Summer is Here!
Say good-bye to June gloom, and hello to sunshine! We are proud to announce that our firm has grown and our reach has expanded. In this issue we would like to introduce our new associates and welcome back a familiar face. We also recap the latest art market news and highlight upcoming events and exhibitions to view this summer.

As always, we want to thank you for your continued support and partnership. We are here to provide guidance and assistance as you make updates to your estate plan or insurance coverage, or just need an art-related resource. We have the tools and expertise to help. Contact us for guidance and referrals.

Warmly,
Andrea
Liza Hickey, ASA - Head of Appraisal Services
It is our pleasure to announce that Liza Hickey is joining the firm as Head of Appraisal Services. 

Liza is a specialist in antiques and decorative arts and is an Accredited Senior Appraiser, with the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). She has particular expertise in silver, ceramics, glass, and other functional artwork. She has worked in the personal property appraisal field since 2007 and has a Master's degree in Art History from Christie’s Education, London and the University of Glasgow. She has previously worked as a decorative arts specialist at her own firm, Applied Art Appraisals, and at Hobart Associates in San Francisco.

Jardine Gates, GIA G.G. - Appraisal Associate
We are so excited to have Jardine Gates back on our team!

Jardine returned from maternity leave in May. She had three beautiful, healthy triplet boys and can tackle any challenge!

She has been in the fine art and antique business for nearly a decade. Starting in the jewelry department, she has grown her skills to include fine art, mid-century art and design, 18th and 19th-century Continental design and furnishings, English and Mexican silver, luxury goods, art glass, and everything in between.
In 2019, she attained her Graduate Gemologist degree from the Gemological Institute of America. She previously worked at John Moran Auctioneers where she acquired knowledge in decorative art and jewelry cataloging.
Bianca Roth - Marketing Specialist and Project Manager
Bianca received a BFA from Chapman University Dodge School of Film and Television, while minoring in Creative and Cultural Industries.

Her professional journey began in the realm of media and production companies, where she worked as a Project Manager in marketing. She has grown our firm’s social media presence through her marketing strategies. She also works directly with our corporate clients to coordinate and execute our corporate art consulting and collection management projects.
Our Associates
Jennifer Wood, M.A. ASA - American and European Art
Jennifer is our associate in Southern California. She has been an appraiser for over fifteen years and is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) with a designation in Fine Art as well as in Antiques and Decorative Arts from the American Society of Appraisers. She received her M.A. in Art History from USC and a Certificate in Appraisal Studies in Fine and Decorative Arts from UC Irvine. She is a graduate of the Winter and Fall Institutes in American decorative arts at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware, the Attingham School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections in England, the Attingham Study Programme in Scotland, and the Victorian Society School in London.
Marsha Vargas Handley - Asian Art
Marsha Vargas Handley, ASA is an Accredited Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers in Asian Art for over forty years. She owned a retail Asian art gallery for over 42 years before closing Xanadu Gallery LLC in San Francisco, CA in 2015. She serves on the Board of Directors at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Society for Asian Art in San Francisco and has been President of the International Netsuke Society since 2009. She studied business and accounting before going to Asia in 1970 to teach and becoming interested in Asian antiques.
Tony Kitz - Oriental Carpets
Tony has made a name for himself as one of San Francisco’s premier vintage and contemporary carpet dealers, working with acclaimed interior designers and high profile collectors worldwide. Tony began his career working with antique carpet and textile dealer Baktari Gallery, where he was introduced to high quality rugs and quickly learned the tricks of the trade. After honing his eye for luxury home goods while managing Baktari Gallery’s Pacific Heights store and working with Peter Pap Oriental Rugs, he established Tony Kitz Gallery in 1994.

At his eponymous business, Tony showcases the highest quality collection of antique, vintage, and contemporary carpets sourced from Turkey, India, Nepal, Morocco, Afghanistan and beyond. Tony Kitz distinguishes himself from competitors with his breadth of knowledge, one-of-a-kind inventory, and unparalleled customer service.
Art Market News
Art Fairs

Frieze Art Fair, which coincided with the big New York auctions, had some good buzz with galleries in attendance from the U.S., Europe and beyond. The new venue at The Shed in Manhattan was smaller than the previous location at Randall’s Island, housing 68 galleries compared to over 100 in previous years at Randall’s Island. Frieze just signed 3 more years with The Shed so there are no immediate plans to move.
One of the most eye-catching spaces was Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s booth dedicated to feminist artists who were active during the Roe vs. Wade period in the 1970s, including works by Nancy Grossman (born 1940) and Betye Saar (born 1926).

