Modern and Contemporary paintings are being bought by a new generation of bidders who are well-off enough to collect art. Among these new collectors Steve Wynn, the owner of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, has bought at huge prices,privately or at auction, dozens of paintings which are now the pride of his establishment.
When Steve Wynn showed up at Christie's sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings on November 9th 1999, bidding started to flare up with a Picasso work, «Nude in a black armchair» representing his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter reaching US $ 45,1 million (Buyer premium included). The next day, Sotheby's sold another Picasso, «Woman seated in a garden», representing his mistress Dora Maar for US $ 49,5 million (Inclusive of buyer premium) while Steve Wynn had placed a written bid for over US $ 40 million which was guaranteed a firm price.
Steve Wynn, 57, however did not buy these paintings as he usually prefers to buy works privately stressing that he bought at auction only five works out of fifty he acquired.
He also said that he started to buy works of art only a few years ago and that his active presence on the market probably served to boost up sales at auction. Thanks to the present economic prosperity in various sectors, notably in the domains of Internet and the real estate business, there are huge amounts of cash on the art market and many people, aged between 30 and 40, are now buying modern art pieces.
These people, mainly from California or Seattle buy art out of sheer pleasure and do not intend to earn money from their acquisitions.
In one week, Sotheby's and Christie's realised turnovers of US $ 242,69 million and 234,22 million respectively. This proves that the number of rich Americans has been growing fastly in recent years.
Buyers are more inclined to buy Modern Art pieces rather than Contemporary ones as they do not want to take excessive risks. All the more they usually buy with the assistance of art specialists.
Another phenomenon is the increasing number of telephone bids at auction meaning that buyers wish to remain anonymous. In addition, bidders are buying more than one work in one session.
American buyers go for Impressionist and modern painters and tend to buy with a view of possessing works for a long time. There is also a change in attitudes as people tend to visit galleries more often, a trend which implies that the art market is progressively becoming more democratic.
People want to learn more about art in an effort to understand the works of many artists whereas speculators are now more discreet on the market though it has been rumoured that two of the most expensive paintings sold recently, the still life by Cézanne from the Whitney collection and Picasso's «Dream» from the Ganz collection, were acquired by German businessman Wolfgang Flotpel who at least reportedly sold back the Cézanne to Steve Wynn.
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