This Past Spring

Tapestry to the Sydney Opera House and Impressive Hammer Prices

It has been a couple of eventful months here at Bruun Rasmussen with trips abroad and very impressive items up for auction. A review, such as this, will of course always focus on some of the period's most remarkable works of art and hammer prices. We entered into the summer period with the sale of the Danish architect Jørn Utzon's private art and design collection. The highlight of this auction was the French architect and artist Le Corbusier’s tapestry, which we brought across the Atlantic and exhibited at a design fair in New York and later at the Danish Embassy in London. It was, however, Utzon’s Sydney Opera House, which eventually won the bidding round at the auction with a hammer price of DKK 2.1 million. The beautiful piece of art has now found a home in what can be described as its rightful surroundings, since Utzon had originally had the works of Le Corbusier in mind for the interior of the Sydney Opera House.

The first half of 2015 saw a total of seven hammer prices in the millions. This included Laurits Tuxen's portrayal of three girls on Skagen Beach from 1907 and Queen Anna Sophie’s cabinet from the late 1600s, which after a donation from the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation has now returned to the Queen's birthplace at Clausholm Castle, where it was part of her personal decor during the period of 1730-1743. A hammer price of more than a million Danish kroner was also achieved by a couple of Buddhist bronze figures, which were part of several prominent art collections that originally belonged to Danes who had been stationed in China.

Historic Financial Statement

In the month of May you could read an article in the Danish financial newspaper Børsen, which stated in connection with Bruun Rasmussen’s recently published financial statement for 2014:

"The economic advisers are saying it, the government is saying it, and now the financial statement from the auction house of Bruun Rasmussen is saying it: We are out of the economic crisis."

There is no doubt that we are one of the industries most sensitive to changes in the economy, and therefore it is a great pleasure for me, being part of the game for so many years, to see the recovery. "The greatest profits in the company’s history" was the message in the newspaper, and that is actually true. The year's total hammer prices were about DKK 500 million, and this resulted in the largest profits ever in the history of the auction house with DKK 15.6 million.

There are several reasons for the positive result. Current trends, including the increased interest in items with a provenance, recycling and making a "good bargain” have led to our online auctions resonating with a broader segment of the population in Denmark. But the positive result is particularly due to the globalization of the trade in artwork. In recent years, we have consciously targeted the international market, and our sales department constantly focuses on spreading the word about us beyond the borders of Denmark. We have, for instance, organized events abroad, where the most exclusive pieces of art and design from our auctions have been exhibited. We have also appointed representatives in Europe, China and the United States, and we offer prime shipping agreements, which is seen as a benefit by our international customers. More and more, the bidders behind the record high hammer prices at the international auctions in Bredgade are, for instance, private art collectors in Hong Kong or interior designers in New York with a penchant for Danish design from the golden years of the 1930-70s. Our revenue outside of Europe has actually doubled in just two years.

Auctions during the Autumn

This was a little good news from the auction business – have a great summer and see you again in August at our online auctions, and in September where we open the doors to the international auction in Bredgade. I can already unveil a painting, from a Danish collection, by the French artist Pierre Soulages (Estimate: DKK 3 million), which will be exhibited in Paris before the auction. The auction will also include rare square daybeds by Poul Kjærholm (estimate: DKK 300,000-500,000 per piece) and a masterpiece by Matinus Rørbye of the Tower of the Winds in Athens (estimate: DKK 2-2.5 million).

Jesper Bruun Rasmussen