How Italy’s Moribund Market Makes miart One of Europe’s ......—Chiara Zampetti Egidi Chiara...
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Sales & auctions questions? Contact Our Advisory Team General questions & feedback? Contact [email protected] Contact [email protected] Send us feedback COLLECTING Collecting on Artsy Collecting Resources About Artsy Auctions EDUCATION Education The Art Genome Project ABOUT ARTSY About Jobs Open Source Galleries A–Z Museums A–Z PARTNERING & PRESS Artsy for Galleries Artsy for Institutions (PDF) Press ! © 2015 Artsy Terms of Use Privacy Policy Security "#$ How Italy’s Moribund Market Makes miart One of Europe’s Most Exciting Fairs ARTSY EDITORIAL MAR 31ST, 2015 2:07 AM In 2014, the market for art and antiquities in Italy represented 0.8% of the global market for fine art and 2.5% of the European market, according to the latest TEFAF Art Market Report. The figures mark a decrease from the previous year when Italy represented 1% and 3% of the respective market segments. Interestingly, the contraction of the market is due, not to a reduction in transactions, but to a diminished marginal value of the works sold. In Italy, the majority of art sales take place on the low end of the market (€3,000–50,000). Auction houses do not play a particularly extensive role; galleries and private sales make up the majority of transactions. Also, imports and exports of art are very limited: 0% and 2% of the global art market, respectively. An analysis of those statistics could suggest that Italian collectors, especially big collectors, are not buying art anymore. However, those conclusions don’t exactly fit with what’s actually happening. Italian collectors still buy art and international collectors seek out the works of many Italian artists, but Italy has created a system such that wealthy collectors go and buy art abroad and keep it outside the country. A major deterrent to domestic collecting is the country’s heavy regulatory environment: a gallery must report each sale they make to the government and include the name of the buyer and price paid. The information is then checked against the level of taxes paid by the collector’s entire estate. In the past, art in Italy was often purchased with cash. But since 2012, all cash transactions (for art or any other goods) above €1000 have been banned in order to limit tax avoidance and money laundering. Moreover, Italy’s level of taxation on works of art is the highest in Europe, with Value Added Tax (VAT) on art purchases a whopping 22%. Permanently importing a work of art to Italy from a non-EU country is subject to a 10% VAT, again, the highest in the Euro Zone. There is also a risk of not being able to export what you bought in the country: obtaining export permits is a complicated process and the results are unpredictable. Any work which is over 50 years old must have an export licence, regardless of its value. In nearby France or in the UK the threshold for an export license being required is €150,000. What’s more, if the work is thought to be of national importance, it can be subjected to a permanent export ban, regardless of if the state is willing or able to purchase it, and thus lose a great part of its economic value in the international market. But, if doing business in Italy is so onerous, how did Milan’s fair for modern and contemporary art, miart, attract the dynamic international galleries it has for next week’s edition? When the 37-year-old curator Vincenzo de Bellis—the founder of Peep-Hole, a nonprofit space in Milan dedicated to emerging art—took the helm at miart in 2012, the fair was at what many saw as its low point with regard to quality. Around 100 galleries participated that year and only 12 of them weren’t Italian. Three years later, 72 of the 156 participating galleries are headed to Milan from abroad and represent some of the most dynamic emerging programs out there. If it’s true that collectors aren’t buying heavily in Italy, what’s driving those galleries to invest money and resources in miart? Some of them have an existing connection to the Italian market. Rebecca May Marston of London’s Limoncello Gallery notes that aside from the Neapolitan liquor that serves as their namesake, the gallery’s two Italian artists— Gabriele De Santis and Santo Tolone—and “heaps of great Italian clients” make the trip more than worthwhile. Jeanine Hofland, of the eponymous Amsterdam gallery—which previously participated in Italy’s other notable fair, Turin’s Artissima in 2011 and 2012—notes that the Milan fair has “regained a strong focus on international galleries and artists, which seemed for us a good reason to return to Italy.” She suggests that the gallery hopes “to find a stronger international group of collectors (being both Italian and foreign) at miart.” For many galleries, sales aren’t the greatest draw to miart. Significant hype has developed around the fair’s brand in only three short years since its curatorial revamp. It’s proving to attract a similar crowd of international curators, collectors, other art market players, and press as many of the other major fairs—but with booths that cost only a fraction of the price. Steve Pulimood of Room East, New York explains that it’s exciting to join the fair “not only because of the excellence