The Artist’s Resale Right – the dealer perspective


ON the front page of last week’s ATG, the editor wrote a personal comment on the implications of the imminent extension of the Artist’s Resale Right to include not only living artists, but also those artists who have been dead for less than 70 years. The EU directive requires that, as of January 1, every time a work is resold by a qualifying artist above the €1000 threshold, a levy (starting at four per cent) will be charged on the sale price, whether that price is at a profit or loss to the vendor. Effectively, this is a transaction tax which will then be paid to the family and beneficiaries of the artist, providing they can be identified. Understandably, this is a major concern within the art dealing community as the


number of galleries affected by ARR is set to increase hugely, encompassing all those trading in secondary market 20th and 21st century art, an extra piece of red tape when business is already tough, and is set to get tougher. And it is the dealers who will bear the brunt of the levy, as they will have to


repeatedly absorb the four per cent charge both at purchase if from an auction – when the ARR will be added to the hammer price alongside the buyer’s premium and VAT – and when they sell the work, once a price is negotiated. It would be naive to think that a collector would agree to pay an extra cost for ARR on top of that sum. Many dealers say this would cost them the sale in most cases. Essentially, up to the


value of €50,000, dealers will pay an eight per cent tax on every deal. So what are the views of those who will be affected?


“Obviously this is a disaster for the trade and artists. It’s a great disincentive”


Denys Wilcox of The Court Gallery,


1960. Other notable works are Crowds, Earls Court, an ominous c.1954 oil on board by Edward Middleditch and a group of drawings and paintings by Souza, including the 1956 oil on board, Nude with long hair from behind. The highlight of the Victorian pictures


is George Frederick Watts’ (1817-1904) oil on canvas titled Study of the artist’s adopted daughter Lilian. As part of the impetus behind the sale


is to allow Julian more freedom to deal in different areas, so what has he got planned? He says that something he particularly


enjoys is having small, affordable shows of the work of relatively unknown contemporary artists. A case in point is his forthcoming Christmas show, at 37 Duke Street from December 12 to 23. It features works on paper by


Mary Furness, the former Countess Waldegrave, who graduated last year from the City and Guilds art college. Specimens will be her first London solo show and features delicate butterfly-like images inspired by a display of iridescent beetles at the Natural History Museum and the anthropological objects at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Painted on scraps of black paper, the


tiny decorative paintings are created by chance in iridescent paint and will be sold in framed pairs all priced at £195. www.julianhartnoll.com www.hollowaysauctioneers.co.uk


specialises in work from 1880 to the present day by British and French artists. He deals from his Somerset home and at a handful of UK fairs and, although helped by his father who founded the business, is one of many dealers who are essentially one-man bands, so he is dreading the extra administration created for each sale. “Obviously this is a disaster for the


trade and artists,” Denys told me. “I can’t quite believe it is becoming law. “I will have no choice but to put


the cost onto the customer, but it’s a great disincentive to trade in the artists concerned. It might gradually push me back to an earlier period.” He added: “I don’t even want to think about the paperwork.”


“It’s another nail in the coffin for buying authentic original pieces”


Lucy Johnson, who deals in early


furniture and Modern British art with the aid of two part-time employees, is also worried. “It’s going to make pieces more expensive and increase administration costs,” she said. “At a time when we all need help, it’s just another bit of bureaucratic red tape.” She added that she fears it will


put off potential collectors by further complicating the buying procedure. “It’s another nail in the coffin for


buying authentic original pieces, rather than reproductions, as the more complex the pricing appears to be, the more reluctant people are to buy original works,” said Lucy. As a result, she is one of many dealers


who will simply absorb the levy into the price, rather than attempt to explain the charge to buyers.


“It’s a no-brainer that the impact will be negative on the London art market”


It’s not just those dealers operating


alone who are worried. Andrew Kalman of Crane Kalman Gallery, the Knightsbridge-based Modern British specialists established in 1949, is also concerned about the increased administration. He explains that of the gallery’s


staff of four, three are senior directors who share one PA who will be “further encumbered by looking after this paper pushing, bureaucratic new element”. He says the gallery neither have the


resources nor need, aside from ARR, for another member of staff. Andrew also has clear views on the


extension. “It can only have an impact on the


London art market and it’s a no-brainer that the impact will be negative,” he says. The principal collecting agency for


the ARR levy is the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS), a London- based not-for-profit visual arts rights management organisation established


continued on page 16


Q


HAYDN HANSELL of Juno Antiques, Notting Hill


www.junoantiques.com


1. What do you do? We specialise in 18th and 19th century English porcelain and pottery, with a stock that encompasses all the major factories, including Worcester, Chelsea, Longton Hall and Bow. The pottery includes various examples of delftware, creamware, pearlware and early Staffordshire blue and white. 2. How long have you been dealing? Five years. We made a bold leap back at the end of 2006 and decided to turn a passion into an occupation. The economic forecast was no better then than it is now, but here we are, and still loving every minute of it. 3. Do you do any fairs? The London Ceramic Fair each January and June. The capital is buzzing in June, especially with ceramics, and the buyers are out in force, driven into a frenzy of excitement by the number of fairs and exhibitions around at that time. 4. What was you first job? Working in the picture library at the V&A Museum. I used to spend as much time as I could in the ceramic galleries on the top floor, getting my china fix! 5. What has been your best buy? An ordinary-looking, printed blue and white tea bowl and saucer that turned out to be incredibly rare examples of Pre-Revolutionary American porcelain. The only other known pieces could be counted on the fingers of one hand. My biggest mistake was not taking the plunge into antiques dealing straight from school! 6. What is the biggest threat, in your opinion, to the trade at the moment? The ever-increasing rate of buyer’s commission imposed by auction houses. 7. Guiltiest pleasure? Paris – in any weather and at any time of year. Sheer heaven. 8. If you weren’t a dealer, what would you be?


An archaeologist. So much of what we know about 18th century ceramics comes from digging on disused factory sites. It’s amazing what you can learn from a broken old pot. 9. Which person, dead or alive, do you most admire and why? My mother. Before she retired, she was a Wedgwood paintress and, funnily enough, the production processes had not altered much in 200 years. She reminds me of all the anonymous women and children who decorated wares for the early manufacturers. 10. What keeps you awake at night? The dull thud of a Jack Russell jumping onto the bed with a squeaky toy.


If you are a dealer and would like to be featured in 10 Questions email annabrady@atgmedia.com


Antiques Trade Gazette 15 10 uestions


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