A dominant theme among many vendors were booths devoted to a single artist. Gagosian focused on Nan Goldin with works priced between $65,000 and $95,000, bringing attention back to this very influential artist.
Nancy Grossman
Untitled, 1962
oil on canvas
Photo © michaelrosenfeldart.com
Robert Nava
Whispers of Insides, 2013
acrylic, crayon, and grease pencil on paper
Photo © pacegallery.com
Stephen Friedman Gallery devoted their space to Pam Glick, selling some paintings at $55,000 each.
 
Pace did a solo booth dedicated to Los Angeles based artist Robert Nava. Eleven works were pre-sold and others available at the fair for prices ranging between $30,000 and $80,000, a fraction of auction prices, which fetch as much as $500,000.

In many cases the prices for ultra-contemporary artists at auction has risen out of step with the prime gallery market because of the demand for their work.
Collectors who cannot get on a wait list at the gallery level are forced to compete at auction, resulting in soaring sale prices on the secondary market. This trend; however, appears to be cooling and some corrections are to be expected at both auction and gallery market levels.
Auctions
The auction market cooled off this spring. The nine art evening sales from Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips in May 2023 generated a hammer total of slightly over $1.23 Billion against a total presale estimate of $1.28 Billion. So they performed right up to their low estimates.

The appetite for risk was low. All three major houses made direct financial guarantees for 87 lots with a low estimate of $731 million, or 57% of the total presale low estimate of the $1.28 billion. The majority of the risk was farmed out to third-party financiers before auction. This suggests the internal expectations were more conservative than the public estimates.
Emma Webster,
Glen, 2021, oil on linen
Sold for $378,000 with premium
photo: © Christies.com
Canonical artists performed well, but demand for ultra-contemporary artists’ work is still strong.
Auctions dedicated to young artists like Christie’s 21st century evening sale boasted a hammer total 31.6% higher by value than its presale low estimate. This phenomenon also occurred at Sotheby’s and Phillips in their 21st century sales. Case in point are works by Louis Fratino, Daniel Mckinney, Emma Webster, Robin F. Williams, Justin Caguiat, Njideka Akuniyili-Crosby, Jadé Fadojutimi, Julien Nguyen, Angel Otero, Noah Davis, Portia Zvavahera, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Sanya Kantarovsky, and Caroline Walker, all selling on bids surpassing their high estimates.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
El Gran Espectáculo (The Nile), 1983
acrylic and oilstick on canvas mounted on wooden supports, in three parts
Sold for $67,110,000 including premium
Photo © christies.com
As expected, 30 of the 32 trophy lots also found buyers; however, 17 of the 30 that did sell only did so on the final bid beneath their presale low estimate. Nine others hammered within their expected range. Only 4 sold above their high estimate.
As expected, 30 of the 32 trophy lots also found buyers; however, 17 of the 30 that did sell only did so on the final bid beneath their presale low estimate. Nine others hammered within their expected range. Only 4 sold above their high estimate.
The top sellers were Basquiat’s El Gran Espectáculo (The Nile) 1983, hammered at $58 Million, above its estimate of $45 Million, and Gustav Klimt’s Insel im Attersee (Island in the Attersee) sold on a $46 million bid, slightly above its estimate of $45 Million. 
Notably absent were any works with 9 figure estimates. No marque Paul Allen or Macklowe sales this time around. Christie’s Basquiat $67 Million sale of a single lot sale accounted for over half of the total of that auction. It goes to show that one work can make a difference, yet it masks what is happening at lower levels.
 
The steep rise in interest rates and other intensifying macroeconomic headwinds impacted sales and contributed to a cooler market. Money is expensive and people are not so speculative. 
Gustav Klimt
Insel im Attersee (Island in the Attersee), 1901-02
oil on canvas
Sold for $53,188,500 including premium
Photo © sothebys.com
Plus, many of the candidates to acquire top trophy lots already own major works by some of the artists on this season’s marquee lots. In the end, buyers were choosy and we saw a season of mixed results. The market softened but it’s not on the verge of collapse.
Events and Exhibitions in the Bay Area and Beyond
Frank Bowling
Untitled (Mother's House), 1966
Photo © sfmoma.org
Frank Bowling: The New York Years, 1966-1975
SFMOMA: Now - September 10th, 2023

Discover the luminous and technically pioneering paintings made during Frank Bowling’s pivotal decade in New York, when he became a key actor in a vibrant art scene that transformed his practice.

