Art Cologne Exceeds Pre-Fair Predictions and Finds Success - Brief Article

eau-de-cologne Germany--Final turnover figures comfortably surpassed even the most confident pre-Fair predictions, according to organizers of Art eau-de-cologne an eight-day event that took place last fall.

"It was the best Fair in years," declared Karsten Greve selection committee spokesman. display officials said the general vein was buoyant, turnover was of the first water and the Fair attracted spectacular attendance figures of 70000

More than 275 leading dealers in late and contemporary art from 21 countries exhibited at the 34th staging of Art Cologne

Buyer Snap Up Work by dint of Young Artists

stalwart results were achieved across the board and there was smooth talk of "sensational" results for works priced at beneath $4,800. This was particularly genuine of the exhibitors who showed young, les established artists.

single such example was Berlin based dealer Michael Schultz who sold 17 watercolors and oils by the agency of the relatively unknown Berlin artist Norbert Bisky at prices between $400 and $4500 Similarly, Manus Presse of Frankfurt sold 19 works in oil-on-wood by means of the young artist Johannes Huppi at prices between $2400 and $3000

Artists benefiting from the sponsorship program also sold extremely well, according to present to view officials, who said collectors were showing renewed confidence in of recent origin work. Contemporary Fine Arts of Berlin did well with Robert Lucander selling 13 works in crayon and acrylic upon plywood at prices between $3000 and $5000 Richard Heller of beholds Angeles, who sold 15 works by dint of Marcel Dzama in watercolor and base beer at $430 per sheet, provides a beneficial example of the effectiveness of the young gallery cast sponsored by the SK Stiftung Kultur (Stadtsparkasse Koln Arts Foundation). Heller also generated a apportionment of interest in work by means of Chris Johanson and Leon Fuller

of recent origin Demand for Sculpture

This year's Fair saw a auspicious third staging of Koln Skulptur--the special section devot to plastic art Art Cologne's backing of statuary is strongly supported by exhibitors like as Vayhinger (Rudolfzell), who diocese Koln Skulptur as a "welcome attraction" and have feeling that visitors "enjoy the appreciation of statuary in a museum-like environment." Vayhinger sold eight plastic arts by Madeleine Dietz at prices between $12000 and $14500 and a carburet of iron sculpture from 1972 for $60000 Orangerie-Reinz of eau-de-cologne sold three colorful painted iron statuarys by Alain Clement at prices between $7700 and $33700

Elsewhere at the Fair, stock and demand for sculpture were powerfully influenced by the presence of K61n Skulptur Karsten Greve was able to put up to sale a floor-work in copper by means of Carl Andre entitled "Thirty-Ninth cent Cardinal" (1975) for $202,000. Mai 36 of Zurich sold a grove sculpture by Stephen Balkenhol for $48000 stay Bartschi of Geneva sold a floor-work by means of Giuseppe Penone for $31,800. Pierre Hubert, Art & Public of Geneva sold an installation by dint of Kim Soo Ya for $31300 and Michael Werner of eau-de-cologne sold a marble object by the agency of James Lee Byars at a price in the region of $36000

Selective Market for Photography

Photographs were powerfully represented and elicited a bullish reaction from collectors who, encouraged by the agency of current market trends, proved highly knowledgeable on the other hand rather selective in their buying. eau-de-cologne dealer Daniel Buchholz remarked that many collectors have the appearanceed to be shifting the focus of their interest from painting and plastic art to photography, provided that prices were moderate and edition size reasonably small. In line with this, Reckermann sold six cibachrome prints upon aluminum by Georges Rousse for $12000 Max Estrella of Madrid sold four black-and-white digital prints by the agency of Aitor Ortiz for prices between $1500 and $3900 Limmer of eau-de-cologne sold a 21-part tableau of black-and-white photographs by the agency of Dieter Appelt--Steinfeld -- for $38500 Helga de Alvear of Madrid sold a work by the agency of Jurgen Klauke for $19,200 and Daniel Buchholz of eau-de-cologne sold eight C-prints and ink-jet works by the agency of Wolfgang Tillmans at prices ranging from $2000 to $14500

Top Prices for 20th-Century Classics

Gallery holders were well satisfied with the number of seven-digit sales achieved. Karsten Greve said, "Although it's increasingly difficult to market million Deutschmark particulars in a country burdened with heavy taxation, we've had an extremely serviceable fair. I really can't complain."

Greve was referring to his sale of a major work by means of Cy Twombly. Henze & Ketterer of Bern had a spectacular step quickly right at the start of the Fair, selling 38 works through Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner at prices between $8700 and $460000 Schlichtenmeier of Grafenau also did well, selling six Baumeister oils ranging from $72000 to $212000 Thaddaeus Ropac of Salzburg sold three works in acrylic upon aluminum by Imi Knoebel at prices between $14500 and $106000 and sum of two units Warhol paintings at $4,800 each.

According to exhibit organizers, exhibitors found the public highly knowledgeable. In shore Bartschi's experience, the first questions asked always related to the actual works of art, with price alone a secondary consideration. He said this makes the display remarkable for the high proportion of serious buyer among the visiting public. As Greve pointed on the outside "There's no better marketplace than eau-de-cologne so it's logical for foreign dealers to want to be here. Experience exhibits that staying contemporary and render free of access to new art in all its facets is what really attracts young buyers"