The Urban Art Market At-A-Glance
The word on the street: Urban Art is making a scene in the art world, with works by top artists exceeding expectations on the auction house floor.
Lauren Meir / MutualArt
Jan 19, 2011
The word on the street: Urban Art is making a scene in the art world, with works by top artists exceeding expectations on the auction house floor. “Street art is art at its most accessible available in the public arena for universal appreciation,” explained Bonham’s Urban Art Specialist Gareth Williams, in a recent interview with MutualArt.com. “However, by definition it is also an ephemeral art form, disappearing as quickly as it appears. Urban art is an attempt to redress this by leaving a more permanent legacy.”
Once only available temporally and largely neglected by big collectors, this “Cinderella story” art form can now be found gracing the walls of high-end museums, galleries, and art institutions...even the White House.
And despite the financial crisis of 2009, this relatively new genre continues to show promise in the art market, with strong sales across the globe. Case in point: Last week’s successful Urban Art Sale at Bonham’s New Bond Street totalled 455,760 GBP, with 29 of the 67 lots sold above their high estimates, with street art stars Banksy and Shepard Fairey being amongst the biggest winners. The impressive sale results (92% selling rate by value) has once again put the spotlight on both emerging and renown artists in the urban art sphere.
Perhaps the success of the sale was of little surprise to Bonham’s, as the prestigious auction house is credited with being one of the first to devote an entire sale to Urban Art in 2008. “We started offering Urban Art in our Contemporary Art auctions roughly eight years ago, largely based on our belief in the individual works and also on our instinct that the market would respond well,” said Williams. Those assumptions proved to be correct, as both the demand for Urban Art - and the prices realized at auctions - consistently rose with each sale.
Shepard Fairey Lots Faired Well:
Left: Peace Goddess on Wood, 2008, 145.5 x 111.5cm, UV cured ink on maple
Right: Change, 2008, 100 x 63cm, Screenprint
When Bonham’s held its first Urban Art Sale in 2008, the enthusiasm for the art form was astounding: “The response was phenomenal, both in terms of the prices realized, the interest shown by our clients and the global media coverage,” Williams stated. Indeed, the 60-lot sale was nothing short of a smashing success, realizing an impressive 1.27 million GBP , with only 3 lots failing to sell. As Williams observed, “The sale was an important milestone in the sense that it brought the subject to a wider audience and has encouraged debate about the medium.”
Two years later, Bonham’s has again demonstrated the staying power of Urban Art with last Tuesday’s sale. Works by the elusive Banksy were in high demand, with Save or Delete Jungle Book (image at top of article) fetching an impressive 78,000 GBP, and his Portrait of an Artist realizing 60,000 GBP; while lot 45’s humorously titled everytime I make love to you I think of someone else sold for 42,000 GBP, surpassing it’s high estimate. Showcasing at lot 7 was Ben Eine’s colorful Circus A-Z, selling for three times it’s high estimate at 6,600 GBP. The hoodlum-turned-street artist recently gained notoriety when one of his works -TWENTYFIRSTCENTURYCITY - was given as a gift by UK Prime Minister David Cameron to US president Barrack Obama (Cameron’s wife is purportedly an Eine fan).
Williams was especially proud of the Untitled work by Futura 2000, saying “the 38,400 GBP achieved for this historically important work justifiably signifies a re-appraisal of graffiti art.” The Urban Arts Specialist also mentioned Fairey’s Peace Goddess on wood, featured on the Bonham’s catalogue cover and selling for a strong 27,600 GBP, eclipsing any of the artist’s previous results at auction. Fairey’s iconic Barrack Obama Change poster also surpassed predictions when it grabbed a hefty 4,560 GBP, more than triple its predicted high.
Futura 2000, Untitled, circa 1983
123 x 244cm
Spray paint on board
But why has this often controversial art form gained so much popularity in recent years? According to Williams, “Urban Art has captured the popular imagination. You only have to look at the queues at the Banksy exhibition at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, or the popularity of Tate Modern's 'Street Art' show as evidence of this. Jeffrey Deitch’s forthcoming ‘Art of the Streets’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles would have been inconceivable five years ago.” Now, projects like these are springing up in a variety of spaces across the globe.
Interest in the genre with regards to the art world continues to grow, especially with the advent of several documentaries on Urban Art, such as Banksy’s 2010 Exit Through the Gift Shop (the emperor is naked) - which has caused quite a stir in the media, and gives some insight into the street art scene. But of course, no art form is free from criticism, and Urban Art is no exception. “I think some critics have been quick to dismiss this popularity, partly because this area has become so successful so quickly, and has transformed the perception of what can now be classified as art,” Williams said. There is also a different kind of backlash, coming from some of the artists themselves, including Banksy, who wrote on his website, "I don't agree with auction houses selling street art - it's undemocratic, it glorifies greed and I never see any of the money." Williams disagrees. "It's the market that disagrees with it staying on the streets. The art-buying public wants to own it."
Whether or not it’s permissible to sell art originating from the streets that inspired it is still under debate. Regardless, Urban Art has become a hot commodity, and the demand for these works continues to rise. As Williams points out - especially in reference to last week’s sale results - there is longevity in the market, and Bonham’s will continue to invest in this arena. So far Williams’ predictions have been right-on: Just two years after the explosive 2008 sale, Williams' comments about Urban Art still ring true. “By transposing their images from street wall to canvas, urban artists are now creating a permanent legacy without compromising the vitality of their art form and it is these works which are currently taking the market by storm."
Written by MutualArt writer Lauren Meir
