RED CIRCLE/RED MOLE CONTACTS * your live in or near any of the aroler or en ow you can contact these people for any wertes about The Red Mole and for mation on distributing the paper and ling in local reporte In a number of these a (asterisked) Janctioning Red Circles eady exist. Others will be added to the list in the course of the next couple of weeks. if there a no Red Circle in your area af present, write to us here at 182 Penzoville Road, London NI.
"BIRMINGHAM: Gerald Hitman, 28 Brighton Road, Balsall Heath. Birmingham 12. *CARDIFF: Alastair McNiven. S Major Road, Canton, Cardiff. *COVENTRY: John Presland, Rootes Hall Di6, University of Warwick, Coventry. *DERBY: John Hewitt, of The Red Mole, 182 Pentonville Road, London NI. & Bruce Bebbington, 41 Leopold Street, Derby, DEI ZHE *EDINBURGH: Robin Duncan. 13 Blackthorn New which la hit to do viấn any darne merits stuch might be attributed to the objects which constitute the trade.
In both America and France, there are crippling sale-room taxes, which can tise to as much as 20% of the price paid for every object passing through an auction house.
In England, there are no direct sale-toor taxes whatsoever: London has consequently. become the centre of the international art market, the hub of the ereat hassle which is a microcosm of the witole capitalist structure.
Between 1951 and mid-1969 the cost of living in the UK multiplied a little over two imes. During the samo period, UK share prices multiplied four times, and those of the USA about the same Old Master paintings multiplied 7% times; British pictures, 10 times, Impressionists, 18 times, and Modern Paintings, a shattering 23% Art Harons Such facts naturally attracted to the art market the money of the hig investors: banks. pension funds, and financial institutions, who immediatcly realised that there was in art 2 oy-ride equivalent to the rampant property speculation of the "Sos An increasing number of investment trusts ate allocating a growing slice of their funds to direct specula on in works of art. which they approach exactly as they would share certificates, or any other capital investment with vast appreciation potential.
Once they have secured their collection through the sale-room or through the dealers, it is usually vaulted and hoarded till the market is right for resale.
Bank of Jersey Parallel with this big scale investment, the little man is invited to participate in the same charade just as far as bis pure will permit. The Bank of Jersey has recently appointed a fulltime art adviser, "to give clients a compicte avestment service and he is undoubiedly the fist of a new breed of art bankers. Speak to him, and if you are a client, he will tip" the most likely modern artists to make money in the future, referring to International prizes and big retrospective exhibitions, as "form" in just the same way a racing tipster will pick out the big races and succees of the horses he fancies.
From all this, one would suspect that the dealers and auctioncers had little to complain ol: turnover and profits are soaring in every category.
However, "Art" differs from any other commodity trade in so far as every work handled is unique.
Tax Dodec Once he has sold his stock the dealer cannot simply replenish it by re-ordering This means that in the old picture market, there is an everdiminishing number of major works coming up for sale. The tax law in America is such that enormous advantages accrue to those who donate their pictures to the museuns. This still pplies, oven after the resinctions unposed o his practice in 1968, Similarly, in England, th national collections are intent on capturing the most important pictures every time they come up in the auction rooms. ase, it hevet comes ceto the market again.
Funk Artists At the other end of the market, the trade in modern pictures, more and more work that i ming produced is unsalcable It is too large. • like the environmentalists, the Funk artists. are asking 01,001 the autodestructive painters, it rejecis the concept of art as a precious object, and cannot the mark up is on the low side. be traded in the samo way with the same appreciation potential as the nat surface selling galleries as well as of Sotheby'sand Christie's.
The "pool" oravailable art is dimmishing. and it from this one simple fact that they mystique, mystery, and hundrum claptop of art dealers really unises.
Contradictions The great revolutionary artists of the past who. made their protest against the market system. are now among the most hotly sought after of however, have to defend their reputations as all. Duchamp's famous urinal, which must surely have seemed to his contemporaries to be by many of its follow gal cries, sinco it is entirely without commercial value, was turned into a lucrative edition of six, and undoubtedly business machine. It tempts saccessful artists if the original was sold at Sotheby's tomorrow it would fetch a fottanc. Similarly, Picabia's art, change hands today at several thousand each.
