RM Goes to New York with Art of the Automobile
Art of the Automobile, the combined effort of auction house icons RM and Sotheby’s marks a seminal moment for the collector car industry. In addition to the traditional ideals speed, horsepower, racing etc…the show this weekend in New York is perhaps an indicator of the maturing of the collector car marketplace into a sphere more akin to fine art, leaving the rodeo atmosphere behind, if only for a night
Over the course of the next few months, Scott Grundfor Company will be publishing a series of articles on the future of collecting. The fact Sotheby’s and RM are putting on a major auction together in New York City this weekend in what amounts to a modern chic fine art setting could in fact be a sign of things to come.
Over the past decade or so, we’ve seen the movement of cars from being strictly exhibited in traditional “car” settings like auctions, concours and the like towards more general artistic settings. One such example was “Curves of Steel”, the popular 2007 exhibition. Such special vehicles as the 1935 Auburn 851 “Boattail” Speedster, 1939 Deleahaye 165 Cabriolet by Figoni et Falaschi, 1957 Ferrari 625/250 Testarossa TRC, and even a 1994 McLaren F1 supercar were on display, all having come from private collections. There were 21 vehicles featured in total, many of which are the only of their type in existence and are of extreme historical importance.
Rob Myers powerhouse auction company RM Auctions in alliance with Sotheby’s, is presenting “Art of the Automobile” tomorrow night, November 21, 2013 in New York City, a show that showcases the upper echelon of collector cars and a new injection of life into the setting in which they are presented. There will always be a place for the auto auctioneers rodeo environment made huge by Barrett-Jackson and refined by Gooding and RM, but it seems there may be a shift in store for the industry towards a different sort of environment for “the sale”.
In addition to paying attention to Art of the Automobile and what that environment brings to the table of the collector car market, we’ll also be paying attention to what cars are being displayed at exhibitions like the upcoming show Dream Cars: Innovative Design, Visionary Ideas in the summer of 2014 at the High Museum in Atlanta, as well as past events such as “Curves of Steal” from 2007. We’ll be paying close attention to which cars are being shown and, even more importantly, why certain cars were chosen for the exhibits and why they were deemed important by the respective museums/exhibitors. These exhibits certainly won’t and don’t contain every example of “what’s important?” in the collector automobile arena, but they do give great insights in to what types of qualities museums and historians value, and it’s no secret museums have been a traditional authority in arenas such as fine art.
Maybe Art of the Automobile is a tipping point, a true point of revelation for the high end automotive market place? Maybe industry insiders will for the first time tangibly see that the collector car market could be on the cusp of a true shift with definitive crossover appeal and spillage into the fine art market, blurring the lines of what is valuable and why? The importance of Art of the Automobile in the greater scheme of things is more in the setting, a significantly more “upscale” venue rather than the actual cars being auctioned, and the partnership between Sotheby’s and RM could well be a clear sign of things to come.