Drawing from his own transnational journeys and connections, Bowling developed major bodies of work in New York including his oceanic “map paintings,” with hazy stencils of continents and silkscreened family photos.
The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England
Legion of Honor: Now - September 24, 2023

The exhibition follows the development of the arts in England from Henry VII’s seizure of the throne in 1485 to the death of his granddaughter Elizabeth I in 1603. The Tudor period in England saw the end of medieval feudalism, the rise of absolute monarchy, the English Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and the expansion of maritime trade.
Nicholas Hilliard, Queen Elizabeth (1533 - 1603)
Photo © famsf.org
Art and luxury goods were used to legitimize the Tudor dynasty and reinforce shifting religious and foreign policies. Including iconic portraits of England’s most enduring monarchs and lavish works of art in a variety of media, the exhibition traces the evolution of courtly taste in Tudor England, culminating in the distinctly English Elizabethan style.
Edo era artist (unsigned)
Memorial Portraits of Bando II, Nakamura Utaemon IV, Ichikawa Danjuro VIII, 1855
Photo © asianart.org
Hell: Arts of Asian Underworlds
Asian Art Museum: Now - Sept 18, 2023

Paintings, sculptures, maps, puppets, and religious objects from India, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines offer a colorful variety of visions of the underworld, ranging from the serious to the light-hearted.

The exhibition is organized as a journey: beginning at the gates of Hell,
the visitor passes through various conceptions of the underworld, finally arriving at depictions of the ways one might potentially make an escape or exit from Hell.
Marilyn Wong
Untitled, 2022
Photo © museumca.org
Into the Brightness: Artists from Creativity Explored, Creative Growth & Niad
Oakland Museum of California Art: Now - January 21, 2024

This exhibition celebrates myriad works from contemporary artists with developmental disabilities. From painting to sculpture to multimedia, these world-renowned artists are producing work of incredible power, exuberance, humor, complexity, and joy. Into the Brightness presents a variety of dynamic perspectives from the artists’ personal experiences of the world.
Lhola Amira: Facing the Future
De Young Museum: Now - December 3rd, 2023
This solo exhibition, the artist’s first in the United States, features the newly created, site-specific spiritual portal Philisa: Zinza Mphefumlo Wami (2022). Philisa are unique portals, sacred spaces for the cleansing of wounds, honoring ancestors, and fostering connection. Visitors are invited to enter this sacred grove with support for whatever may unfold. Also included is the single-channel video projection IRMANDADE: The Shape of Water in Pindorama (2018–2020), produced by the artist in Bahia, Brazil. The film documents the artist’s journey through the city, contemplating the wounds of the ocean, the land, and the descendants of enslaved Africans while offering gestures toward healing.
Lhola Amira
IRMANDADE: The Shape of Water in Pindorama (detail) 2018
Photo © famsf.org
Mercedes Dorame: Wosha'are Yaang'aro (Looking Back)
The Getty Center: Now – July 28, 2023

Los Angeles-based artist Mercedes Dorame’s work explores how we position ourselves in relation to the land we inhabit. For this new commission, Dorame was drawn to the view from the Getty Center across the Pacific Ocean to Pimugna, or Pimu (Catalina Island), long inhabited by the Tongva people. To conjure a return gaze from Pimugna, her installation includes painted views of the coastline and suspended sculptures of abalone—an endangered mollusk and important cultural resource for coastal California Native peoples.
Mercedes Dorame
(detail) 2023
Photo © getty.edu
Kerry James Marshall
Voyager, 1992
Photo © lacma.org
Afro-Atlantic Histories
LA County Museum of Art:
Now – Sept 10, 2023

Afro-Atlantic Histories charts the transatlantic slave trade and its legacies in the African diaspora. Through a series of dialogues across time, the exhibition features artworks produced in Africa, Europe, and the Americas in the last four centuries to reexamine—from a global perspective—histories and stories of enslavement, resilience, and the struggle for liberation.
The exhibition is organized around six groupings: Maps and Margins, Enslavements and Emancipations, Everyday Lives, Rites and Rhythms, Portraits, and Resistances and Activism. Each section considers the critical impact of the African diaspora reflected in historic and contemporary artworks.
Thank you for your support and partnership. Please visit our website for more information or to request a consult.