London Calling! Contemporary Art Strong……..

Much to the delight of artworld pundits, Contemporary Art has again defied prevailing economic conditions, as evidenced by Sotheby’s scaled-down Evening sale in London on February 5th.

Selling 25 of 27 lots for a grand total of nearly  £17.9 million ($25.8 million), against a total pre-sale estimate of £16.5-23.1 million, the auction house proved that great art is still viable, with seven works selling for over a million U.S. dollars. Key lots included those by perennial favorites Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Anish Kapoor, while a very recent, large white “infinity net” painting by Japanese superstar Yayoi Kusama (one of my favorite artists) sold for an impressive total of £217,250, against a pre-sale estimate of £150,000-200,000.

Following hot on the heels of Sotheby’s and Christie’s Impressionist and Modern sales earlier this week in London, which garnered an astronomical grand total of £95,993,050, Sotheby’s contemporary sale at once again underscored the real value of art as a spiritual balm in times of economic uncertainty, not to mention a perceptual safe harbor for those who seek a higher form of intellectual return on capital than can be garnered by investing in other roiling markets.

The next major test of the contemporary market, Christie’s highly-anticipated evening sale, will take place on February 11th in London.

My guess is that it, too, will confound the expectations of naysayers.