Christies and Sothebys have already locked on the basic conclusion that the money is to be made in South East Asia and for that reason they have Special Asian sales in New York, London, Hong Kong , Singapore and China itself,  in Bejieing and Shanghai.

These series of sales in New York include a little of everything with Christies having a whole week of sales, 14 17th September,  including good ceramics from China, art of old and new from Korea and Japan and important art from India.

Sothebys’s Indian Art sale is very good but Christies surpass that with a major Sayed Raza work estimated at two million plus dollars. There are less expensive works of these artists in the sales too.

Other artists to be included in the sales are Jamini Roy with sevaral pieces, Sadquain with several good examples, Sabavala, Souza with a few good examples, Arpita Singh, Jamil Naqsh with a Nude at 150,00 plus a lot others. Fida Husain is always a backbone to these sale with a number of pieces.

The sales of Indian art in New York are now established as a major art event and we get a lot of indicators from these sales as to where the market moves to and what to expect from the major sales in South East Asia itself.

We remain very positive on this section of the market and we see it climbing close to 10% annually as a whole and by a lot more for some artists.

Be back with a sales report and where exactly the market seems to be.

Peter Constant

Alternative investments are a reality and a good deversification in a good balanced portofolio. Stocks have proven to many that can go up in smoke and the paper they are printed on is not even fit for the bathroom at times and in many cases recently.

Art however is a different proposition. It’s up on the wall or floor, it looks at you and you look at it and it gives pleasure to have around your space. Art in most cases is not for the drawer but for the gratification of the owner and the spirit.

India and China are expected to show a good growth again this year as well as the following years and up to 2015. The 8-10%  general economic growth expected in these countries promises a similar if not better growth in the art markets of both countries.

The whole Chinese Art Market is expected to show about 50% growth within the next two years and around half a billion dollars from the present 330 million. A world economy on the move will see China benefiting more than any other nation and that means art prices will grow too.

India’s economy is growing fast. Domestic demand is growing at about 8.5 % and the services sector is booming. Art prices of the best Indian names are on the move and all looks set for a good sustainable growth for the foreseable future. If art a the pass-time of the rich then, India is the place with about 50% of all billionnaires in the world being Indian

The other economies in South Asia are also looking upwards and forward. Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and The Philippines will see their economies growing at roughly 6 -7%  annually, a growth which is feasible, is credible and might prove slightly conservative. Top art from these countries will benefit and the growth in the best artists from these economies will be close to 20% annually because artists are few and are rare.

All the evidence suggests a growth that should be looked into, a market that should be invested into in order to benefit from the upward trends evident already. We remain very positive about these markets and we advise investing in artists of these countries to deversify from shares and stocks.

We will report on the upcoming sales of South East Asian art coming up in the middle of the month.

Peter Constant

Shares have proven so elusive and so dangerous to many people, rich, very rich, fabulously wealthy. Cash money returns nearly nothing in the bank and thus…

We all scratch our heads and wonder what investment to trust and put our money into since GOLD is so expensive now!

So, which is the best investment for me, the amateur investor, the investor who has some money but knows nothing about investment and especially Alternative Investments, such as ART.

It is true that art in general had its best year in 2007 and then, like most investments, except GOLD, fell considerably. The two years in between 2007 to 2009 became healing/recovering years and art has recovered much of the ground lost then. Still about 10% down but it is recovering fast, teh Asian market is lifting the gloom and much better sales and figures are expeced this autumn.

The 2007  auction sales of about seven billion euros were followed by sales of roughly five billion in 2008-09 with 2010 expected to reach the seven billion once again. The Asian markets are contributing the general welfare of the market and with Germany on the recovery mode, with world top artists topping the charts, we expect all othr art will be positively influenced and move upwards.

We remain very positive in investments in art and we expect to see the market improving by 5-8% annually in 2011-2015. That is the cycle we have in mind, that is the period when Chinese sales for art will top easily the half billion euros from 300 million at the moment.

We  remain positive and recommend highly investments in artists from India, South East Asia and China. We do recommend  art investments in German, Russian and Greek art but South East asia will outperform all other markets particularly at all levels.

Peter Constant

My contacts in Athens were old and new and they were all after one thing and only one. Money from the English man. He is trustworthy, he stands by his word and No need to worry about him speaking to people and in the same social circles. Saving face in Athens is more important to making money and saving your skin.

