reporting on Miami Art Week

 

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Hi, it’s James Tarmy, the arts columnist (and other things columnist) at Pursuits. Today I’m writing from my very small, very overpriced hotel room in Miami, where I’ve been reporting on Miami Art Week, whose centerpiece is Art Basel Miami Beach. I go to a lot of art fairs. Each has its own flavor, which is very much the point. Dealers don’t schlep their art and employees around the world at great expense just to see the same collectors they always do. They’re showing up to meet new buyers—or remind old buyers they exist—on those people’s home turf. Waiting for the doors to open at Art Basel Miami Beach’s VIP day. Photographer: James Tarmy/Bloomberg And yet, whether in London, Paris, New York or Los Angeles, many art fair VIP days feature the same roving band of international art advisers and wealthy collectors who either don’t work or whose jobs allow them to take off a random weekday to buy art. I distinctly recall a few years ago at Frieze London when one exasperated New York dealer complained he’d only sold to his fellow New Yorkers.  But Art Basel Miami Beach is different. Yes, there are the same advisers and collectors as usual, but over the course of the fair they’re augmented by a vast crowd of people for whom art collecting is a novelty. These people aren’t hard to spot—they’re often more dressed up, probably more interested in taking selfies with art and perhaps slightly more effusive. (I heard one woman tell her friend that a perfectly nice, mid-tier painting was “a masterpiece.”) They also tend not to spend very much money, which makes sense given that it can be hard to go from zero to 60 in a single morning—especially when that’s $0 to $60,000. At the November New York auctions this year, the top 10 artworks totaled a somewhat disappointing $405.8 million. Source: Sotheby's These newbies are also excited in a way that veterans often aren’t, and the halo of that enthusiasm can have a lasting impact. I’ve met multiple people over the years who attribute the start of their art collecting to quasi-vacations with friends during Art Basel Miami Beach. Drawn to the parties and sunshine, they found themselves exhilarated by the act of acquiring art. To wit: Last night, I was seated next to a man who told me he first started collecting after attending the fair in 2016 on a whim—“I got home and realized it had made me so happy,” he said, and since then he hasn’t looked back. It’s people like that for whom the schlep to Miami is absolutely, unequivocally worthwhile. Connect with James via e-mail. Some great movies have come out just in time for a bitter winter. Eleven angry jurors—and one very nervous one, in Juror #2. Photographer: Claire Folger I’m in Miami, so I wouldn’t know anything about it, but I hear? It’s very cold? Sounds miserable. Anyway, here’s some stuff you can watch to avoid the bitter outdoors. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II Is Bigger and Messier Than the First It’s the rare sequel that matches the original in quality. Expectations for Wicked Were Impossibly High. It Soars Above Them In 2024, long-germinating film projects have been producing flop after flop. This one defies gravity. Clint Eastwood’s Latest Film Is Great. Shame Nobody Knows It Exists Objection, Your Honor, to the state of the movie industry. Juror #2 has all the elements of a box-office hit. Five New Movies About Family Drama This Fall Might Ease Your Own Five films to take in before the holidays begin. Korea’s Nearly Superhuman Sea Women Will Take Your Breath Away A new Apple TV+ documentary follows a dying breed of fierce septuagenarian sea divers and is poised to be the sleeper hit of the fall. Exhibitions you should see before they close: The good news is that it’s not too late. The bad news is that it will be soon. Do yourself a favor and go! “Lumen: The Art and Science of Light” at the Getty in Los Angeles: You have only a few more days to catch this superb and surprising deep dive into how Christian, Jewish and Muslim artists, scholars and theologians in the Middle Ages interpreted the science of light. It sounds dense but, it’s not—bring the whole family. Through Dec. 8 “Caillebotte Painting Men” at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris: Arguably the hottest museum ticket in Europe this fall, this exquisite and sweeping show proved that no matter how well-trodden an artistic period, there are still surprises and reappraisals to be found. Wait in line if you have to. It’s worth it. Through Jan. 19 “Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York: This isn’t a hidden gem, given it’s so full of them. But it’s absolutely the exhibition of the season, not just in New York but perhaps the world. So full of unprecedented loans you get jaded by the end, it’s a true blockbuster. Through Jan. 26 “The Atomic age: Artists put to the test of history” at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris: This fall had a bumper crop of superb exhibitions in Paris, and amid all the excitement, this colossal, thematic show somehow slipped under the radar, at least for a lot of international visitors. It shouldn’t have. Through Feb. 9 ’Tis the Season to Buy Stuff If, like me, you’re bad at giving presents and also hate to shop, Pursuits’ many gift ideas for the holiday season will prove a saving grace. Feel free to take all the credit.  Items from our ethical gift guide. Photographer: R Finds 100 Luxury Gifts That Are a Fresh Take on Classic Holiday Cheer This year give them a traditional gift with a fresh twist. Incredible Artisan Gifts You Don’t Have to Travel the World to Buy New online marketplaces offer one-of-a-kind gifts that make a big impact on local communities and small businesses. The Dozen New Baking Staples That Will Upgrade Your Holidays Here’s to making the most of holiday cookie season. The Ultimate British Holiday Shopping Guide Here are 14 top gifts in the UK, ranging in price from £13 to £79,000. Top Business Leaders Pick the Year’s 49 Best Books Our annual list of what powerful people found essential this year.

