Although it appears to be a volatile time in the art market, apparently there are still opportunities for those willing to look for them.
Such might be the ethos behind the recent expansion of Hindman, a Chicago-based auction house, to New York City and with it, the East End. Aaron Cator, who was appointed in April as a senior specialist in New York, said the company has been gearing up for the past year to form its New York team.
It will be Mr. Cator who will be working with clients and consignors in postwar and contemporary fine art in the city, here, and all along the East Coast. A Springs part-timer, his job will entail capitalizing on connections he's made in a career in galleries (primarily at David Zwirner, who has a place in Montauk) and with his own art advisory firm, as well as building out the auction house's existing client networks.
When the launch of Hindman New York and the appointment of Gemma Sudlow as its managing director were announced late last year, the company said it planned to have a full-service auction room and exhibition space in Manhattan this year, and that offices in Boston and Miami had opened.
Asked about the showroom and auction space, Mr. Cator said he expects some important announcements to be made in September. "I'm really excited about what's planned for the future in New York," which includes a more robust presence on the East End as well.
Will falling sales reports, like Artnet's recently released review of the first half of the year, dampen the enthusiasm? The art market website found a 22-percent drop in total sales by the top three international auction houses: Christie's, Phillips, and Sotheby's. It also found a 51-percent decline in revenue from the highest-end artworks at auction.
Ms. Sudlow, who came from several years at Christie's, said of the climate that "like many auction houses, we saw less inventory come to market" in the first half of the year "than in recent years, but what we offered, sold well."
She added that with a newly established "bench of experts" and efforts to raise awareness "popping up in areas of N.Y.C. associated with art and culture," they have the flexibility needed to have a successful launch of this new venture, and it should give them momentum forward. "Our inaugural fall season of sales is on track to deliver an exponential increase in revenue from consignments from our New York and Northeast clientele."
Hindman is generally considered to be in the mid to high range of auction sales, and, Ms. Sudlow said in an article in Penta last year, the chasm between the top end of the market and everything else has created "a vibrant business space where there is more and more room to grow."
Mr. Cator agreed, but said Hindman planned to be "a really significant market player, no different than the other larger houses that are here in New York." He sees its strength in filling a void in client relations -- "connecting with collectors that feel not just like they can be taken care of, but they have a level of expertise provided to them that's substantial."
He said the current planning phase has led to a lot of "free thinking about what sales might look like" in terms of format and "what that might look like in New York and the Hamptons specifically."
As a former art adviser buying for clients, "I think Hindman has the ability and is well positioned to occupy a really distinct position in the market. . . . There are very few auction houses right now that can offer both exemplary client relations, but then also bring excellent work to the market" in public or private sales. As such, he said, he senses a shift and that Hindman is entering a new phase of growth.
For those not familiar with Hindman, it was founded as Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in the early 1980s by Leslie Hindman and became one of the largest auction houses in the United States. It merged with another regional house, Cowan, in 2018 and became simply Hindman. Ms. Hindman may be familiar from her shows on HGTV in the 1990s, "At the Auction With Leslie Hindman" and "The Appraisal Fair."
Mr. Cator noted that one of her first forays outside of Chicago was an office in Florida. "There's a history of Hindman meeting clients where they are or collectors where they are." The Florida office was opened because many Chicagoans often stayed in the Palm Beach area during the winter. "This is no different than Hindman establishing themselves not just within New York City, but certainly out east, cultivating business out there and having a presence out there."
He added that the East End has both a history of artists working in this area and collectors with meaningful collections. Given some significant existing clients here, he said the hope is to continue to "foster those relationships and connect with new clients as well."
"The incredible thing about auction houses is the amazing objects that come across your desk, but then also finding the right home in a really intentional way," he said. "Not just like a slapdash sale, but really offering substantive, substantial work, no matter what the price point is, to a client that fills the void in their collection or adds a different layer to what they already have."
