Iain Brunt
ART ADVISOR

Born England 1957

France: 00 (33) 695 209 835
UK: 00 (44) 7557 400 728

Email: iain@artadvisor.ch

Iain and his Swiss team specialise in obtaining numerous independent valuations from sales throughout the world. They authenticate and make sure your possessions are included into the correct catalogue publications and verified by the top experts. They also specialise in advising clients on how and where to sell and buy works and look into their condition and sustainability in today’s world.

Please email him at Iain@artadvisor.ch for further information.

about Me

Having worked in the industry for over 35 years, starting my career under the personal supervision of Daniel Wildenstein, in his galleries in New York, London, Paris and Japan I created many exhibitions on Impressionism & Old masters.

During my career I founded, and still run, one of the largest European Internet portals www.antiques.co.uk with over 250,000 antiques and works of art online. I have chosen to represent modern day sculptors throughout London during the past few years including Park Lane Trafalgar Square Mayfair and Canary Wharf.

As an independent art advisor I continue to advise private clients, corporations and institutions on acquisitions and disposals of important works of art. This is becoming one the fastest growing industries globally as investments today involve many different aspects other than the object itself. Iain specialises in works of art that have a place in the market place for both their intrinsic and monetary value.

JOHN DAY: A REDISCOVERED GENIUS

April 15th 2021

GENEVA, APRIL 2021 –Art-lovers will have a unique chance to admire works by one of America’s greatest abstract painters when John Day: A Glimpse of Genius opens
at the Studio Art Unlimited gallery in Geneva’s Old Town on April 29. The selling
exhibition (prices CHF 3,500-18,000) contains a selection of over 40 works – including paintings, collages and reliefs – spanning Day’s short but sensational career. It is the first show anywhere in the world to be devoted to John Day (1932-82) for over thirty-five years.

STUDIO ART UNLIMITED Grand-Rue 25 Vieille Ville– Geneva
Open April 29–May 16 daily 11-19h

Click here for the full catalogue.

John Day grew up near Boston and studied Colour Theory at Yale under Bauhaus legend Josef Albers. From 1960 Day’s works were the subject of annual solo shows – and acquired by New York’s top museums (MoMA, Whitney, Brooklyn, Guggenheim) and the Pompidou Centre. His life was cut tragically short in 1982 when he became one of the first-ever victims of AIDS. 

Many of his early collages were torn-paper Billboard Landscapes evoke the ‘lacerated poster’ approach of the Nouveaux Réalistes. His ingenious reliefs, rarely more than 30cm square,  created cityscapes from everyday materials. His Surrealist Erebos series, with receding Last Supper-like perspective and walls lined with images of the dead, evoke the purgatory of Ancient Greece. The abstract paintings of Day’s final years nod to his mentor Albers and possess the spiritual intensity of Mark Rothko.

John Day had no exclusive gallery to promote him and, after a final show devoted to his work in 1985, his estate (92 paintings, 30 reliefs, 14 collages & over 500 drawings) was placed in storage and forgotten – until February 2020, when it was acquired by art consultant Iain Brunt and shipped to his home in France. ‘When I first saw Day’s works I was amazed by his handling of texture and colour’ exclaims Brunt. ‘He is the greatest artistic rediscovery of my lifetime.’

Day was a regular visitor to Europe and spoke fluent French and Italian. In 1954/5 he spent a year in a Mediterranean fishing village near Toulon, and had solo shows in Paris in 1969 and 1972. In 1977 he featured in the blockbuster exhibition L’Avant-Garde 1960-1976 that travelled from Marseille via Grenoble and St-Etienne to the newly-opened Pompidou Centre in Paris. 

The Geneva show is the first time that works from the John Day Estate are going on display – ahead of further John Day exhibitions at the Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Boston (June 2021) and in the Public Library in Malden, his home town, in Autumn 2021.

Watch the video for a glimpse of the show.

 

THE ART OF JOHN DAY – AS SEEN BY HIMSELF & OTHERS

‘…an abstractionist who combines a quiet voluptuousness of color and light with a stern geometric structure’
– DAVID SHIREY, NEW YORK TIMES 

‘He left behind a body of work which has luxe, calme et volupté – as in the Baudelaire poem which John taught me long ago’
PLAYWRIGHT (AND FORMER CLASSMATE) RUTH WOLFF 

‘John Day was a painter of enormous subtlety and intelligence. He wanted to tackle the large subjects. Like eternity. Like mythology. Like purity.’ 
– NEW YORK ART CRITIC AMEI WALLACH 

‘My aim is to paint paintings so quiet you can hear a pin drop’ 
JOHN DAY

HIRONORI KATAGIRI
KATE THOMSON

April 19th 2021

Geneva Collection

Studio Art Unlimited.
25 Grande-Rue, Vieille Ville, 1204 Geneva.

Open daily from April 29th to May 16th 11-19h 2021

Click here for the catalogue

The Internet Takes The Lead

July 1st 2020

The Internet takes the lead in 2020 with the first ever-
successful attempt. The art market changes as seen
here by art net news led by Pricey Bacon, Sotheby’s
First-Ever Hybrid Contemporary Evening Sale Format
Nets an Impressive $235 Million
The carefully choreographed sale took place on three
continents.

