THE contemporary

Jones Bergamin & Sophie Su,
Bolsa de Arte, Brazil
Both Lygia Clark and Mira Schendel have long
been firmly established as artists nationally and
recognized internationally. However, their retrospectives
at the Tate Modern in London for Mira in
2013 and at MoMA in New York in 2004 for Lygia,
really boosted their market, bringing about changes
in their valuation and international representation.
The works of Lygia Clark at the time of her death
in 1988 were worth around $30,000. It was in
1994, during her first international retrospective,
that her creations began to be valued. In 2001, the
O Mundo da Lygia Clark association was created
to issue certificates of authenticity and the market
was then divided between certified and uncertified
works. In 2008, the work of Lygia Clark began to
be represented by international galleries and their
valuation increased thanks to the curating of exhibitions
devoted to the artist at the art fairs of Basel
in Switzerland and Frieze in London in 2010. The
formalization of Lygia’s retrospective at MoMA
in 2012 resulted in the frequent appearance of the
artist’s works at national and international auctions.
2013 was a record year for the artist: in May 2013,
Phillips New York sold a Contra-Relevo of 1959 for
$2,225,000; in August 2013, the auction house Bolsa
de Arte, with offices in Rio de Janeiro and São
Paulo, set the world record for any Brazilian artist
ever sold at auction, by selling Superficie Moldulada
nº4 by Lygia Clark for R$5,300,000. However, the
artist’s valuation came to a standstill in this year,
2015. Indeed, following family quarrels brought
before justice, Mundo da Lygia Clark decided to
suspend the issuing of certificates of authenticity,
giving rise to a climate of insecurity around the
artist’s work and a market awaiting answers. Despite
these mostly family-related difficulties, the works
on the market have not lost value.
Important international exhibitions have been dedicated
to Mira Schendel in recent years, such as
that at the Tate in London in 2013, and then at the
Serralves Foundation in Lisbon and the Pinacoteca
in São Paulo in 2014. This greatly stimulated international
demand for the artist while confirming
the importance and power of national collectors.
Even if high auction prices could be noted, such
as that for Objeto Gráfico of 1960, sold for $845,000
at Sotheby’s New York in May 2014, the most popular
works have remained in the hands of private
collectors and tend to be exchanged by mutual agreement.
It is important to note that Mira Schendel
has recently come to be represented by one of
the most powerful international galleries, Hauser
& Wirth. The Zurich gallery with an office in New
York and London has already organized two highly
successful solo exhibitions of the artist’s work.
We believe that the market for these two incredibly
talented artists will continue to grow considerably
over the coming years.
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