Pursuits

Art Collectors and Dealers Seek Forgotten Talents in Hot Market

As prices rise, dealers and collectors seek undervalued pieces

A founding member of France’s New Realism movement, Martial Raysse was well known in the 1960s with shows in New York and Los Angeles. He is most famous for collages based on iconic Old Master paintings and pop-art works that incorporate neon and found objects. After four decades during which he didn't show in the U.S., the artist is enjoying renewed interest from American collectorsPhotograph by Herve Gloaguen/Rapho/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Katya Kazakina

April 10, 2014 at 10:46 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

BusinessWeek Cover Image (14_16, 1600x2398)

This article is part of the April 14, 2014 issue of businessweek.

French artist Martial Raysse hadn’t had a solo U.S. show for more than four decades when his pop paintings of neon-faced beauties went up at the Luxembourg & Dayan gallery in New York last May. To reintroduce the 78-year-old painter to the American market, the gallery produced a hardcover catalog and flew in the artist, his wife, and an assistant for the opening. It hosted a brunch for more than 60 journalists and held a dinner for 30 collectors and curators at Café Boulud (one Michelin star). Of the 32 works on view, only a few pieces were for sale. They all sold—going for $500,000 to $2 million.

Surging prices for postwar and contemporary art are inspiring dealers, collectors, and galleries to rediscover long-overlooked artists whose work is affordable and critically acclaimed. “It’s a function of a global market,” says Wendy Cromwell, board president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors in New York. “Dealers have to have new material all the time.”