translated by Giorgina Arcuri

If quotations for contemporary art still do not seem to present symptoms of a crisis, those relative to the modern sector actually seem to be going through a moment of settlement.
The first signs of a change of course were observed in November 2007, when “The Fields (Wheat Fields)” by Vincent Van Gogh, auctioned by Sotheby’s New York, was withdrawn because it did not even reach its lowest estimate, which was 28 million dollars. In the same evening also “Te poipoi (Le matin)” realized by Paul Gaughin in 1892, was a disappointment. Experts expected it to achieve more than 60 million dollars, whereas it fetched slightly more than 39 million dollars.
Unfortunately, even the last spring season of auctions dedicated to modern art in the Big Apple made doubts and fears reappear. Indeed, if on 6th May 2008 various records were set at Christie’s, such as the record for Claude Monet, who achieved 41.48 million dollars with Le Pont du Chemin de fer à Argenteuil”, other works by the French author and by Pablo Picasso, Paul Gaughin and Henri Matisse, who had been for years the favourites on the market, hardly exceeded their lowest estimates or were even left unsold. It is too soon to analyze what has happened. It could be an effect of the economic crisis, of a change of taste, of a price adaptation. Perhaps the future will reveal the truth. At the moment we can only state that the first signs of crisis of the art market are affecting mainly the modern sector, because apparently it does not reflect as it used to the aesthetic taste of collectors. However, almost certainly the problem is much larger, and is connected to the international economic situation. Indeed, the first people to miss auctions were US citizens, penalized by the weakness of the dollar. On the other hand, purchases were made by Europeans, favoured by the exchange rate, and the new rich, that is Russian and Oriental collectors. Up to this point we have talked mainly about a market run by the great leading auction houses at worldwide level, which still propose an élite economic system, a sort of vicious cycle in which buyers believe that owning an expensive and high-quality work represents a status symbol and who, in order to belong to the society that counts, are even willing to fork out exorbitant amounts.
Luckily, the market is not only run by these colossi of art sales. If we analyze things carefully, we will notice that on a worldwide scale, there are different auction houses that in their own “small way” influence positively the economy of art, especially with regard to the modern sector.
An occasion to get to know this reality beyond the footlights will be on 3rd July at the Tajan. For this sale, the Paris auction house will offer the public in the auction room 208 lots, which will not stand out for great favourite names of the market, but for authors of modern art who have produced works of discrete artistic quality. Among the most interesting ones that will be auctioned, we should mention “Encriture Getuelle sur Fond Bleu” by French artist Gil Joseph Wolman, which will start with an initial estimate included between 20 and 30 thousand euros. Besides this beautiful canvas dominated by cold tones of blue, we must definitely point out “Paysage de Montmagny” (estimate 20-25 thousand euros) dated from 1907 by Maurice Utrillo, one of the few famous painters of Montmartre who became important in the history of art for his specialization in urban sceneries.
Collectors who are passionate of modern art will definitely have to pay particular attention to “Le Grandes Ventes”, an oil on canvas executed in 1924 by Robert Antoine Pinchon, which will start from a valuation of 20-25 thousand euros. Another unmissable work is “La Sortie de la Messe a Port Menech” by Emilio Grau Sala, presented with an estimate of 15-20 thousand euros, but also “Fete du 14 Juillet en Bretagne” by Ferdinand Loyen Du Puigaudeau, an oil on canvas estimated at  20-30 thousand euros.
Other lots worth pointing out are: the watercolour on paper entitled “Chebec et Vaisseau Encalmines” by Marin Marie (estimate 10-15 thousand euros); “La Vierge” by Charves Filiger (estimate 12-15 thousand euros); the oil on canvas dated from 1919, “Le Brejots”, by Armand Guillaumin (estimate 15-20 thousand euros) and an extraordinary painting by Henry Moreau executed in 1919, entitled “Le Jeune Artiste”, that will start from an estimate included between  8 and 10 thousand euros.