Art sales remain healthy because the ranks of buyers are increasing, Mr. Murphy said. More people are interested in collecting, while existing collectors continue to buy. Last year, one quarter of Christie's buyers were new clients, almost half of them from Europe and the U.S.

"I don't think it's investors who are shifting to art as an asset class," he said. "These are people in their 40s and 50s who have come into wealth and are looking to collect."

Christie's, which was founded in 1766 in London and is now owned by French businessman François Pinault, sold $5.7 billion of collectibles last year, an increase of 14% from the prior year. Of that total, $4.9 billion was sold by public auction and the remaining $808.6 million through private sales.

Mr. Murphy said the company increased its private sales last year by 50% and hopes to grow them this year by 20%. Private sales are primed for growth, he said, because Christie's draws on its base of collectors. "Our clients were already selling privately and spending elsewhere," he said. "Now, we're getting into it."

Art buyers in China have recently come under scrutiny, as the government probes whether they have dodged taxes by under-declaring the value of art purchased abroad and brought into the country. Mr. Murphy said he hasn't seen a decline in Chinese bids as a result of the investigation, which Christie's and other auction houses have cooperated with. "We were watching for an effect, and we haven't seen it so far," he said.

Following stints as CEO and president of publisher Rodale Inc. and president of EMI Music/Angel Records, Mr. Murphy took the helm at Christie's in 2010. The company is investing heavily in technology, and he said he envisions a "seamless experience" for customers, with information about items, bids and orders available in real time via mobile devices.

This will become more important, he said, as sales of art priced under $1 million increasingly migrate online. "We need to be innovators with technology," he said. "Why would it be any different for art than it was in music and publishing?"

Contemporary art market only 5% below previous peak in May 2008.

The overall auction total for the three Post-war and Contemporary Evening sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips de Pury came to an impressive $633,795,000 against a pre-sale estimate of $528,550,000 - $740,070,000. This was the second highest Post-war and Contemporary Evening sales total ever, and came in 37% higher than May 2011 and 14% more than November 2011.

The average auction price for the three sales was $4,559,676, which is the highest average price achieved for a New York Contemporary Evening sale, and was 24% higher than the peak of the market in May 2008.

Content:
-  Overall Auction Sales Volume: 2006 - 2012
-  Volume by Auction House (Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips de Pury):  2006 -2012
-  Average Auction Price by auction house 2006 -2012
-  Auction Indicator by auction house (measuring the price-to-estimate ratio)
-  Top 10 lots
-  Top 10 surprises 

In this edition of the ArtTactic Podcast, Katya Kazakina, art market reporter for Bloomberg News, joins us to recap the May New York Contemporary auctions. First, Katya shares with us the market's reaction to Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" selling for a record $86.9 million. Then, she speculates on the reasons why the art market continues to thrive despite significant economic uncertainty, especially in Europe. Lastly, Katya details how the market responded to the plethora of works at auction by Gerhard Richter and Cindy Sherman, both of whom are the subject of recent major retrospectives.

Steinkamp, of Puerto Rico, said that he consigned his certificate for LeWitt's "Wall Drawing #448" to the Rhona Hoffman Gallery on March 31, 2008.
     According to his complaint, each certificate states, "This certification is the signature for the wall drawing and must accompany the wall drawing if it is sold or otherwise transferred."
     Steinkamp claims the Hoffman Gallery signed a consignment agreement making it liable for all loss, damage or deterioration, before reporting in early 2011 that the certificate was "lost and irretrievable."
     Steinkamp says he wrote to the gallery in January this year, urging it to "bring closure" to the "missing certificate issue," only to be told that its insurer would not cover the "mysterious disappearance" of the certificate.
     According to the complaint, gallery owner Rhona Hoffman added, "'I would have to make a police claim but in order to do that I would have to lie about the timing and I don't like doing that. It has been too long to call the cops but we are checking.'"
     The complaint continues: "Admitting her fault and legal responsibility, defendant Hoffman requested from plaintiff the 'smallest amount' he 'would accept,' acknowledging that 'if worse comes to worse' she 'will have to pay' plaintiff 'cash.'"
     Steinkamp says: "The original certificate, issued and signed by the artist who is now deceased, is a unique and irreplaceable document that cannot be generated anew or replaced. There is no substitute for the original certificate entrusted to the care, custody, and control of the defendants.
     "The original certificate is required for the sale of the wall drawing."
     Steinkamp seeks at least $350,000 for breach of contract, breach of bailment, negligence and conversion.

Babe Ruth equals big bucks.

A baseball jersey worn by The Bambino sold for more than $4.4 million Sunday, a record for any item of sports memorabilia, according to the buyer and seller.

SCP Auctions, based in California, said the circa 1920 New York Yankees uniform top is the earliest known jersey worn by Ruth and it fetched $4,415,658 at the company's April auction, which ended Sunday. That price broke the previous record of $4,338,500 set in 2010 for James Naismith's founding rules of basketball.

