Page 72 - Studio International - April 1967

Art prices a salesman of genius. Duveen is the principal Some prices realized at Christie's
example, but by no means the only one.
London
There are a great many misconceptions which
current will not stand the test of critical examination. One Bernard, Emile Baigneuses, signed and dated 1889,
is that the Impressionists and the moderns gener- 25 x 271 in. exhibited New York, Pittsburgh, Los
ally were neglected in their day. It is true that few Angeles and Baltimore, illustrated by John Rewald and
of them attained the fantastic heights achieved by the Museum of Modern Art Exhibition catalogue;
some of the fashionable painters of the time, such provenance: daughter of the artist; Wildenstein, New
as the now forgotten Edwin Long, but the prices York-£3,720; Bonnard, Pierre Surtout de table,
reached by the work of some of them in their life- bronze on a marble base, 25 x 22 in., height 7 ¼ in.-
time were by no means negligible. Degas lived to £2,520; Boudin, Eugene Lavandieres au Bord d'une
see his Avant le course realize £4,186 in the sale- Rivière, signed, on panel, 8/ x 10/ in.; provenance:
room, equivalent to £25,000 today, and the year Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, London-£5,250; Braque,
The stability of prices before, in 1913, his Danseuse a la barye had brought Georges Face en Profil, signed and dated '42, 191 x
by George Savage £21,000-almost £130,000 in today's money- 181 in. exhibitions: Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Stock-
which is considerably more than the highest price holm, extensively illustrated, provenance: Maeght,
ever realized for a painting by Picasso. Renoir Paris, Seligman, New York-£10,500; Dali, Salvador
became an extremely fashionable painter in the Apparition de la Ville de Delft, on panel, 12/ x 131 in.
last years of his life, and as early as 1907 his Mme provenance: Alex. Reid & Lefevre, London-£4,095;
Historically the origin of the art market is lost in Charpentier et ses enfants was bought by the Metro- Dubuffet, Jean Site aux Errances, signed and dated '55,
the mists of antiquity. The Phoenicians were the politan Museum for £3,500-at least £21,000 and signed and inscribed on the reverse, 32 x 39 ½ in.,
first art-dealers of whom record survives, and they today. Four years after his death, in 1923, Les exhibited, Hartford, Conn.; provenance, Arthur
supplied the known world in exchange for raw Canotiers was sold by Durand-Ruel for £50,000, Tooth-£2,730; Forain, Jean-Louis, Scene de Tribunal
materials. The structure of the Roman art-market something more than £200,000 in today's money. (Portrait of two lawyers) signed, 25/ x 21 in., exhibited
was as elaborate as our own, with taste divided Cezanne made no effort to sell his work, but in the Paris, 1937, painted c. 1908-£2,310; Gauguin, Paul
between antique and contemporary work. Just as year following his death a Nature morte brought Nuit de Noel Britanny landscape in snow, which may
we often turn to France as a source of inspiration, £760, or rather more than £4,500, which by 1913 nevertheless have been painted in Tahiti, 28 x 32 in.,
so the Romans turned to Greece. High prices had risen to £2,180, or slightly more than £12,000. extensively exhibited and illustrated; provenance:
amazed such commentators as Pliny, who fre- Even Sisley, who never had any luck in selling his Vollard, Paris and Bignou, Paris-£50,400; Leger,
quently refers to them in the closing books of the work at good prices, lived long enough to see his Fernand Paysage, signed and dated '29, and again on
Natural History in which he devotes several chapters Le Loing a Saint-Mannes bring £360 (equivalent to the reverse, 36 ¼ x 29 in., exhibition, Hartford, Conn.
to painting. Works of art were bought as an invest- £2,100). 1966; provenance: Dr Laugier, Paris, Mme Cuttoli,
ment, and the only essential difference was in art The fundamental error, of course, is to compare Paris-£5,020; Matisse, Henri Le Vase de Chine,
criticism, critics tending to adopt a standpoint prices realized before 1914 with those of today signed, and on the reverse dedicated 'A Madame
which gave the greatest importance to the selection without making any adjustment for intervening Georgette Girardin en hommage H. Matisse, 1940',
of subject matter, the quality of the materials em- currency depreciation. On this basis the artist of 13/ x 22 in., painted in 1922; provenance: Mme
ployed, and the degree of craftsmanship displayed. the time seems poorly paid, but once the adjust- Girardin, Paris-£28,350; Miro, Joan Personnage,
In eighteenth-century France, where the circum- ment is made it can be seen that sale-room prices signed and dated 1927 on reverse, 364 x 29 in.,
stances which followed Law's inflation produced a today are certainly not high, and over large areas exhibited, Hartford, Conn. 1966-£10,500; Monet,
situation not dissimilar from our own, those with of the market taken as a whole they are sometimes Claude La Cathédrale de Rouen, signed and dated '94,
money to spare distrusted the stability of the livre low by comparison. 42 x 29 in., exhibited: Paris, Zurich, Hague; proven-
and bought works of art as an anti-inflation hedge, One or two painters have subsequently achieved ance: Maurice Masson sale, Paris, 1911, Lucius D.