Costas was an old acquaintance with a few connections here and there. On arrival to Athens in January 1989 he took me to the house of Doctor so and so. It was close to the centre of Athens and so no problems in getting there on foot and within a short time. Making a couple of hundred pounds from a simple introduction was not a bad income rom him.

The doctor has lots of paintings, lots of furniture and carpets, Costas informed me. He wants to sell things as he has retired and the family is a little short of money.

It was exciting to hear Costas explaining to me things but he knew nothing about paintings nor antiques. He knew that the apartment of the doctor was full of big and small paintings, furniture, vases, carpets and more but……

How good were they? How valuable were they?

It was early morning when we rang the bell of the doctor’s apartment anxious and eager to see new things and hopefully acquire a bargain. The old gentleman welcomed us in and we sat down to a tea. That was unusual for Athens but then again, this was not a usual family. It was a doctor’s family, who made their fortune in Egypt, they were kicked out of Egypt by Nasser in the fifties and they returned to Athens with all their belongings from there for good. The Greeks of Cairo were sophisticated, very well educated and they had class and knowledge. Art was one of their major interests.

The walls were packed with beatiful paintings, the huge appartment full of antiques furniture, vases and all sorts of ornaments and beautiful exquisite carpets. This was a museum of some quality but was there a painting I would fall for and wish to buy?

The conversation was polite, the doctor’s wife asked discreed questions and became clear to me that the doctor made the decisions and the lady signed them. It was a matter of social status and domestic arrangement with the old couple.

We want to sell a couple of things if the price is right, they declared honestly!

Soon enough we made the rounds of the apartment. Paintings all over the walls with a strong French influence. The old lady described some of them and on we went viewing the lot of them plus the furniture and the carpets, the vases, the plates, the silver and so much more.

My interest was in the paintings and in particular the Greek ones. Nevertheless, I saw everything, I looked and lsiutened carefully to all the info the lady provided for me. The paintings were impressive Pussins, exquisite old masters and among all a beautiful Hamam scene in an impressive frame with Ralli incribed on it.

 I knew my resources and already I knew what I wanted to buy.  I had No experience of this sort of buying and I did not know how to put my case forward. There were so many paintings, there were so many other interesting small things but still I could not get away from the Hamam picture hanging in the middle of the back wall in the most prominent position in the sitting room, close to a painting of a Madonna And A Child. The most important painting for me stood out by far.

 Back to the niceties of  Greek conversation, back to tea talk and I am sitting on coal, dying to hear about the Ralli painting and their demands. I was taken by the old, dirty, well framed picture. It was indeed what the market wanted at that moment and time. I could not hold any longer and ,….. I had to declare my interest and play with an open hand of cards.

How amateurish was that?

I am interested in that painting only,  pointing simultaneously to the Theodore Ralli painting with the beautiful Victorian frame and the glorious hamam scene with three odalisques and their slave in the bath rooms.

Indeed a beautiful picture in original untouched condition!!

Taken by it, pulled to it, magnetised by it!!

Sothebys had a Russian sale in March 1989. Just nine months after that purchase of Exter of mine and there were a couple of Exter paintings in their sale. The estimates were dizzying and I was hoping they sold and sold well as if they belonged to me.

Well, I was expecting good results but not the ones that followed for the net few months and year. The Sothebys sale was a tremendous success with the abstract Exter selling for 900,000 pounds. I went crazy with the thought that I made the best investment I had ever made just a few months ago. Christies had a couple of very high results too, including one of 600,000.

The dreams were streaming in my head but ….

Did they prove just DREAMS?

I felt I should show my property to experts too. After all, few people saw the painting I bought in Paris some months ago. Their estimates about the painting were so disappointing for me. Maximum 10,000-15,000 pounds. I had an offer to sell at 25,000 from a private gallery in late November of 1988 , which I rejected outright.

So, why the low estimate? Apparently my property by Exter was a painting of 1925 rather than early teens and between 1910-1922, when Exter was working in Russia and in better, more desired styles. That was education for me but, I was not to allow opinions to derail my dreams, was I?

NO history, no literature on the painting and so, I must have something made myself for the painting to be more valuable and more saleable!

Any painting of serious value must have a good

1. Provenance, which this painting had
2. Literature, which the painting did not have
3. Exhibition history, which the painting did not have

As far as I was concerned the painting was of excellent quality, had very good value but it did not possess all the elements to make it a great painting and much more desired.

 How could I work on the two areas the painting was lacking, literature and exhibitions, in order to enhance its importance and thus its value.

