Market share is up at Sotheby’s. They’re making money and so are their clients. So what’s up with those scandals of a few years ago?
A recent quarterly result (Sotheby’s Swings to Profit – New York Times -
Download file)
for Sotheby’s showed it’s largest profit since 1998 – revenue had more than doubled. Shares paid a good dividend. Sales rose to $106.4 million. This is money in the bank for lots of investors. And yet only a few years ago it seemed as though everyone was asking - what happened to the gentlemen/women at Sotheby’s and/or Christie’s?
Nevertheless, there is plenty to talk about, as Carter B. Horsley would have it. His long-winded article written six years ago is called Auction Angst: The anti-trust investigations are looking at fee-fixing, but what about reserves, estimates, guarantees and post-auction sales?
Download file
As the title suggests, it examines other aspects of the auction business that he finds ‘questionable’. Overall, however, nothing really new is uncovered.
It seems though, in 2006, that the scandals involving Diana (DeDe) Brooks and Alfred Taubman have been forgotten as Sotheby’s and Christie’s AND the new players are all posting record results. Is anyone really all that upset about price-fixing? In the U.K. it’s not even classed as a criminal offence. What people really want when they sell their pictures and collectables is the person/company who shows them the money! If that company happens to have charisma and glamour that can only add to the prestige and excitement! Just witness the story written by Marc Spiegler in the New Yorker magazine earlier this year on the mystery buyer of Picasso’s Dora Maar au Chat. Entitled ‘The Hunt for the Red Collector it demonstrates amply that the fabulously wealthy fascinate as always!
Download file
The scandals that rocked Sotheby’s and Christie’s are well documented on the web. But finding something up to date remains difficult. The articles keep coming up from the beginning of the decade. The eventual demise of Sotheby’s and Christie’s was predicted. But now, people are just getting on with selling their art often with mind-blowing results.
The question remains – do people look for, well let’s just call them ‘gentlefolk’? As shares soar, and sales are returning record results for many, with whom do they choose to conduct their business?
It seems the big two or three auction houses all have their supporters. Tradition appeals to some people as does newness to others. Price-fixing means that people will look for factors other than just the best deal. Prestige, glamour and excitement will always play a part in the auction world. And some people still want to deal with ‘gentlefolk’ when it comes to their pictures. It’s art after all, which to many, still represents old-fashioned luxury. If it wasn’t for the huge amounts of money involved one could be forgiven for thinking it’s all fun and games. As Horsley points out – ‘auctioneers are the great performers of the art world.’ So let the show go on.