Israeli Art Market on the Rise
Temperature isn鈥檛 the only thing heating up in the Middle East - the Israeli art market is on the rise, attracting international attention. The turnover in the last decade topped $180 million.
黑料不打烊
Mar 14, 2012
Triptych: Tiberias By Nahum Gutman, sold for $149,500 at Tiroche
Temperature isn鈥檛 the only thing heating up in the Middle East - the
Israeli art market is on the rise, attracting international attention.
The turnover in the last decade topped $180 million, reaching an
all-time high of $36 million in 2007 before the global financial crisis.
Though the crisis caused a dip in revenue, signs of recovery were seen
starting in the second half of 2009. That said, Israeli art can only
demand modest prices, as recent auctions in Tel Aviv and London
exemplify. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a glass ceiling in Israeli art,
unfortunately...contemporary artists cannot obtain above 鈧�50,000-60,000,
and I think it will take time for these prices to rise because the
market is still developing and opening,鈥� says Tel Aviv gallery owner
Shiri Benartzi. Currently,
Mordechai Ardon holds the Israeli art record with a hammer price of
$643,200 for
Timepecker. 
Israeli auction house Tiroche recently held a two-part Israeli and International Art sale on January 28th and February 4th to great success. Part A saw a 88% sell through rate, and of the 315 lots sold, 199 exceeded their high estimates. The realized prices were also optimistic, with the top three lots all going to Nahum Gutman for $178,250, $149,500 (pictured above), and $126,500. Another notable achievement was realized for Lesser Ury, whose Landscape sold for $74,750 (pictured left), nearly four times its estimate. Part B also reached a similarly high sell through rate, but with much tamer bids.
Still, there would appear to be a huge difference between the auctions
held abroad and those in Tel Aviv, at least when comparing Bonhams鈥� luck
to Tiroche鈥檚. Last year Bonhams teamed up with Tel Aviv auction house
Montefiore to sell items at its New Bond Street location. Their
latest
Israeli Art and Judaica sale on February 29th concluded with
less-than-successful results: of 119 lots offered, only 45 sold, mostly
within their estimates. The top bid went to modern Israeli artist Reuven
Rubin, atReuven Rubin " src="/Images/2012_03/14/10/102619923/33724a57-77a8-42ee-9303-95dcabf48e1a_273.Jpeg" /> 拢91,250 for
Les Oliviers (pictured right). From there prices dropped to 拢63,650 for
Jerusalem wedding by Huvy, then fell to the
拢30,000 level, and steadily decreased from that point. 鈥淭he Israeli
market is relatively small in numbers compared to the global market,鈥�
Benartzi explains. 鈥淚t is estimated to be $15 million a year, which can
be just one artwork sold in Sotheby鈥檚 in New York; but for us, we are a
relatively young country and our market is developing rather slowly.鈥�
Sotheby鈥檚 and Christie鈥檚 also conduct their annual Israeli art sales abroad in New York, where interest in Israeli artists seems to be growing. 鈥淲e are now in the position where we have Israeli artists who are participating in international exhibitions, like for example the Venice Biennial. We had two artists, one is Sigalit Landau and the other is Yael Bartana representing Poland, which I think was never heard of, and we are getting a lot of attention from the global art market into Israel,鈥� says Benartzi.
Benartzi and Aya Shoham
(pictured below right), co-owners of Art Station Gallery, have
established
ArtFI - the country鈥檚 first ever Fine Art and Finance Conference. As
gallery owners, they realized the need to expand the Israeli market and
further establish the nation鈥檚 art economy. 鈥淲hat we wanted to do is
open this market to new people and explain to them what the art market
is comprised of, who are the people working in it, tell them about the
financial power of artworks...We want to be the opening point for new
collectors, to be the place for knowledge for people who are already in
the market, and for people who work in this industry to learn about new
global tendencies, to learn from the most important professionals in the
art world.鈥� On the event鈥檚 roster are art market experts such as
Sotheby鈥檚 Saul Ingram, Senior Director, Head of Business Development in
Europe; the Mei/Moses Art Index founder, Prof. Michael Moses; and the
CEO of
Christie鈥檚 Israel, Roni Gilat-Baharaff.
In general, the Middle Eastern art market has enjoyed a boost in the last few years, with major collectors and philanthropists establishing new art fairs and museums in places like Dubai, and the recent revolutionary uprisings in several countries placing the media spotlight on the region鈥檚 artists. But can Israeli art be included in this genre, or does it thrive within its own bubble? 鈥淲e are not part of the Middle East market because we cannot participate in it, of course,鈥� explains Benartzi. 鈥淲e cannot go to Dubai, and including us in the 鈥淢iddle East鈥� is something for foreigners more than how we look at ourselves. But because there is a lot of interest in the Middle East, Israel is gaining from this rather larger interest.鈥�
Sigalit Landau, One man鈥檚 floor is another man鈥檚 feelings, Venice Biennial 2011, Israel Pavilion
Besides the regional tensions, what is it that sets Israeli art apart
from its neighbors or from Europe and the United States? 鈥淎ll of the
artists working in Israel have a lot of interesting things to say about
this place we live in, and if you would look at each and every [Israeli]
artist that works internationally, the thing that bothers them comes
from their background, this is the subject they are dealing with,鈥� says
Benartzi. Take for example Biennial artist
Yael Bartana: she created a film trilogy, inventing a story about a
new political movement calling Polish Jews back to their native Poland;
the rhetoric and themes mimic that of the early founders of the Israeli
state,
and the events of the final film use several symbols to reference
the murder and funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. 鈥淚f I would
compare art from other conflict areas, it鈥檚 much more 鈥渋n-your-face,鈥�
Benartzi comments. 鈥淚n Israeli art, you wouldn鈥檛 see it in the first
place, but then when you get in deeper and deeper into the subjects and
learn more about the artist, you鈥檇 be surprised to learn how much this
place impacts their work. So it鈥檚 not in-your-face, it鈥檚 much more
intelligent.鈥� (Above right: Yael Bartana, Film Still From Mur I
Wieza; Pioneers build a tongue-in-cheek Polish kibbutz, decorated
with the logo of the fictional Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland.)
Still, the art market in Israel has a long way to go to catch up to New York and London, and though the prices are rising, Benartzi is still amazed at the high quality artwork you can acquire at prices much lower than worldwide levels. 鈥淲e want to raise the interest from Israel and outside of Israel. We want to explain to people the benefits of art, and how important it is for us to have a strong culture and art in order to be a stronger nation... this is one fundamental of society and the strength of the society. You can see the new Tel Aviv Museum [expansion] and the renovation of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, they have unbelievable international collections at worldwide standards. We have a lot to be proud of, and we鈥檝e reached a point where its time to say we do have a strong art economy, look what we鈥檝e done here!鈥� That鈥檚 the goal of the conference, which opens March 21st and kicks off Tel Aviv鈥檚 . 鈥淎s opposed to everything that happens in Israel, we still have a very strong spirit and we manage to do something big that does not involve anything other than art and this is the biggest achievement,鈥� exclaims Benartzi.
Frame from DEADSEE (TIF #2) by Sigalit Landau
Written by 黑料不打烊 writer Joanna Bledsoe
