UBS Open Studios

UBS and Freshpaint present a series of short videos featuring artists in self-isolation during the coronavirus crisis.

#UBSOpenStudios #Freshpaint #UBSart

‘UBS Open Studios’ is a new series of videos which share stories of artists whose exhibitions or art projects were affected by the coronavirus pandemic and how they are coping with the quarantine measures.

The artists all share an affiliation with present or past programs at Freshpaint, Israel’s premier art and design event. UBS has been partner of Freshpaint since 2013, and we are proud to continue to support and promote Israel’s dynamic contemporary art scene during these challenging times. We are socially distanced, but not less connected.

At UBS, art is an essential part of our DNA. It embodies the spirit that our firm stands for: questioning the status quo, and exploring global perspectives and innovative thinking. Our engagement in contemporary art actively enables our clients and the public to participate in this fascinating world, providing access to some of the most important galleries, artists and artworks being produced today.

Elie Shamir

Elie Shamir’s largely biographical paintings are the subject of two major solo exhibitions in Israel this year. The first of which, “Portrait Time”, has been on display at the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. Shamir’s work is included in the UBS Art Collection and Father in the Landscape with Fire (2004) was on loan from the UBS Art Collection to the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. His second solo exhibition, “Borders”, took place at the Mishkan Museum of Art in Ein Harod. Shamir's works were on display in several editions of Freshpaint Contemporary Art & Design fair.

Aviv Grinberg

Aviv was chosen by Forbes Israel as one of 30 promising young individuals in the Forbes 30under30 list for 2020. He is a Freshpaint Artists’ Greenhouse graduate who is known for his large-scale complex installations. The coronavirus outbreak cancelled his planned grand installation in one of Tel Aviv’s central cultural venues.

Hadar Mitz

Hadar is interested in the tension between nature, as we perceive it, and the human attempt to enforce order, with the failure inherent to it. In her latest photographic series she created a “quarantine party for one person”.

Oren Fischer

Oren is the winner of Sotheby’s Under the Hammer award at Freshpaint 2019. He’s currently working on his award show, which got postponed again and again due to the coronavirus outbreak, yet with no set date. Oren is an activist, a curator, and a founder of cultural community spaces.

Dafna Talmon

Dafna challenges forms and lifestyles, examining relationships and separations, routines and rituals, escape, freedom, imaginary family normality, imprisonment and home. The coronavirus outbreak found her planning a cross-country performance tour, which is now postponed.

Darryl Hutchison

Darryl moved from Northern Ireland, where he grew up, to Tel Aviv for love. His most recent paintings bear witness to reflections on what home has come to mean to him. In 2019 he participated in Freshpaint’s Artists’ Greenhouse to great success. His debut solo show at Omer Tiroche Gallery stood closed to visitors due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Naama Roth

Naama presented a solo show as part of the Greenhouse Graduate Focus at Freshpaint 2019. She participated in group shows, remaining closed to visitors both in Tel Aviv, and in Brussels, where she recently graduated her MFA program. Her works examine a state of limbo between sculpture and drawings, currently through the use of light.

7 Insights from the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2020

Which percentage of collectors purchased art through online platforms? What about art fairs?

Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2020

In 2019, global art sales eased 5% year-on-year to an estimated $64.1 billion – while the volume of transactions hit a decade-high of 40.5 million, according to the latest edition of the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report. Authored by renowned cultural economist Dr Clare McAndrew, the annual analysis is the definitive guide to key trends and developments – with an additional survey of 1,300 high-net-worth collectors by UBS Investor Watch and Arts Economics providing fresh insight into buyer behavior.

Further insights include active spending by millennial and female collectors, and an increase in the number of online purchases in excess of $1million.

The US retained its position as the largest market globally

The country accounted for 44% of the global market share in 2019 – a percentage unchanged since 2018. Despite uncertainty around Brexit, the UK retained its position as the second largest market, with a share of 20%, followed by China – the third largest market, with a share of 18%.

Millennial collectors were the most active buyers – and spent the most

Buyers in this age group averaged a total expenditure of $3 million over two years, according to a survey of 1,300 high-net-worth collectors by UBS Investor Watch and Arts Economics, included in the report. The figure is more than six times the amount spent by boomers.

Female collectors had a higher average level of spending than men

Though there were fewer female collectors, those surveyed had a higher average level of spending than men – with 16% having spent more than $10 million in the last two years. Female collectors also had larger collections than men on average, with one-third exceeding 100 works.

Nearly half of collectors had purchased through an online platform

48% of high-net-worth collectors surveyed said they ‘always’ or ‘often’ purchased works through online platforms. Of those that had bought online, one quarter had spent more than $100,000, while 8% had spent over $1 million – double the share that had spent at that level in 2018.

Auction sales made up 42% of the market, while those in the dealer sector accounted for 58%

Sales at public auction reached $24.2 billion in 2019 – down 17% after two years of consecutive growth. Despite the decline in public auction sales, private sales increased in all the major top-tier Western auction houses. Globally, dealer sales increased by 2% year-on-year to an estimated $36.8 billion.

Art fairs remained a central part of the global art market

In 2019, aggregate sales from art fairs reached an estimated $16.6 billion – accounting for 45% of the total value of global dealer sales. New data shed lights on the distribution of art fair sales: 15% were estimated to take place pre-fair ($2.5 billion); 64% during fairs ($10.6 billion); and 21% were made after the fair as a direct result of participation ($3.5 billion).

Female artists and collectors gained slightly greater representation

Women accounted for 44% of all artists represented by galleries working in the primary sector – an increase of 8% year-on-year, according to dedicated research into gender issues. Female buyers were also more prominent, accounting for 36% of all dealer transactions – an increase of 9% on 2018.

Paul Donovan, Chief Economist, UBS Global Wealth Management, said: "The art market often mirrors the trends and economic developments we see in wealth creation. The growth of millennial and female spending power today is part of that. But even economists must admit that there is more to life than economics. True collectors are driven by passion and an appreciation for quality. Art pays emotional dividends, enriching lives in a way that GDP can never capture."

UBS shares its passion for art and collecting with a global community of clients and has one of the world’s largest and most important corporate art collections. The firm seeks to advance the international conversation about the art market through its global lead partnership with Art Basel and as co-publisher of this report. UBS provides its clients with insight into the art market, collecting and legacy planning through its Art Collectors Circle and UBS Art Advisory.

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