Art Market Ascends as New Bosses Clean House

The refined world of art collecting operates at a level unfamiliar to most. Works worth millions are sold with little ado. Pristine galleries beckon with new offerings.

Corporate America used to fit nicely into this environment. Companies with money to spare and CEOs with a flair for Pollock or Rothko or Van Gogh or Warhol outfitted their headquarters with original works. But as companies strive to become leaner and more focused, art can suffer.

CBS, IBM, Time Warner and others have been sellers of art. Corporate mergers and new managers often raise questions. If the answers aren’t right, expensive paintings and sculptures can get the heave-ho.

“When there is a change of control in the company, the furniture gets changed. Why is it so surprising that the art gets changed?” said Arne Glimcher, chairman of the PaceWildenstein gallery.

PaceWildenstein is handling the sale of seven of 37 CBS works, which together are expected to bring about $10 million. Glimcher sold CBS’ vintage Jackson Pollock “drip painting” within just a few days.

One reason companies are selling big-ticket works is the market is healthier now than any time since the late 1980s. Glimcher, for one, is happy to see new works come to market. The corporations are happy when their art brings big profits.

CBS paid up to $200,000 for the 37 works back in the early 1960s. The Pollock sold by Glimcher (No. 18, 1949) reportedly is worth $3 million. Glimcher would not disclose the sale price.

“The corporation is very happy with the financial return we are receiving,” said Derek Reisfield, director of strategic management for Westinghouse Electric, the parent of CBS. “But we really are focused on media and other assets.”

Is CBS still in the art collection business? “I don’t think we are,” Reisfield said. The recent sale represents the most valuable pieces in CBS’ collection of more than 100 works.

The CBS sale follows the company’s acquisition by Westinghouse in late 1995. A variety of factors can spark a post-merger decision to sell art. There might be less wall space. It may be a matter of difference in taste. It may be a financial decision.

“There’s less need for some of this art, there’s less physical need,” said Judith Jedlicka, president of the Business Committee for the Arts, a nonprofit organization. “And there’re changing tastes.”

Time Warner represents another recent example. After its purchase last year of Turner Broadcasting System, and the elevation of Ted Turner to vice chairman, the sale of the company’s boardroom art was accelerated. Turner has been pushing to cut costs.

IBM sold a large part of its collection about two years ago through the Sotheby’s auction house as it continued to turn itself around under new chairman Lou Gerstner. The works brought $31 million.

“It was a greatly underutilized asset. Most of the stuff was in storage. Nobody was benefiting from the art,” said Scott Brooks, an IBM spokesman. “We just thought it was a better use of the asset to get it back in the public. We didn’t sell everything. Things on the wall stayed on the wall.”

Other examples are out there. Aluminum Co. of America, known as Alcoa, sold a batch of its works through Sotheby’s in 1995. They fetched about $2 million.

While high-profile corporate sales are taking place, due largely to the record pace of mergers and frequent management changes, aficionados note that the appetite for art among the nation’s big companies--particularly for lesser-known, emerging artists--has not dried up.

Chase Manhattan, always an avid collector, has one of the world’s most renowned collections with 15,000 pieces. PaineWebber also remains quite prominent.

“You don’t hear about the acquisitions,” Glimcher said. “You only hear about the sales.”

For example, the CBS sale is being handled by PaceWildenstein and Sotheby’s. Since Sotheby’s sells via auction, the sale by necessity is public. Not all are.

Glimcher would not say who bought the CBS Pollock. But he did explain that as soon as he knew he would have the piece, he called a collector who was in the market for a work by the artist. “It’s material to sell,” he said. “It’s very hard to get good material.”