9 out of 10 highest prices for 2011
Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants…1955, SEK 3 062 000
Maria Friberg, Almost there, SEK 210 375
Mariam Bäckström, 29 variations of light, SEK 510 000
Christer Strömholm, Bleka damen, SEK 121 125
Annika von Hausswolff, Utan titel, SEK 255 000
Irving Penn, Motorcycle Policeman NY, 1951, SEK 355 250
Irving Penn, Cigarette no 11, SEK 379 750
David LaChapelle, Negative Currency, SEK 441 000
Albert Watson, Keith Richards New York, 1988, SEK 251 125
Dennis Hopper, Double Standard, SEK 251 125
We look for:
Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Uta Barth, Peter Beard, Helena Blomqvist, Brassai, Bill Brandt, Elina Brotherus, Miriam Bäckström, Cartier-Bresson, Sophie Calle, Anton Corbijn, Gregory Crewdson, Dawid, William Eggleston, Bruno Ehrs, Saara Ekström, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Frank, Maria Friberg, Lee Friedlander, Adam Fuss, Miklos Gaál, Goodwin, Nan Goldin, Denise Grunstein, Andreas Gursky, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Hans Hammarskiöld, Annika von Hausswolff, Emil Heilborn, Dennis Hopper, Horst P. Horst, Ismo Hölttö, Tiina Itkonen, Mikael Jansson, Gerry Johansson, Sune Jonsson, André Kertész, Eva Klasson, Ola Kolehmainen, Anders Krisar, David Lachapelle, Anni Leppälä, Helen Lewitt, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Lindbergh, Tuija Lindström, Pekka Luukola, Sally Mann, Robert Mapplethorpe, Maria Miesenberger, László Moholy-Nagy, Tova Mozard, Vic Muniz, Esko Männikkö, Helmut Newton, Lennart Nilsson, Georg Oddner, Année Olofsson, Nelli Palomäki, Irving Penn, Anders Petersen, Richard Prince, Jorma Puranen, Man Ray, Lovisa Ringborg, Herb Ritts, Anna Riwkin, August Sander, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Sandy Skoglund, Gunnar Smoliansky, Christer Strömholm, Lars Tunbjörk, Jeff Wall, Albert Watson, Edvard Weston among others.
Contact:
Lena Nytén, Specialist photography and contemporary art, (Sweden), lena.nyten@bukowskis.com + 46 8-614 08 17
Helena Laakso, Specialist photography, (Finland), helena.laakso@bukowskis.com+358 (0)9 6689 110
Anna Persson, Specialist contemporary art (Sweden), anna.persson@bukowskis.com + 46 8-614 08 30
Laura Pohjola, Specialist contemporary art (Finland), laura.pohjola@bukowskis.com +358 400 46 45 76
Here they are – coming highlights 2012
“If you’re interested in contemporary art, this is your chance to take part in the art scene here and now. The number of customers in this segment has increased steadily, and from a collector’s point of view, contemporary art is available to you as a buyer in so many ways. If you want to build a collection of art from recent decades, you can keep up to date with what is being shown at established galleries, and have contacts with artists, to find out what is happening and keep up to date. You have a unique position as a collector of contemporary art. That's the way it has always been - just think of the major international collectors, who knew and bought the modern masters in the early 1900s, such as Gertrude Stein, Peggy Guggenheim, and today’s giants such as Charles Saatchi, François Pinault and Muccia Prada, to name but a few.”
But doesn't collecting contemporary art require more expertise?
“The verve of dealing with contemporary art lies in the fact that its history is yet to be written, so you need more awareness, since you are buying in the early stage of an oeuvre, and there is no way of knowing what works will eventually be regarded as timeless classics. Above all, buying contemporary art requires more courage and trusting one’s own intuition and the information that is available. Go to as many exhibitions as you can, at museums and galleries, visit the best renowned art fairs that apply strict criteria on the quality of the art they present. The selection at the quality auction of contemporary art can also give you some guidance on what has passed through the eye of the needle.”
So, what should I buy?
“Since there is a chance of buying works early in an artist’s career and the possibility of buying the best quality art, you can build a collection for less money than if you buy masterpieces by established modern artists. Video art is still moderately priced or even under-estimated. We have sold two top items by hot international artists who are represented in internationally acclaimed collections. Cory Arcangel’s Super Mario Movie was sold to a foreign collector for just over SEK 100,000, and just recently Nathalie Djurberg’s Hardcore was sold for around SEK 170,000. Both these are good buys in the longer perspective.
“Also, there are fine 1960s and 1970s works in the auction at prices that are still relatively low in relation to their quality. This includes both paintings from that period and the more ‘strident’ political art. The same is true of the best 1980s art.”
Something that never goes out of style and has a tendency to constantly reinvent itself is painting. What are Bukowskis’ clients looking for among the younger generation of artists who are mainly active as painters?
“Painting is an old, traditional medium that has always existed and which most buyers feel safe with. But, as always, you have to consider the quality, regardless of what technique is involved. We have noted a lively interest in the artists Gunnel Wåhlstrand, Lotta Hannerz, Carl Hammoud, Linn Fernström, Bjarne Melgaard, Astrid Sylwan, Kristina Jansson and, of course, Mamma Andersson. I suggest you also keep an eye on Christine Ödlund, Maria Nordin, Lena Johansson, Astrid Svangren and Martin Jacobson. Personally, I also like Lisa D Manner, to mention a name where you can get a fine piece on a smaller budget.”
But painting isn’t the only art that’s interesting at an auction? Recently, a collage by Jockum Nordström was sold at a record hammer price. Isn’t quality more important than the medium?
“Absolutely! Basically, it’s the same as buying a flat. You expect to pay more for a sea view than for a ground floor apartment.”
The photography section's sales figures have rocketed. How do you explain that?
“At long last, the wariness against photography, and whether it can be regarded as art, seems to have subsided. Today, the two art forms and their practitioners, artists and photographers, are interrelating in a more natural way than before. At the recent major photography fair, Paris Photo, there were nearly as many art galleries as photography galleries among the exhibitors. The boundary between them is growing fuzzier, and some of the works at Paris Photo could just as well be shown at the large fairs focusing exclusively on fine arts, such as Art Basel.
“Photography is a technique that younger buyers and future collectors have no problem relating to. We are surrounded by photography and film, and this medium is both contemporary and of the future. These collectors don’t have the same hesitation as those who buy the more traditional art media – to them it isn’t a problem that the picture exists in a few prints. It’s an old misunderstanding that photographers hang around in darkrooms all day making thousands of prints! That's not the case. When it comes to classic black-and-white analogue photos, each picture is made by hand, and it can take days to get the perfect print. Each picture is exclusive, and not all photos are produced in numbered editions. Contemporary artists who work in the photographic medium, digital or analogue, do number their works, however. Often, their editions are kept small.
“The price range for international photographic art and photographs is generally higher internationally than in Sweden and for established Swedish names, meaning that you can pick up a masterpiece and iconic images for a fraction of the cost of, say, a masterpiece by an equally established Swedish artist in a traditional medium such as painting.”