investing in the decoration of their houses. Suffi- fame after a period of neglect. Van Gogh is the Humphrey, Wildenstein, New York. This is one of the
cient record remains of the principal sales of the most obvious example. But in these few instances thirty studies done by Monet of Rouen Cathedral
period to trace the fluctuations of taste and the it is obvious that they suffered from an inability to between 1892 and 1894-£60,400; Nolde, Emil Dorf
consequent movement of prices. sell their own work, and to create the conditions in am See, signed, ink, wash, and watercolour, 13 x 18 ½
When we come to the nineteenth century records which it would attract the attention of the art- in., exhibited Hartford, Conn.-£1,260; Picasso,
are fairly complete. An invaluable aid to the buyers of the time. They were marching to a Pablo Femme assise, signed, and on the reverse inscribed
student of price-movements is to be found in the different drummer, and financial rewards were and dated 'Vallauris 5.3.53', on panel, 39 ½ x 32 in.,
archives of Christie's, where there is a virtually not those which they sought. The most fashionable said by the artist to be a likeness of Francois Gilot-
complete run of priced catalogues from the founda- and widely sought among painters have always £13,650; Renoir, Pierre-Auguste Trois perdrix,
tion of the firm in the 1760s to the present day. The been good salesmen of their own work-Rubens, signed, 12/ x 15 ¾ in., c. 1880, exhibited, Berlin,
material thus provided is too vast in its extent for Boucher, and Picasso, for instance. Renoir's feet Gallery Matthiesen; provenance: Paul Cassirer, Berlin,
an entirely detailed and systematic examination to were firmly on the ground. His two favourite 1932-£17,850; Rouault, Georges Petite banlieue,
be possible, although Gerald Reitlinger in the subjects, nudes and small children (especially signed, oil on paper laid down on canvas, 191 x 15 in.,
first volume of the Economics of Taste* dealing with girls), were also the most certain sellers. illustrated by Pierre Couthion, sold with certification
painting probably came as near to it as any one The prices mentioned can only be taken as an of Isabelle Rouault, the artist's daughter, painted 1939-
human being could do in a lifetime. indication of the true position because at the time £4,095; Seurat, George Vers Le Boug, on panel,
The manifold problems of charting these fluctua- it was exceptional for modern paintings to appear 61 x 9/ in., c. 1883, exhibited, Paris and New York,
tions arise from the fact that they were reactions in the sale-room at all. Most were sold by dealers included in posthumous inventory of Seurat's atelier,
to a variety of social and economic factors. Just as specializing in works of art of this kind and prices frequently illustrated; provenance begins with Emile
the Settled Lands Act of 1882 (which made it have not been recorded, but the United States Seurat and ends with Wildenstein, New York-£2,100;
possible for trustees to dispose of both land and was an excellent market for Impressionist painting Signac, Paul Jardin a Saint-Tropez, signed and dated
chattels) brought all kinds of works of art on to the well before 1900. To this interest some of the 1909, 25/ x 311 in., extensively exhibited, formerly in
market and thus affected price-levels, so taxation finest collections at present existing on the other Aldrich collection, sold in New York in 1963 for
today governs prices to a far greater extent than side of the Atlantic are due. $43,000 (£15,356) -£14,700; Sisley, Alfred Le long
might generally be realized. In some cases demand, Both collectors and dealers, wrote someone de chemin de fer, signed, 18 x 25/ in., exhibited Paris,
and therefore price, was affected by such factors as recently, have a vested interest in the stability of Durand-Ruel, 1957, Berlin, Kunstmuseum, 1958,
prices. This is most certainly true, and prices are, illustrated by Daulte; provenance: Feder, Paris,
in many ways, a good deal more _stable than might Durand-Ruel, Paris, Arthur Tooth, London. Painted
appear on the surface. The spectacular rises which near Sevres in 1879-£'7,350; Soutine, Chaim Le
*Economics of Taste, Vol. I, The Rise and Fall of so often provide food for sensational newspaper com- Boeuf au Rideau Rouge, signed, 31 ½ x 18 ¾ in., exhibited
Picture Prices 1760-1960, by Gerald Reitlinger, pub- ment are rarely so spectacular as they seem. Much New York and Cleveland, Ohio, illustrated by Monroe
lished by Barrie and Rockliff, London. of the time they are just keeping ahead of inflation. Wheeler; provenance: Oscar Miestchanioff, New