NEW YORK (ETATS-UNIS)  – Certains marchands d’art achètent des boxes de stockage qu’ils utilisent comme une galerie, afin de réduire leurs coûts et de s’adapter à la crise économique.

A New York, certains marchands d’art n’hésitent pas à troquer leur coûteuse galerie pour un box de stockage moins élégant, mais aussi beaucoup moins onéreux, raconte Bloomberg. Le co-propriétaire de Gardner & Barr’s, Sheldon Barr, raconte pourquoi il préfère exposer les œuvres dans un espace sans fenêtres de 150m² à Cirker Hayes, plutôt que dans son ancienne galerie sur East 60th Street : « pas besoin d’installer un système antivol, on ne paie pas l’électricité et on n’a pas besoin de quelqu’un pour laver les vitres ». Le président de Cirker Hayes, Jack Guttman, fait payer à ses clients l’équivalent de 250 euros par m² pour un an.

Il raconte que deux collectionneurs d’art lui ont confié leurs œuvres, estimées à plusieurs millions de dollars, après les avoir retirées des galeries dans lesquelles elles étaient exposées. L’instabilité financière des galeries effraierait de plus en plus de propriétaires d’œuvres d’art, qui préfèrent la sécurité, la facilité et le moindre coût d’un box dans un entrepôt, qu’ils sont ensuite libres de transformer en showroom. « En ces temps de croissance ralentie, les gens veulent faire des économies », explique Guttman. « Nous leur offrons une alternative ».

John Mullane, qui a acheté l’entrepôt de stockage Transcon International, dans le quartier du Bronx, pour environ 60 millions d’euros il y a un an, prévoit de dépenser 4 millions supplémentaires pour faire des travaux de rénovation et d’aménagement, y installer des technologies de pointe comme une régulateur de température et une cave à vin. « La demande pour du stockage de qualité est forte, car les collectionneurs et les galeries voient leur budget réduire. Nous prévoyons que la récession assurera notre croissance ». Ses locaux abritent notamment les œuvre de quelques 200 clients, et même des Wharol, Hirst ou Prince. artclair.com

Collector Neil Weisman used to visit Gardner & Barr's gallery on East 60th Street for its selection of 19th-century Venetian glass. These days, he and other clients head instead to a nearby storage facility, passing through a long, green corridor with identical doors.

In a windowless “showroom” delicate vases and goblets incongruously twinkle in glass cabinets, and book shelves hold stacks of volumes on Lalique, Tiffany and Venetian mosaics.

“We don't have to pay for a burglary alarm system,” said co-owner Sheldon Barr of the 500-square-foot space at Cirker Hayes. “We don't pay for the electricity. We don't need window washers.” 

While Warhols and Hirsts go unsold at auction, Cirker Hayes and some of its competitors in the specialized field of art and antiques storage are benefiting from the recession.

“In an economy that's slowing, people are looking to save money,” Jack Guttman, president of Cirker Hayes, said. “We provide an alternative.”

In the past month, three more dealers have traded storefronts for storerooms at Cirker Hayes, which charges annual rents of $100 per square foot. And two private collectors pulled their multimillion-dollar artworks from consignment at local galleries they feared were financially unstable and chose to store them instead, his partner Peter Lewis said.

In another sign of the times, a European bank that was shutting down its New York operations leased a room to store 75 paintings, Guttman said.

$80 Million Acquisition

Almost a year ago, Guttman and Lewis acquired Hayes Storage on East 61st Street, and in June they acquired Cirker's Warehouse on West 55th Street to create Cirker Hayes. Together, the facilities provide storage space of 200,000 square feet. The partners, who spent $80 million on the two acquisitions, plan to spend more than $6 million to upgrade the facilities with the latest technology and luxury trappings, such as climate control and a wine cellar.

Bronx-based Transcon International, which specializes in storing, shipping and handling contemporary art, is also benefiting from the recession.

“There is a big demand for high-quality storage now because collectors and galleries are downsizing,” said owner John Mullane. “We foresee that in this downturn we'll continue to grow.

One such client is a major foundation that wants to consolidate its art storage and has agreed to lease a custom- built 3,000 square foot space, Mullane said.

The company charges its clients about $3 to $4 per square foot per month.

Transcon has a high-tech operation centering around a 150,000-square-foot, six-story storage facility. The company bought the building four years ago and renovated four floors, all of which have been rented out.

Storing Warhol, Hirst

Set on a dreary industrial block in the South Bronx, the red-brick, fortress-like building is full of works by Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Richard Prince and hundreds of other established and emerging artists.

Dozens of hidden cameras and motion sensors monitor a visitor's every move through long, wide corridors. The facility looks like a cross between a high-security prison and a new condo development.

Some 200 clients, including Chelsea's Sean Kelly Gallery, museums and private collectors stow away contemporary art troves worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

That's a far cry from 26 years ago when Mullane started his business.

“If someone told me that I'd be storing museum artworks in the South Bronx, I'd say, 'You need a room in Bellevue Hospital,'” he said. “It was not even in the cards.” By Katya Kazakina www.bloomberg.com