of the young section, but also because of the leadership of de Bellis. Publications like Kaleidoscope and Mousse, and pioneering spaces like Peep-Hole and Gasconade add to the excitement of looking at contemporary art in Milan right now." It’s not as if sales are far from dealer’s minds. But in today’s market, certain fairs can be near equally worthwhile, whether its money or business cards that are immediately changing hands. Aside from collectors who, whether due to business conditions in a particular country or general proclivities, are slow to commit to a purchase, curators use fairs with ever-increasing frequency to select artists for museum shows or biennales. With attention flocking to the city this spring thanks to Expo Milano 2015 (which opens May 1st), international exposure at miart is likely to be at an all-time high. And anyhow, there were sales at miart in 2013 and 2014. In a recent interview (Il Giornale dell’Arte, March 2015), de Bellis said sales were up by 45% in comparison to the years before he took over. He added one important and telling caveat, however: that it is difficult to say exactly how much business was generated in total by the fair, because “almost all the transactions are completed once the fair is over.” This art-fair-as- showroom phenomenon is not concentrated solely on Italy; many fairs on the European continent have seen an increase in such reports of galleries that come to show their stock and conclude their sales once back in their own country. At miart, however, organizers have used that facet to place the focus on experimental presentations and, though it’s still early to say, have potentially opened up a new market in the process. —Chiara Zampetti Egidi Chiara Zampetti Egidi is the author of “Guida al Mercato dell’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea” (Skira 2014). 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How Italy’s Moribund Market Makes miart One ofEurope’s Most Exciting Fairs
ARTSY EDITORIALMAR 31ST, 2015 2:07 AM
In 2014, the market for art and antiquities in Italy represented 0.8% ofthe global market for fine art and 2.5% of the European market,according to the latest TEFAF Art Market Report. The figures mark adecrease from the previous year when Italy represented 1% and 3% of therespective market segments. Interestingly, the contraction of the market isdue, not to a reduction in transactions, but to a diminished marginalvalue of the works sold. In Italy, the majority of art sales take place on thelow end of the market (€3,000–50,000). Auction houses do not play aparticularly extensive role; galleries and private sales make up the majorityof transactions. Also, imports and exports of art are very limited: 0% and2% of the global art market, respectively.
An analysis of those statistics could suggest that Italian collectors,especially big collectors, are not buying art anymore. However, thoseconclusions don’t exactly fit with what’s actually happening. Italiancollectors still buy art and international collectors seek out the works ofmany Italian artists, but Italy has created a system such that wealthycollectors go and buy art abroad and keep it outside the country.
A major deterrent to domestic collecting is the country’s heavy regulatoryenvironment: a gallery must report each sale they make to thegovernment and include the name of the buyer and price paid. Theinformation is then checked against the level of taxes paid by thecollector’s entire estate. In the past, art in Italy was often purchased withcash. But since 2012, all cash transactions (for art or any other goods)above €1000 have been banned in order to limit tax avoidance andmoney laundering.
Moreover, Italy’s level of taxation on works of art is the highest inEurope, with Value Added Tax (VAT) on art purchases a whopping22%. Permanently importing a work of art to Italy from a non-EUcountry is subject to a 10% VAT, again, the highest in the Euro Zone.There is also a risk of not being able to export what you bought in thecountry: obtaining export permits is a complicated process and the resultsare unpredictable. Any work which is over 50 years old must have anexport licence, regardless of its value. In nearby France or in the UK thethreshold for an export license being required is €150,000. What’s more,if the work is thought to be of national importance, it can be subjected toa permanent export ban, regardless of if the state is willing or able topurchase it, and thus lose a great part of its economic value in theinternational market.
But, if doing business in Italy is so onerous, how did Milan’s fair formodern and contemporary art, miart, attract the dynamic internationalgalleries it has for next week’s edition? When the 37-year-old curatorVincenzo de Bellis—the founder of Peep-Hole, a nonprofit space inMilan dedicated to emerging art—took the helm at miart in 2012, thefair was at what many saw as its low point with regard to quality. Around100 galleries participated that year and only 12 of them weren’t Italian.Three years later, 72 of the 156 participating galleries are headed toMilan from abroad and represent some of the most dynamic emergingprograms out there. If it’s true that collectors aren’t buying heavily inItaly, what’s driving those galleries to invest money and resources inmiart?
