Bacon at the Frieze Art Fair

With the art market struggling just like any other market, art fairs are crucially important to the survival of art and the artists themselves. Auctions versus private sales and willingness to pay on behalf of collectors are deciding factor in this challenging art market considering that auction sales are down 70 to 80 percent and prices for works by major artists are down by half.

To the delight of art collectors and buyers alike, the prestigious Frieze Art Fair coming up. The largest art fair in Europe dedicated to contemporary space, 165 galleries will be looking forward to recession-proof collectors wanting to buy. London dealer and representative of Francis Bacon’s estate Gerard Faggionato will be putting Bacon’s “Study from the Human Body after Muybridge” up for sale at a price of $9 million, even though Bacon’s have been worth much more, this is still a very steep price for the state of the market.

Bacon became a symbol of excess in the art market before the market went downhill a year ago. The high point of the art collecting business came with Roman Abramovich’s purchase of a Bacon triptych for close to $90 million back in May 2008, even though the artist himself would’ve disagreed with such absurd pricing.

This year, Frieze is revamping with “Frame” consisting of 29 single-artist exhibitions from galleries that are less than six years old. This alternative could be better for collectors eager to sell as opposed to an auction which is flood by bargain-hunters. Bacons are expected to set the tone of the market once again at a quaint $9 million.

Via: Luxist