 I was deep in the art business and if I did not know how to swim through this enterprise of mine, I had to learn the hard way.

Things do happen, hen you make them happen! I was determined, I was hard working and I got on to making things happen for the best painting I have ever acquired!

Constant Art was to put Exter on the map or rather, Alexandra Exter was to put Constant Art on the map of art dealers with serious paintings!!

The Dyf  was up for sale. The porter held it high up in the middle of the saleroom. It looked so small, it looked disappointing from far away.

I have a lot of interest in this lot, went the auctioneer.

Great, I thought!

Three thousand pounds I am bid, he went on. Two hundred at a time and he made it four thousand pounds with two bidders in the room.  I was relieved. I was under no more pressure. That was my reserve. I was right up to that point.

Bidding War Is On

Nothing warned me of the events that were to unfold next. I have always wanted to witness one of my paintings getting hot and being the object of a bidding war between two potential buyers.

Was this the case with the Dyf?

A well dressed lady at the back of the room put her hand up and left it up. A telephone bidder was bidding too and the war of two hundred pounds at a time was on.

Five thousand pounds, smiled the auctioneer.

Five two, five four, six thousand pounds.

The hand was still up. The phone bidder was insistent.  I was so engrossed, I was so involved, that I forgot I was the beneficiary of this bidding war.

Six thousand and two hundred, six four, six eight, seven thousand

Seven, I have and still the hand of the well dressed lady up and the phone still bidding.

Go on guys, go on. I was breathing fast but it was breathing of thrill and joy.

Seven thousand, seven two, seven eight, eight thousand.

Push it on guys. Make my day and my year. Go on man!

Eight thousand to you on the phone, eight two to you madam.

One more on the phone and yes, one more. Youppy!

Eight thousand eight hundred to you madam; The hand went up and there was no more from the phone.

The Dyf sold for 8,800 pounds!

What a result, what a sale and what a bidding duel that brought smiles and joy to my heart and my pocket!

That was not expected but how could I know that two months later Dyf paintings similar to mine would be selling for fifteen thousand pounds at Sothebys and Christies?

Stacy Marcks bought the painting as I learned later.

The new season of 1988-89 started in the most auspicious way.

Would it end like that?

Dyf was the hottest property of that season. A 400% profit over two months made this painting one of the best purchase I have ever made. Making about 5,500 pounds within three months from just one investment was great. It was miraculous but …….

I kept reading of much better miracles of other dealers and I was hoping for one myself, even though I knew I was not such a good, knowledgeable dealer.

I got involved in the art world at the right time. Prices were low, auction rooms were not well known to all people and so few bought and sold art thirty years ago. The internet was unheard of and so all the business was done through word of mouth and catalogues. Being at auction and visiting auctions was primary and extremely rewarding.

London is a big place and in those days it had small auctions here and there, where one could buy good quality items at a discount and a good discount for that, provided you knew your business well. Among the small auctions I frequented and I bought many items from was Phillips on Marylebone Road. This room was mannned by a few people who knew very little about art and sold whatever came their way for next to nothing. Really cheap and real good value for money.

I bought great looking paintings from them with very little money and I still own many of those, because they are good but I know nothing about the artist and so, I refuse to sell. Some of the ones I sold I regret, and this story is even more painful to me than many others.

I cannot remember exactly the year but it must have been 1986 or 1987 in these Phillips rooms. The work was a sketchy drawing of a ship in distress but to me it was  very clear who by:

                                                                Ivan Aivazovsky

The most important and most famous Russian Marine artist. The drawing was clearly signed to those who knew his work and I did happen to have seen several of his paintings. I needed no research, I needed no prices at the estimate of 30-50 pounds.

I was hoping to be lucky and buy it cheap because nobody else recognised it. On the day I paid 75.00 pounds which was great. I was over the moon but not impressed as the drawing was small, dark and just wash. Masterly of course but I ….

I liked pretty, colourful things. So, No wait, No thinking for the future and a few months later the drawing sold for 750.00 pounds at Sothebys as by Ivan Aivazovsky. For 1987 that amount and that return was great. How can a tenfold return being sneered at?  How could I be unhappy about such an event?

I was absolutely thrilled with the result. My horizons and expectations were in percentage terms 100-200% percent. To get 600-700% was fantastic ! But, why did I need to sell something that cost me so little?

The result was fantastic, it was great until just a few days ago.