West End Art Some of the biggest West End galleries, Wildenstein and Colnaghi's in particulardepend enormously on "stock" built up over the years.
Once it has been sold, they will have little left. Firms like Agrews used to depend on buying back from one generation to sell to the next. Though they probably have more wouldhe huyers than ever, they have ap overdiminishing number of quality works to sell.
Censorship Understandably, the dealers do not like this mentioned too often. Almost evcry attempt to explain the real situation in the art market has been suppressed. Wraight's book. The Art Game. pablished four years ago, was reduced to one third of its size on legal advice before publication. John Russell Tuylor's The Arz Dealers, which appeared briefly for a fortnight last ycar, was tapidly withdrawn, and even a superficial account of the pallery world. The Arr Scene, published by Barry Stuart-Penrose carlier this year, resuited in the author receiving slice of the cake for himself he is not really a series of threatening phone calls from a West End dealer whom he had allegedly "exposed".
Commodities The average old picture dealer has hecome a commodity retailer in a field where 100% is the basic, starting profit margin.
If you wish to sce how a dealer functions, go into the Cooling Galleries in New Bond Street, pick up their catalogue and have a look al their 1970 selection.
Flicking at random down thoir list. No. 45 n their catalogue, by William Shayer, a mediocre Victerian landscape painter-typical of the artists who have been inflated since there is nothing cise to seil-is priced at 700: Cooling's bought it in March 1969 for C360 at Sotheby's Percy Figrams by Shayer, is priced at 725. Cooling's bought it in February 1969 for E320 at Sotheby'E An inferier Leader paining fyet another Victorian landscaper) of Worcestershire Common was bought last year at Christie's for C473: Cooling's There is nothing excoptions: in this. In fict Non-Cool painting, the permanent sculpture or the obel Cooling's are simply stupid enough to priet the d'art" which provide the life-blood of the main pricein the catalogne, and one can trice back the pictures in sale-room records.
For the run-of-the-mill picture trader. art is simply a lucrative commodity, in the prevailing climate he only has to buy al auction, mark up the price and resell. He is not interested in any other implication of his business.
"Guardians of Taste"
The powerful galleries, like Marlborough, "guardians of taste" Marlberoneh is icatined organised on a workl-wide scile, as an efficient wway from the smaller gaileries with fat contracts, and wheels and deals in ar! just like collages, deliberale attempts to create valueless, any City institution deals in Emancial stock. It handles artists whose teputations are ready-made. Moore, Sutherland, Hepworth, Bacon, Piper, Chadwick and Armilage are among the famous British artists whom it lured from smaller dealers once they became succomfol Atleast there is a certain honesty about the "which has heen gallery; it is in the business for the money and makes it.
The proseat structure of the art market is inevitable in a capitalist sociely Alternative Altematives initiated by artists have always failed: the famous Stockwell Group of sculptors formed their own commune, rejocting the gallery system, and sold direct to the public:
as soon as one of their members was offered a scow in Kasmin's Bond Street gallery he sccepled, rejecting the Group's anti-dealer manifesto.
The reason is that visual art objects are insolubly linked with the capitalist consumer society of which they form a part. The successful urtist is dependent on the bourgecisio for his incoma, and he does nut begnudge his dealer's two-way exploitation of the situation.
The us successful artist merely wants a bigger interested in changing the system on which he knows he is dependent.
Effoctively, this indisoluble Tink means that the visual arts will never be able to play a meaningful role in the revolution, as long as artists, through dealers, energetically look In the financial establishment for patronage.
Trison selling his "revolutionery cons".
showing Ho, Che, Martir Luther King and the ront pages of underground rewspapeis, n th bash Marlborough gallery is an effectin confetalion at this. The only interest an obizetive artist hes in the revolution is the taet that he can paclarge fragments of it, Hse any other corumodity, and retail them through his dealer to at lavestment-hungry hourgeoisic.