Art Collecting When Money Is No Object

May 14, 2007 — -- The art world is expecting a new set of record-breaking purchases this week as auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's each hold major sales of contemporary art.

Once outcast to the sidelines of serious big-dollar collecting, contemporary art is now scorching hot as evidenced by the expectations of multimillion-dollar bidding this week.

A Mark Rothko painting is expected to fetch more than $40 million when it is put on the auction block at Sotheby's Tuesday night. The following evening, one of Andy Warhol's paintings could go for $35 million or more at Christie's.

The market has climbed at astronomical rates thanks to a new breed of younger, richer art buyers who are are willing to shell out big bucks to get the piece they want. The buying is fueled by super-rich Asians, Russians, Europeans and a crop of wealthy Americans who made billions in hedge funds and real estate.

"There's a huge amount of money around the world available at the moment. You've got a lot of newer collectors coming in who basically have the financial facility to win any bidding war," said Brett Gorvy, co-head of post-war and contemporary art for Christie's.

"It's been the last year and a half where we've seen staggering prices for the best work," Gorvy said.

Even the auction houses have had trouble predicting the supercharged bidding.

In November, Christie's offered a Clyfford Still painting that was estimated to bring in $5 million to $7 million. It sold for $21.3 million.

"That demonstrated the focus of collectors on the very, very best, and also the ability of collectors not to be held back by previous price structures," he said. "Basically, they are making the market and they are making it at auction."

The highlight of that Tuesday night sale at Sotheby's, which kicks off this season's frenzy, is expected to be the $40 million Rothko painting from the collection of David Rockefeller.

A work by Francis Bacon is expected to go for $30 million. Two Jackson Pollock paintings are expected to fetch $16 million to $25 million, and a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat is forecast to draw around $8 million.

That's $119 million for just five works.