The same drawing, the same drawing that I sold through Sothebys appeared in a Russian sale at Sothebys again  this May or june . Hold your breath readers,

  It sold for 33,000 pounds inclusive of commissions. That just turned my head, it spinned and saddened me enormously. I was supposed to know and I knew. However, to anticipate about thirty times appreciation in about twenty-three years, I did not.

It was not the only mistake I made with Russian works of art but this one was the second biggest! I shall come to the biggest one in the next few months.

I learned things in this trade and one I am trying to adhere to now is,

Keep the good or a few of the good items for the future! It is always good to know that you own a work by a big master!

The last series of major sales in the world take place in London. It is traditionally top paintings from 1860 to today and this time round it will not be any different.

Sothebys and Christies have the market under control and their sales are of top quality. The world in general is finally settling down to business and we expect to see a very good reception of all sales and some records being broken. Buyers are already thronging in London but the most important ones are in Asia, Russia and America and they will be on their screens and phones.

Explosive prices we predict but,  will that be the case?

There are exceptional pieces in Modigliani, Manet, Monet, Derain and Matisse  plus Picasso but others will also bring to our attention their potential and value. These are exciting sales that will propel the market to another level and into the fall with a lot of confidence.

Sales Report

The Impressionist and Modern Paintings ales at Sothebys and Christies generated about three hundred millions pounds. That is a very good total with important paintings selling well and above expectations.

Christies raised 153 million for their evening sale and Sothebys raised 112 million pounds. Their day sales raised in total 39 million.

The major artists of world art sold very well with Picasso, Manet, Monet, Klimpt, Derain and Modigliani selling very well and still in big demand for anythng major and good.

Watch the market go up by a good percentage.

Peter Constant

Maddening traffic with non stopping horns hooting. Untold pollution chasing everybody out of Athens and filling your lungs with poison. Walking towards Plaka and the central market of Athens towards the gallery was a pleasure. I was an onlooker, I was a tourist on a sort of business trip. I admired the displays in the shop windows but I was more thinking of the gallery I was to see soon.

Peddlers screaming their heads off to sell. Crowds rushing to their business and I am watching, taking all in and thinking:

Do I want this? Can this be the place to make money?

Ten minutes walk it was? Perhaps less than that but soon enough I was there. Paintings outside, vases in the windows, furniture further in. It was one of those antique shops that sold everything; that did not bother me.

I walked in eagerly. Two sales sharks rushed to help me. I am just looking, I stated calmly and in a very indifferent way. I looked around, I took in the activity, I watched with curiosity the people buying and the boss in the shop. A middle aged man who spoke a little but all ran scared around him.

That was a messy shop but somehow it was run with military precision. The phones were ringing, the bike bells were loud outside but drowned under the heavy hooting of taxis and cars alike. What a mess!

It was the bazaar area of Athens!

The Galanis drawing was literally sitting on the floor of the shop. You could not miss it. Nothing else was near enough in quality to this painting/drawing.  It stood out and it called the viewer.

There is nothing else here! It’s just me! Lovely nude picture. Beautifully drawn, masterly coloured chalks and pastels. Galanis was a master of the Belle Epoch in Paris and this had all those attributes one would expect from such a work and period.

I circled it, I looked at it and then;

Good morning, can I help you? The husky hoarse voice of a man sounded behind me.

I am so and so. This is a lovely drawing , he added.

Yes, I like it, I responded coldly.

I am so and so from London.

What’s the cost?

This is a privately owned painting. They are asking for 1500.00 pounds. I believe it is worth every penny of it.

I remained silent! I kept looking and checking the painting’s frame and backboard. It was all genuine, old, non-trade.

It was a fair price but in Athens one needs to bargain, one needs to play the game of negotiation and mutual giving in of some ground.

The norm is to offer just about 50% of the asking price. I did not offer anything. I thanked the gallery owner and left. I was confident the painting would be there the following day. I needed to think over the possible purchase and my strategy in going about it. I am very slow in getting things done and thinking quickly is not my trademark. Slow as a donkey but…

Always getting there somehow!

This was the first time I was buying something from a private gallery as a business. It was serious money, it was a very good painting and all those factors had to be taken into account before my second visit to the gallery with the plan to buy the painting, there and then.

Pay 50% of the Actual Value

I was taken by the exquisite pastel drawing. It was a small gem, which I felt could sell for about 2000 pounds at auction in London. I could not afford to spend more than 1000.00 pounds. I had to be very strict with my purchases and how much I paid for them. It was a matter of survival, it was good business.