Some of them have an existing connection to the Italian market. RebeccaMay Marston of London’s Limoncello Gallery notes that aside from theNeapolitan liquor that serves as their namesake, the gallery’s two Italianartists—Gabriele De Santis and Santo Tolone—and “heaps of greatItalian clients” make the trip more than worthwhile. Jeanine Hofland, ofthe eponymous Amsterdam gallery—which previously participated inItaly’s other notable fair, Turin’s Artissima in 2011 and 2012—notes thatthe Milan fair has “regained a strong focus on international galleries andartists, which seemed for us a good reason to return to Italy.” Shesuggests that the gallery hopes “to find a stronger international group ofcollectors (being both Italian and foreign) at miart.”
For many galleries, sales aren’t the greatest draw to miart. Significanthype has developed around the fair’s brand in only three short years sinceits curatorial revamp. It’s proving to attract a similar crowd ofinternational curators, collectors, other art market players, and press asmany of the other major fairs—but with booths that cost only a fractionof the price. Steve Pulimood of Room East, New York explains that it’sexciting to join the fair “not only because of the excellence of the youngsection, but also because of the leadership of de Bellis. Publications likeKaleidoscope and Mousse, and pioneering spaces like Peep-Hole andGasconade add to the excitement of looking at contemporary art inMilan right now."
It’s not as if sales are far from dealer’s minds. But in today’s market,certain fairs can be near equally worthwhile, whether its money orbusiness cards that are immediately changing hands. Aside from collectorswho, whether due to business conditions in a particular country orgeneral proclivities, are slow to commit to a purchase, curators use fairswith ever-increasing frequency to select artists for museum shows orbiennales. With attention flocking to the city this spring thanks to ExpoMilano 2015 (which opens May 1st), international exposure at miart islikely to be at an all-time high.
And anyhow, there were sales at miart in 2013 and 2014. In a recentinterview (Il Giornale dell’Arte, March 2015), de Bellis said sales were upby 45% in comparison to the years before he took over. He added oneimportant and telling caveat, however: that it is difficult to say exactlyhow much business was generated in total by the fair, because “almost allthe transactions are completed once the fair is over.” This art-fair-as-showroom phenomenon is not concentrated solely on Italy; many fairson the European continent have seen an increase in such reports ofgalleries that come to show their stock and conclude their sales once backin their own country. At miart, however, organizers have used that facetto place the focus on experimental presentations and, though it’s stillearly to say, have potentially opened up a new market in the process.
—Chiara Zampetti Egidi
Chiara Zampetti Egidi is the author of “Guida al Mercato dell’Arte Modernae Contemporanea” (Skira 2014).
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
WHAT TO READ NEXT
# "
Campo di patate, 2014Luca Francesconi
Umberto Di Marino
Ohne Titel (Märkisch), 2014 TIL V, 2014 Kreis / Innen ist Aussen (Circle / Inside is not Outside), 2013Markus Lüpertz
VW (VeneKlasen/Werner)
Thilo Heinzmann
Galerie Guido W. Baudach
Ulla von Brandenburg
Pilar Corrias Gallery
Concetto Spaziale, 1962 Fuji Hunt, 2015Lucio Fontana
CARDI GALLERY
Benoit Platéus
ROD BARTON
New Fiji Bottle (Descending), 2015 PROVVISTE, 2014 A Difference that makes a Difference + Tube + Focus…Yung Jake
Steve Turner
Davide Monaldi
Studio SALES di Norberto Ruggeri
Jorinde Voigt
Johann König
Utah Red White Blue , 2014 One foot in, One foot out (A.O.#23 (5/50 sq)) , 2015 Pour commander à l'air, Untitled (Propeller 2), 2014Letha Wilson
Brand New Gallery
Graham Wilson
Brand New Gallery
Linda Fregni Nagler
Monica De Cardenas
Intersuperficie curva dal rosso, 1965 Grigio, 1992Paolo Scheggi
Robilant + Voena
Agostino Bonalumi
Repetto Gallery
# "
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%DISCOVER ART FROM LEADING GALLERIES,MUSEUMS, AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS.
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