kirkerblog 4.0

This month's series of modern design auctions is finally over. The good news is that the best work -- whether classic mid-century or spectacular one-of-a-kind vintage -- continues to sell not only towards the high end of estimate ranges, but in some cases far beyond it. Check out the results of Sotheby's 20th-century sale a couple of days ago; nearly every lot sold well, and at least a few sold for prices that can only be defined as batshit crazy.

The bad news is that the market for design art is looking decidedly murky, particularly for the highest-end product. Wright's Important Design sale was an unmitigated disaster as far as design art goes, though the 20th-century classics held firm. Phillips de Pury fared somewhat better. Only 100 of 177 lots sold, however (even ones by reliable names like Prouvé and Perriand - I suspect the culprit was Phillips setting its estimates a smidge too high), and only two -- a Marc Newson desk and a pair of Jean Royère chairs -- sold for six figures ($206,500 and $124,900 respectively, including buyer's premiums - not sure why the Royère chairs went for that much beyond the high estimate though). Btw my favorite of the Phillips lots is this Gio Ponti dresser, a one-of-a-kind spin on one of his better-known designs (which usually come in a single type of wood, not this type of combination). It sold for $92,500, including premium.

Every good party has a gift bag. In this case it was a metal box.

So, tonight's big event was the launch party for Tyson Cole's new restaurant, Canteen, set to debut in the new W hotel/condo development going up across the street from my gallery. Tyson's the highest-profile chef in Austin, and except for possibly Dean Fearing the highest-profile in Texas -- the dude's barely 30 and has already been on "Iron Chef"! -- so this was a pretty major happening, one I was sworn to secrecy on before the fact. It was certainly the most interesting event to transpire at the gallery to date, although the hassles involved -- in particular, closing down for two days and removing nearly every piece of furniture and accessories in the place -- were monumental (and, given the various egos involved - which I will admit included my own - almost led to the whole thing falling through on several occasions). There are very, very few occasions for which I would allow such a disruption in my day-to-day business, but given the high-profile nature of the event -- not to mention the guest list and upcoming press coverage -- it was hard to say no.

Here's one of the pics of the setup.

Art Basel (and its counterpart, Design Miami) starts tomorrow. While I found last year's event exhilarating and simultaneously exhausting, I couldn't rationalize returning this year given that I've put my plans to sell art alongside furnishings and design on hold indefinitely. I also have a major private event transpiring at the gallery later this week, but more on that after the fact.

Also upcoming in the next three weeks are a whole slew of 20th-century design auctions; just about every house I can think of, except for Rago, is holding at least one. Christie's and Sotheby's have a veritable monopoly on the best European-designer lots, though one could argue that a million bucks for plywood is a smidge too dear in this market, even for Mollino. Wright's Important Design sale has the heaviest concentration of recently fabricated design art, but it remains to be seen whether the market has the stomach for the likes of $300,000 Formica, regardless of Hadid's Pritzker Prize cred. As discussed, Rago's October sale went very well, to my pleasant surprise, but I'm worried there's too much supply hitting the market in the coming weeks, from all of the above houses and the smaller ones as well. I'm sure Prouve and Perriand and Royere and Evans will sell well, as usual -- I am particularly in love with Sotheby's Argente cabinet by Evans, my favorite of his styles -- but there remain plenty of question marks on the viability of the highest-end (five figures and up) product.