I slept over the issue of buying the Galanis pastel.  I gave it a good thought in the morning and by 12.00 I was in central Athens at the shop in Sophocleus Street. I had a little time for a chat but really, I was in a rush to buy and get back to London the following day. Time is money and for me it was indeed.

The owner recognised me and he immediately came to me. I was staright forward with him. I like the painting, I said, and I came to have a second look. I looked at it again and then without much hesitation I started baragaining.

What’s the last price on this?

I am not sure, he stated calmly, but we can ask. I am sure a 10% discount is in line.

I looked at him straight in the eye and …

I have very little time as I am going back to London tomorrow, which was true. I have 1000.00 in sterling for the painting. I can pay now, collect and go.

He screwed his eyes, he groaned a little and then,

Let me make a call, please.

The call was made, the conversation was over and he was back with m soon.

Are you paying in pounds? Yes, I said.

It’s a deal, he declared smiling.

Well, well, well! I did not expect it to be so easy but I was happy. I was very happy with my new purchase. Reward for the trip, I guessed.

The painting was wrapped, I paid for it and I was on my way out of the shop, when the owner asked me,

Can I ask for a big favour, if you allow me?

Yes, by any means, if I can help.

Help if you can and it nearly always benefit you too!

I need a check of three hundred pounds for something I am buying in London. Can you help me?

But of course, I replied. No problem. I wrote the check and he was ready to give me the equivalent in drachmas.

No, no need for that, I said. Next time I visit Athens I might buy something else from you to settle this.

He was gob -smacked, by my remark. He took his glasses of,  he looked at me for a few seconds and then he declared shakily:

Listen, he said. I have been in this business for thirty years. Nobody ever gave me money without a guarantee. My shop is yours from now on. Anything you buy, take it and go. You can pay me anytime you want and can.

What a turning point and what an event!  It is twenty –three years since then but it is so fresh in my mind.

I made a valuable friend, who stood by his word and our business relationship was one of gentlemen helping each other.

Buy privately but know your business!

I wasted no time with the Galanis pastel. Sell and reinvest was the idea. I entered it for sale at Sothebys immediately I was back from Athens. The pastel sold for 2500 pounds in the Impressionists secondary sale in February 2008.

Doubling my money within four months was super and I was ready for some more investments.

Could I buy something special?

The 1987 stocks crash was still reverberating and taking its toll in all areas of economic activity and art was No exception. There were opportunities but not the one I was looking for!

Will I get one chance to invest big in order to have big retruns?

Promises That Are Not Kept Makes Auctions Look Untrustworthy

There are three international auctions in the world, Sothebys, Christies and Bonhams. They built their reputation over two hundred and fifty years and they are still going.

                                                  Reputable, trustworthy and reliable!

New auctions mushroom all over the world and one should be careful who they are dealing with when selling  or buying. We hope to offer such advice to the public as part of our site and service.

Our experience tells us many unsavory things about the auction business and their practices. However, they serve a purpose and one has to take them  as they come and especially when they are major auctions and they have the client base to do a good job for you.

Psatharis Auctions came to our attention accidentally and we trusted them with some of our property. On three different occasions they promised to include paintings in their small auction but they broke their promises with excuses that do not stand scrutiny. They sold a few paintings for us too with no problems.

The latest broken promises were so crude and unprofessional that we severed any links with them immediately.

Greeksinart is a site that sells and buys paintings but we also serve the public with advice on what to buy and sell and how. We advertise the good work of auctions but we cannot keep quiet about the wrongs in any business and that includes Psatharis Auctions, a small auction business in Cyprus.

Psatharis Auctions:

Promised to include a painting in their auction of May 2010. Emails to that effect were exchanged and phone agreement was made. Do they know what a gentleman’s agreement is ?

Shipped the painting to them at a cost.

Received the painting and liked  the work and all was as agreed via email for the inclusion of the painting in the sale.

Catalogue out on net and the painting was not included in the sale. No reasons or explanations were offered and never informed about it.

Emails to find out why the painting was not to be offered remained unanswered for weeks.

No contracts of receipt of painting to this day. No contract of sale of another painting and No catalogue of the sale ever sent.

Threatened them that the paintings were stolen and the police would get involved unless I heard from them.

They called me over the phone to say that all was well and a contract and catalogue was to be sent. To this day nothing arrived.

We do wonder and do ask ourselves:

Can an auction acting in such manner be trusted with anything?

We act in the public interest, not ours, with No malice and NO Prejudice!

Peter Constant