Michael Findlay, Director of Acquavella Galleries, to Speak at ISA Conference

ISA is pleased to announce that Michael Findlay, Director of Acquavella Galleries will be a keynote speaker at our annual conference, Assets 2014 in Kansas City, April 25-28. 

Findlay will be speaking on the value of fine and decorative arts as he relates accounts from his book “The Value of Art” and through personal knowledge from many years of gallery and auction house specialist experience.

Findlay's presentation at the ISA appraisal conference is timely, as Acquavella Galleries recently set a new record for the highest price paid for a piece of art purchased at auction.  The painting by Francis Bacon, “Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, oil on canvas, in 3 parts, painted in 1969 was offered for sale through Christie’s. It sold to Acquavella for $142.4 million.  The new record topped the previous auction record set at Sotheby’s in 2012 for the Scream by Edvard Munch by over $20 million. A week earlier, Acquavella purchased a Giacometti bronze also the top selling lot at Sotheby's Impressionist Modern sale for $50 million.

$142.4 Million Triptych by Francis Bacon is most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

Bloomberg News reported on the sale “Closely held Christie’s estimated the 1969 Bacon triptych - - three canvases depicting artist Lucian Freud -- at more than $85 million. At least half a dozen competed for it, including two Asian bidders, over six minutes. Acquavella bought it through Lock Kresler, Christie’s head of private sales based in London.”

Michael Findlay was one of the earliest art dealers to establish a gallery in SoHo, New York.  In 1984 Findlay became the Head of Impressionist and Modern Paintings at Christie's and in 2000 became its International Director of Fine Arts. Since 2000 he has been a director at Acquavella Galleries, New York, which in recent years has held major exhibitions of important Impressionist, modern, and contemporary masters.

In addition to his responsibilities at Acquavella Galleries, Findlay is also a noted and acclaimed author. His book “The Value of Art” has been well received by appraisers and the art community while his commentary and expertise on the art market is highly solicited. The newest edition of his book will be published just before the ISA conference and signed copies will be available for purchase.

Visit ISA at www.isa-appraisers.org  for more speaker bios and to register for Assets 2014.

Learn more about Assets 2014!