SANTA MONICA, Calif. – LA Art Exchange Auctions of Santa Monica, Calif.
May 23, 2006
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – LA Art Exchange Auctions of Santa Monica, Calif., will hold a sale of original artworks on Sunday, June 25, with Internet bidding provided by LiveAuctioneers.com in association with eBay Live Auctions. The fully illustrated catalog will be available to view at www.liveauctioneers.com a few weeks prior to the auction, and bidders may either leave absentee bids or participate live online on auction day.
LA Art Exchange Auctions is a partnership formed by LA Art Exchange principals Jayne and Stu Zehngut and Jonathan Holiday, an auctioneer as well as founder of Action Auctions. The mission of LA Art Exchange Auctions is to sell original artwork direct from the artist at auction. The upcoming auction event on June 25 features over 125 original contemporary, abstract, mixed media, assemblages, landscapes and figurative works created by more than 40 California artists with various artistic backgrounds.
Currently auction houses, and even galleries, sell artwork that is derived from collectors, dealers, estates and trusts. Auction houses may act as the conduit between the buyer and seller but have very little, if any, relationship with the artist who has created the artwork. Our approach is to curate the artwork direct from the artist and bring the buyers together to maximize the market potential for the works and let the auction process determine the value of the art. After carefully evaluating the art marketplace for the last several years in California, and more importantly in the major art market of Los Angeles, LA Art Exchange Auctions saw this as an opportunity to bring the artist and the auction house together. In addition, Los Angeles is becoming a prominent center for art, so they felt the time was right to increase the exposure for Southern California artists.
Many of the submitting artists are already represented in major galleries, but LA Art Exchange Auctions also leaves the door open to emerging artists who need a jump-start to their careers. The upcoming event is being marketed on a local, national and international basis and will be set up for live Internet bidding through www.liveauctioneers.com, an outstanding way for artists to be exposed worldwide. The works will be starting well below estimated gallery prices in the range of $1,000-$10,000, and the marketplace will determine their selling prices. Some works may sell below the estimates or over and above. The beauty of an auction is that this is the best way to establish true market value in an open forum. Already joining in the auction with their fellow California artists are Sonia Romero, Jennifer Perlmutter and Robert Florczak, who are currently selling their works domestically and internationally.
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