and tribal art in Paris is becoming quite a problem, with the source nations increasingly doing what they can to disrupt auctions. Sotheby’s sale of the Barbier-Mueller collection in Paris last month was an example: first Peru, then Guatemala, Mexico and Costa Rica stridently objected, on the basis that some of the works on offer had been illegally exported.
Hampered by high estimates as well as the controversy, the sale raked in a disappointing €10.3m, falling far short of the pre-sale high estimate of €20m. Only half the lots found buyers, and it would have been much worse had it not been for Greek financier and Sotheby’s advisory board member Dimitri Mavrommatis, who spent about €4m on some of the top lots.
More controversy swirled around the sale at Drouot in Paris of colourful masks from the American Hopi Indians. Actor Robert Redford weighed in, calling for the auction to be cancelled because the works are sacred to the tribe. But a last-minute legal challenge failed and the 70 masks, dating from the late 19th century and early 20th century, went ahead, topping expectations with a total of €900,000, with 90 per cent of the material sold. The top lot, “Crow Mother”, sold for almost €200,000, well above its upper estimate of €50,000, easily topping the previous record in this field, for a Hopi statuette that made $107,000 (€81,000) at Christie’s New York in 2008.
Other recent sales in France have gone off without incident. A sale of 19 Kachina dolls collected by French publisher Yves Berger, for example, made a modest €145,000 at Eve Auctions, while a sale of pre-Columbian art by the suburban Castor-Hara raised €368,750 last week. Perhaps the source nations are reserving their firepower – with some effect – for the most high-profile dispersals.
