The Indigenous Art Market Top 100, (www.aiam100.com), is a comprehensive state-of-the-art website which includes information about the artists, each ranked within a 'top 100' index, calculated on secondary market activity; who they worked with and how their art found its way into the market; detailed sales results presented graphically and analysis of the market’s preference for different styles and periods; and the ten highest results for each artist.
Data is presented visually with details of the sales, dates and prices achieved.
Adrian Newstead likens the site to the Indigenous art market equivalent of the All Ordinaries Index, the Dow Jones, or the NASDAQ.
As the founder and director of Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, established in 1980, Newstead has more than 30 years involvement with aboriginal artists throughout Australia.
After steering Lawson~Menzies Aboriginal Art Department to eclipse Sotheby’s in sales of aboriginal art during 2005/2006, he became Managing Director of the Deutscher~Menzies auction house. After leaving DM in 2007 he returned to Coo-ee Gallery, and consulted and published on the Australian art market, writing regularly for the Australian Art Market Report and the Australian Art Sales Digest.
According to Newstead, ‘2010 has been a most unsettling year in the visual arts, but most especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts.
Following 15 years of uninterrupted growth the Indigenous art market, estimated to be worth in excess of 200 million dollars annually, has suffered a number of frustrating setbacks. This has affected over 60 art centres and thousands of individual artists, whose income from art production makes a very real difference to their lives.
‘During the first half of 2010 the introduction of a code of conduct, the long-promoted resale royalty scheme, uncertainty surrounding art in self managed superannuation funds, and speculation that the on-going GFC would worsen, all played a role in unnerving the market.
The ow clearance rate at Sotheby’s annual July Aboriginal Fine Art auction prompted The Australian to declare that the ‘Aboriginal art market bubble has burst and will never recover’.
However Adrian Newstead has seen it all before. As a dealer with wide primary and secondary market experience, he has weathered two previous market downturns. According to Newstead, ‘what we are seeing is a temporary setback with all the ingredients being put in to place for a brighter, fairer, if not more realistic, future’. For those deeply committed to the industry and those considering the status of their collections ‘it is a perfect time for reflection, analysis and planning.’
The Australian Indigenous Art Market Top 100 ‘ provides professional advice on the Indigenous art market in line with other investment categories, thereby serving the interests of artists, galleries and collectors.’
Registration is required, but access to many areas of the web site is free of charge. There are small charges for printing off some of the commentary.
Website reference: www.aiam100.com