This circa 1920 New York Yankees baseball jersey worn by Babe Ruth sold for more than $4.4 million at auction Sunday. Lelands.com said it submitted the winning bid for the jersey, which had been displayed for years at The Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore. The road top has "New York" written across the front and the Hall of Fame slugger wore it shortly after he was sold to the Yankees by the Boston Red Sox for $100,000 following the 1919 season.

Suzan French, a spokeswoman for Lelands.com, said the company plans to sell the jersey privately rather than re-auction it.

"Such a spectacular piece will find a home with one of our private clients who truly appreciates its historic significance," Lelands.com president Michael Heffner said in a statement.

Ruth retired in 1935 with 714 home runs, the major league record for nearly 40 years. Hank Aaron broke that mark and then was passed by Barry Bonds, who finished with 762.

In addition, Ruth's 1934 New York Yankees cap that was owned by former major league pitcher David Wells sold for $537,278 at auction. The colorful Wells bought the cap for about $30,000 from a collector and famously paid homage to his idol by wearing it on the mound with the Yankees during a game on June 28, 1997.

Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor's New York Giants Super Bowl ring from the 1990 season went for $230,401.

Those items also set records, for a baseball cap and a Super Bowl ring, SCP Auctions said.

"This proves again that Babe Ruth is 'king' in the sports memorabilia world," SCP Auctions president David Kohler said in a statement.

Also included in the auction was the high-end baseball card collection belonging to former big league All-Star Dmitri Young. Top prices were a 1954 Hank Aaron rookie card ($537,954) and a 1955 Roberto Clemente rookie card ($432,690). The proceeds will help Young begin a foundation to help kids and student athletes near his home in Ventura County, Calif., SCP Auctions said.

Other auction highlights included:

•  1924-28 Babe Ruth H&B professional model game-used bat ($591,007).

•  1968 Mickey Mantle autographed New York Yankees game-worn road jersey ($366,967).

•  Circa 1931 Lou Gehrig New York Yankees game-worn home jersey ($275,706).

•  Bobby Thomson's 1951 "Shot Heard 'Round the World" cap ($173,102).

•  Jackie Robinson 1950 All-Star game professional model bat ($133,234).

The Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) has issued the following document:

First Exposure Draft of proposed changes for the 2014-15 edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

This exposure draft includes:

• Proposed Retirement of STANDARDS 4 and 5 (including proposed edits to the Conduct section of the ETHICS RULE)
• Proposed Revisions to the DEFINITION of “Assignment Results”
• Proposed Revisions to the DEFINITION of “Report”
• Proposed Revisions to the RECORD KEEPING RULE
• Proposed Revisions to Scope of Work Acceptability section of the SCOPE OF WORK RULE
• Proposed Revisions to the DEFINITION of “Scope of Work” and the SCOPE OF WORK RULE
• Proposed DEFINITION of “Scope of Report” and SCOPE OF REPORT RULE
• Report Options (includes separate proposals for two report options, and for a single report option)
• Proposed Revisions to the COMPETENCY RULE
• Proposed Revisions to the PREAMBLE - When Do USPAP Rules and Standards Apply?

Link:  https://appraisalfoundation.sharefile.com/d/s06679aeff2d40dab
Issued on May 24, 2012
Written comments requested by July 6, 2012

Send Comments to ASBComments@appraisalfoundation.org

Nguyen defused the threat on Thursday in fascinating fashion. The judge agreed with lawyers for the auction houses (Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for Christie's; Morrison & Foerster and Weil, Gotshal & Manges for Sotheby's) that California's law violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution because it's an attempt by one state to control commerce outside of its borders. "Under its clear terms, the (Resale Royalties Act) regulates transactions occurring anywhere in the United States, so long as the seller resides in California. Even the artist -- the intended beneficiary of the CRRA -- does not have to be a citizen of, or reside in, California," Nguyen wrote. "For these reasons, the court finds that the (law) has the 'practical effect' of controlling commerce 'occurring wholly outside the boundaries' of California even though it may have some 'effects within the state.' Therefore, the (law) violates the Commerce Clause." (Skadden's Jason Russell made the Commerce Clause argument for the auction houses at oral arguments before Nguyen in March.)

The curious thing is that it took 35 years for the Resale Royalties Act to be struck down as unconstitutional. As Nguyen recounts in her ruling, California's legislative counsel wrote an opinion letter way back in the 1970s, when the state was drafting the law, noting that if California attempted to extend resale royalties to sales outside of the state, the act would be invalid under the Commerce Clause. (The state's concern, however, was that if it limited resale royalties to sales within the state, art dealers would stop doing business in California.) Though commentators on California's law often mentioned the Commerce Clause, defenses based on federal pre-emption and the Fifth Amendment's takings provision tended to get more attention.