If a time traveller from 2019 arrived at Sotheby’s evening
sale on Monday evening, she would have been very confused
by what she saw.
There was no packed salesroom, no paddles, no air kissing.
Instead, specialists were stationed six feet apart on tiered
rows of phone banks and the entire production was live
streamed simultaneously from Hong Kong, London, and New
York.
The auction marked the first major test of the art-market’s
upper echelons during the social-distancing era—and it
would be fair to say the house passed.
In total, Sotheby’s post-war and contemporary art offerings
made $234.9 million, toward the high end of the presale
estimate range of $171.4 million to $239.1 million. (Final
prices include the buyers’ premium; estimates do not.) The
most expensive lot of the night was Francis Bacon’s Triptych
Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus (1981), which fetched
$84.6 million with fees, just over the pre-sale high estimate of
$80 million. It was offered by a foundation tied to Norwegian
billionaire Hans Rasmus Astrup.
In all, the marathon evening generated a total of $363.2
million and consisted of three parts: a single-owner sale of
works assembled by the late cable television mogul Ginny
Williams; post-war and contemporary selections; and an
Impressionist and Modern art coda.

It goes to prove that the market still exists and is stable in an
ever-changing world of riots and pandemics. Iain June 30 th
2020

Auction News

May 17th 2019

This was a week to remember when records were broken yet again in the international art market.
There were some noticeable results as well as some causalities but the general mood was everyone is buying art and its getting better in quality with some new artists
emerging onto the auction market.
The first picture I ever sold nearly 35 years ago now was very similar to this one a single haystack when it was a surprise then to get over 2 million dollars for it.

Sotheby’s New York achieved a record for the artist when this fetched over 100 million dollars, which set a new record for the artist.

I also remember, when I was young, that we had great problems convincing collectors to buy the works by Gustave Caillebotte. Although still not a household name this work achieved over 14 million dollars

Of course the stable artists like Picasso’s never fail to go up in value. These two works fetched well over their estimates and it’s the first time I believe that a drawing fetched over 5 million dollars.

And finally the old favourite a Cezanne still life what else except for a Mont St Elmo could fetch over 50 million dollars.

This was a week to remember when records were broken yet again in the international art market.

There were some noticeable results as well as some causalities but the general mood was everyone is buying art and its getting better in quality with some new artists emerging onto the auction market.

The first picture I ever sold nearly 35 years ago now was very similar to this one a single haystack when it was a surprise then to get over 2 million dollars for it.

I also remember, when I was young, that we had great problems convincing collectors to buy the works by Gustave Caillebotte. Although still not a household name this work achieved over 14 million dollars

And finally the old favorite a Cezanne still life what else except for a Mont St Elmo could fetch over 50 million dollars.

So the market now gets ready for the summer auctions in London and you can still start collecting under 50,000 and less and from experience over the past 35 years there is never a better time to start collecting.

Sotheby’s New York achieved a record for the artist when this fetched over 100 million dollars, which set a new record for the artist.

Of course the stable artists like Picasso’s never fail to go up in value. These two works fetched well over their estimates and it’s the first time I believe that a drawing fetched over 5 million dollars.

London Impressionist Art Week

February 25th 2019
London hosts some major sales of impressionist art and here are a few guidelines what to look out for: Sotheby’s have the least this time but their big flagship work is by Claude Monet Lot 6 Le Palais Ducal. Although not very large this picture is expected to fetch over 20 million pounds. It’s a superb example of his work and one of my special artists whom I have studied over the years.

My other choice is the small Egon Schiele lot 9 Trieste fishing boat it has a wonderful history and for me invites you into a voyage of discovery.

They also have a good selection of surrealist works making a further part to their evening auction, which will be interesting to see how they perform

Christies have maybe a wider choice with a lot of works by Degas but this flagship lot (estimate on request so you need a fat wallet) Paul Signac Saint Tropez it is a stunning example of his work and we will see what the bids go up to.

Christies have managed to include two works by Giovanni Boldini, which is great to see lots 27 and 29 and not too expensive for such an accomplished artist.

My favourite though is lot 25 Felix Vallotton it’s small and expensive but what a wonderful subject with the child kicking her foot out.

There are more works in both auction house day sales and even though with not so high-ticket prices they are easily affordable.

The secret of visiting these auctions is enjoying them as a mixed show. If you are thinking of buying take advice and remember make sure you decide your maximum bid price before you enter the auction. When the adrenalin kicks in and the atmosphere of the room its quite easy to get carried away and also don’t forget the buyers premium on top its quite hefty these days.

There are other options of buying privately, without the pressure of an auction deadline, so take your time and for further information please visit my website.

Happy bidding Iain M Brunt www.antiques.co.uk
www.artadvisor.ch

London hosts some major sales of impressionist art and here are a few guidelines what to look out for:

Sotheby’s have the least this time but their big flagship work is by Claude Monet Lot 6 Le Palais Ducal. Although not very large this picture is expected to fetch over 20 million pounds. It’s a superb example of his work and one of my special artists whom I have studied over the years.

Christies have maybe a wider choice with a lot of works by Degas but this flagship lot (estimate on request so you need a fat wallet) Paul Signac Saint Tropez it is a stunning example of his work and we will see what the bids go up to.

There are more works in both auction house day sales and even though with not so high-ticket prices they are easily affordable.

The secret of visiting these auctions is enjoying them as a mixed show. If you are thinking of buying take advice and remember make sure you decide your maximum bid price before you enter the auction. When the adrenalin kicks in and the atmosphere of the room its quite easy to get carried away and also don’t forget the buyers premium on top its quite hefty these days.

There are other options of buying privately, without the pressure of an auction deadline, so take your time and for further information please visit my website.

Happy bidding Iain M Brunt www.antiques.co.uk
& www.artadvisor.ch

My other choice is the small Egon Schiele lot 9 Trieste fishing boat it has a wonderful history and for me invites you into a voyage of discovery.

They also have a good selection of surrealist works making a further part to their evening auction, which will be interesting to see how they perform

Christies have managed to include two works by Giovanni Boldini, which is great to see lots 27 and 29 and not too expensive for such an accomplished artist.

My favourite though is lot 25 Felix Vallotton it’s small and expensive but what a wonderful subject with the child kicking her foot out.