“In Belgium, the auction market showed good results” – Kommersant FM

Kommersant FM columnist Dmitry Butkevich talks about the results with which the Belgian auction business ends the year.

I am always interested in the art market, so to speak, on the margins, who have neither outstanding results nor famous auction structures, but nevertheless show some local successes. For example, the Belgian auction business.

International experts note that in Belgium the art auction market has shown no signs of contraction this year and has even performed well through houses such as De Vuyst, Piasa Bruxelles, Louiza Auktion, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr Bruxelles and Horta, which together brought more than 60% of the auction turnover in the country.

The famous surrealist Rene Magritte is one of the most popular and expensive artists on the international market. At auction, his annual turnover has tripled in 10 years, and he is now one of the ten best-selling artists in the world.

Unfortunately, this excellent market success does little for his native Belgium; the paintings are listed on the markets of London, Paris, New York and even Hong Kong, noticeably ahead of Brussels.

Among his seven most expensive paintings sold this year (they fetched prices ranging from $10 million to $42 million), none were sold in Brussels, Antwerp or Lokeren, Belgium’s three main art markets.

The country generates just $55 million to $65 million each year from the art market, and the sale of one or two major Magritte paintings could double overall auction turnover.

Surprisingly, the most popular artist in Belgium this year was the Frenchman Richard Orlinsky. This sculptor creates series of animal figures (crocodiles, panthers, gorillas, elephants), as well as images taken from pop culture (Mickey Mouse, Superman, King Kong). One of the gorillas sold for $1 million this year.

Living Belgian authors cannot boast of such results:

$95.72 thousand, Henri Van De Velde at the De Vuyst house in Lokeren; $83 thousand, Francis Alice at Native Auctions in Brussels; $61 thousand, Koen Vanmechelen at Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr in Brussels; $45 thousand, Philippe Vandenberg at Carlo Bonte Auctions in Bruges.