🔴 Loie Hollowell: Market Erupts!

📈 Heating Up

Loie Hollowell, born in 1983 in the United States, has emerged as a formidable presence in the Postwar & Contemporary art scene. Her signature approach to abstraction intertwines the human form with emotionally charged abstraction, a duality that captivates the viewer's gaze.

With a recent record sale at Sotheby's in Hong Kong and an expanding presence in global exhibitions, Hollowell's trajectory in the art world deserves close examination.

🔴 Market Signals

Averages Over the Last 36 Months

• Yearly Lots Sold: 13

• Sell-through Rate: 84.7%

• Average Sale Price: $620,000

• Price Over Estimate: 59%

• Hammer Ratio: 1.50

🦞 Recent Auction Highlights

• Standing in Red (2019): Hit a record at Sotheby's Hong Kong on April 5, 2023, when it sold for $2,339,350, which was a staggering 199.92% above its anticipated high. This sale not only shattered expectations but also set a new auction benchmark for Hollowell's work.

• Split Orbs in gray-brown, yellow, purple and carmine (2021): Made waves at Phillips in Hong Kong on December 1, 2022, fetching $1,605,500. Selling at 147% over the estimate, it demonstrated a keen collector interest, especially in Hollowell's recent explorations of form and color.

• Touchy Subject (2018): Continued the strong showing at Christie's on May 26, 2022, where it brought in $1,618,500. This sale, nearly 150% above estimate, reaffirmed the solid demand for Hollowell's captivating explorations of intimate themes.

• Swimmers (2015): Achieved a robust $378,000 at Christie's on September 29, 2022. This early work, surpassing its high estimate by 152%, confirmed that collectors are just as enthusiastic about Hollowell's formative pieces as they are about her recent work.

• David in the Tall Grass (2004): A more modestly priced piece, still turned heads at Bonhams on April 12, 2023, when it sold for $4,462 — an impressive 197.47% above the high estimate. This early work's performance reveals a comprehensive market interest that spans Hollowell's career.

📊 Data Insights

🧐 The Verdict

Hollowell's market position is robust. Her record-breaking sale of "Standing in Red" in Hong Kong aligns with her rising international acclaim and confirms her artworks as not merely aesthetic triumphs but also financial assets.

The impending museum survey at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in 2024 will likely catalyze further scholarly attention and collector interest. With consistent over-estimate sales and a healthy hammer ratio, Hollowell’s works are not just holding their value; they are compounding it.

Hollowell's biography—her grappling with motherhood and health, her expressive evolution through palette and form—grounds her work in a narrative that is both personal and universally resonant. The intersection of strong biographical storytelling with market performance suggests her works are not only vibrant market commodities but also evolving pieces of human history.

Loie Hollowell stands as a rare entity in the contemporary art market: an artist whose works are emotionally rich, critically acclaimed, and commercially viable.

🔍Lots to Watch

The upcoming sale at Bonhams on November 16th positions Helen Frankenthaler's "Alchemy" (1964) as its crown jewel, with an estimate poised at the $2 million mark. Frankenthaler, a pivotal figure of Postwar & Contemporary art, has her works showcased at prominent venues like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, signaling institutional validation. With a track record of auction prices ranging from a modest $25 to an impressive $7,895,300 for "ROYAL FIREWORKS" at Sotheby's New York in 2020, Frankenthaler's market is both robust and historically revered. Given her innovative "soak-stain" technique that has cemented her legacy alongside Abstract Expressionist giants, her pieces are not just artworks but milestones of a genre-defining era.

💭My 2 Cents: Analyzing Frankenthaler’s market dynamics reveals more than just historical appreciation—it shows a resilient valuation, particularly for her mid-century pieces that align with her groundbreaking technique. "Alchemy" (1964) enters the market with a high estimate, yet Frankenthaler's auction results suggest that her work’s worth could far exceed expectations, as evidenced by the 2020 Sotheby's sale. The hammer ratios in recent months have been leaning favorably across Postwar & Contemporary art, making her pieces a potentially prudent acquisition. The numbers echo a clear message: Frankenthaler’s works are not only culturally and historically significant, they bear the marks of a sound investment in a market that reveres innovation and provenance.

Christie’s announcement of selling the complete set of Hokusai’s "36 Views of Mt. Fuji," which intriguingly comprises 46 prints, comes on the heels of the record-setting $2.76 million sale of "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa" this March. Such high-profile sales underscore the sustained allure and escalating value of Hokusai's work. The rarity of a full series offering—first in two decades—with an estimated value of $3 million, aligns perfectly with the grandeur of Asian Arts Week. Exhibitions spanning Tokyo to New York not only amplify the set’s visibility but also its desirability to international collectors and institutions, marking it as a highlight event in the art market calendar.

💭My 2 Cents: The current trajectory of Hokusai’s market is a testament to his undiminished reverence in the realm of Asian Antiquities. The "36 Views" complete set carries with it an intrinsic rarity that, coupled with the previous sale’s benchmark, suggests a high potential for a robust hammer ratio. This isn’t merely a collection of prints; it’s a comprehensive embodiment of Hokusai’s legacy that captures the crescendo of an artist's historical and cultural cachet. For collectors, this complete set represents more than an acquisition—it's a confluence of cultural heritage and fine art with a proven market appetite, signaling a compelling opportunity for those looking to hold a piece of history with an appreciable value trajectory.

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