Upping the ante
The often glamorous but vaguely understood world of auctions of fine and decorative art, gems, timepieces and classic cars topped US$27 billion in global sales in 2016,
according to Clare McAndrew of Dublin-based Arts Economics. The lion’s share of the lots offered — which were sold in the major art hubs of New York, London, Paris, Geneva and Hong Kong — could be followed and bid upon online. And not surprisingly, most were tendered by the four largest players in this arena.
Christie’s led the pack with auction sales of US$4.4 billion, trailed by Sotheby’s at US$4.25 billion, Bonhams at US$622 million and Phillips at US$500 million. (Interestingly, Dallasbased Heritage Auctions — the largest house in the US, which specialises in coins and sports memorabilia as well as fine art — chalked up auction sales totalling US$850 million in 2016.) All of the houses continue to subscribe to the ‘three D’ mantra of debt, divorce and death to drive the flow of great and not-sogreat items to auction.
A few choice and head-turning works that sold over the past year include Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting Untitled (1982) — which sold to the 41-year-old Japanese e-commerce billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for a record-shattering US$110.5 million at Sotheby’s in May last year — and a stunning 3,000-yearold Shang-dynasty bronze ritual wine vessel from the Fujita
As more business is conducted in cyberspace, major auction houses are modifying their methods to meet the needs of a
new generation of collectors.
Museum in Osaka, which sold at Christie’s New York last March for US$37.2 million.
Christie’s also sold a rare-to-market 1891 Claude Monet, Meule (Grainstack), in November 2016 in New York for a record US$81.4 million, while Phillips (in association with watch expert Bacs & Russo) sold a stainless-steel Patek Philippe Ref 1518 perpetual-calendar chronograph wristwatch with moon phase from 1943 in Geneva in November 2016 for US$11.1 million — a record for any watch sold at auction. In fact, the timepiece ignited a bidding war that lasted 13 minutes, not the usual 60 seconds it takes for a single lot to sell or fail on the block. Last August, at Bonhams’ Quail Lodge classic-car sale in Monterey, a silver-hued, single-owner 1995 McLaren F1 supercar with less than 16,000km on the odometer raced to a record US$15.6 million. Behind each of these milestone moments stands the decision of a savvy collector who either saw or stumbled upon a unique opportunity. In the case of the Basquiat, for example, Jerry and Emily Spiegel — the parents of the New Yorker who sold the skull painting — acquired it in 1984 for US$19,000 and kept it cloistered in their apartment until their deaths within months of each other in 2009. The prospect of such returns on investment continues to entice wealthy players to vie for trophy works in the hope of reaping huge rewards.
Robb Report sat down with four of the auction industry’s top CEOs to gather their perspectives on what factors are driving the market now and what steps are being taken to attract the next generation of global collectors — especially from the wealthgenerating countries of Asia.
“Asia continues to be a priority
and a crucial foundation step for developing our business.”
says Tad Smith