You had questions …

So here are some answers! Keep them coming for next week via our Bloomberg Pursuits Instagram and e-mail. Is the art market back? Man, I wish, if only so people would stop complaining. As it stands, though, it gives me no pleasure to report that the market still isn’t at the levels we saw two years ago. First let’s look at the most recent “mega” New York auctions, which totaled roughly $1.2 billion. That’s great! Except … they were down about 40% from a year earlier, by value. That’s not great. Would you pay $121 million for this? Source: Christie’s Or let’s look at art fairs: Dealers are selling art here in Miami, and did fairly well in Paris in October. It’s just that they’re not selling as much of it as they used to, and certainly not at prices they’d like. The market isn’t dead, in other words—it’s just not at levels that many participants would prefer to see. We do seem to be on the road to recovery, however: People are back at art fairs and excited, and auctions, modest as they might have been, exceeded expectations in several instances—a Magritte sold for $121 million! There’s cause for optimism if you look for it. Who are the hot artists right now? One of the problems with my Day 1 art fair reports is that I have all these fascinating conversations but can only include a line or two from the interview in the actual article. Such was the case with a wide-ranging talk I had with Matthew Newton, who’s an art advisory specialist at UBS for the bank’s wealthy clients. Do you know what’s hot? Bananas. Bananas and duct tape. Source: Sotheby’s One of the most interesting things he brought up (which I swiped at in my piece) is that there’s currently a lack of consensus about the next “hot” artist group. He put a positive spin on it: “The narrative of what is the most interesting contemporary art right now feels wide open,” Newton said. “I think that is a territory that is unclaimed, so to speak.” A less charitable angle is that the contemporary art market feels pretty directionless—there isn’t a certain aesthetic, or movement, or geographic area that people are pumped about. Or to put it even more simply: There aren’t reallllllly hot artists right now.  But this will almost certainly change, probably quite soon, so … watch this space, I guess. What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at Art Basel Miami? So, just to be clear, I think there’s a general perception that Art Basel Miami Beach is a “bacchanal” because people see party pictures of concerts and “activations” and various brand-sponsored events and assume it’s as Champagne-soaked and wild as it looks. There’s a lot of this. But it’s not all that. Source: WWD/WWD And I’m 100% sure that for some people (some very dedicated, much younger people) it absolutely is. For me, and for literally everyone I know who’s down here, this week is about work. There are absolutely parties and dinners and performances, and people definitely drink and dance and have fun, but no one is really letting loose in the way that I think it might look to people shivering at home in New York. Which is a long way of saying I haven’t seen anything that outlandish, though I admit that’s probably because I’m not looking for it.

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