Christie's is the most successful auction in the world. Auction History Christies Auction House christies

Recently, such a phenomenon as art auctions has been increasingly affecting cultural life around the world. The world's largest media (newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and online publications) are filled with sensational auction news. These messages and numerous comments attract much more public attention than publications about unique exhibitions of masterpieces of art and news from the largest museums in the world.

Auctions (lat.auctio - sale at public auction) is a common way to sell goods on the basis of a competition among buyers. Auctioneers perfectly take into account human psychology and rely on excitement, in which buyers by inertia inflate the price to the delight of auctioneers and sellers.

Everything is sold at auctions (antiques, paintings, land, real estate, stocks, vintage wine, celebrity letters, jewelry, and even children's drawings). At the same time, a variety of problems are effectively solved: from purely commercial to charitable ones.

It is believed that auctions existed already in the 5th century BC. e. in Ancient Babylon (they sold girls in marriage) and in Ancient Rome. With the fall of the Roman Empire, auctions were closed and only reappeared in France in the 13th century. The emergence of the modern type of auctions is historically associated with the Netherlands, where in 1599 the first book auction in Europe was held. The auction sale of books was picked up by England (in 1676), which became the birthplace of the largest auction houses in the world. In developed countries, there are now auction houses in almost every major city. There are several types of auctions, but the main ones are "English" ("ascending") and "Dutch" ("descending").
The English auction is based on setting a minimum price for further bidding, during which the price gradually increases, and the thing goes to the one who set the highest price (this is how, for example, both the largest auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's work).

The Dutch auction starts with a very high price and is conducted with its gradual decrease. The thing or product goes to the one who was the first to "intercept" the lowered price. This form is actively used now, for example, at auctions of tulips or fish, that is, where something needs to be sold quickly.

The larger the auction house, the more versatile its activities (from antiques and fine art to collectible cars and musical instruments). Trades sometimes take place several times a day, including in on-line mode, and begin to resemble stock exchanges, although the turnover is still incomparable.

Antiques, paintings, graphics and sculpture are the core of any major art auction. This is, as a rule, a secondary art market, that is, it sells not new works, but what was created earlier, then bought or inherited.
One of the most determining factors for a successful auction is a preliminary evaluation of the proposed works. In addition to general fashion, the place of the author in the history of art, genre, technique, rarity and safety of the work, its price is affected by the so-called. provenance of the painting (English provenance - origin, source). This is a kind of "biography" of the work: the author, the date, in which collections it was, at which exhibitions it was exhibited. Provenance is usually given in auction catalogs to confirm the authenticity of the exhibit. An interesting provenance can significantly raise the price bar of the auction.

Each auction offers detailed instructions for sellers and buyers. Usually the auction is accompanied by a pre-auction exhibition, which opens a few days before the auction.

A catalog is prepared for each auction, which can be purchased or viewed on the auction website. The catalogs already contain information about specific lots (individual objects or groups of objects offered for sale as indivisible units), as well as a pre-sale price range, within which a particular lot is expected to be sold.

To participate in the auction, those wishing to make a purchase must register and receive a token. If the client cannot be present during the auction, he can make a purchase by phone or leave a written application in advance, which indicates the maximum price that he is willing to pay for a particular lot.

The lucky buyer should keep in mind that the price in the auction room (eng. "hammer price" - the price after the blow of the hammer) is less than the actual purchase price: it will be necessary to pay commission to the auction, as well as various taxes accepted in the country in which the auction takes place. bargaining.

About the two "whales" of the auction, the oldest English houses "Sotheby's" and "Christie's", today, perhaps, everyone knows. The auction house Sotheby's (eng. Sotheby's) was founded over 260 years ago in London.
The date of his birth is 1744, and the founder is Samuel Baker. He began with the book trade and quickly amassed a solid capital. In 1767, Samuel's nephew, John Sotheby's, started working for the firm. After Baker's death, the firm became known as Sotheby's. Gradually, purchasing lots at its auctions began to be considered a sign of good taste and a guarantee of serious investments. The central halls of Sotheby's are located in London on the elegant New Bond. It is here that spectacular performances worth hundreds of millions of dollars are played out. Sotheby's entry into the international scene was the creation in 1955 of a branch in New York. Then a large network of branches was created around the world (in Paris, Los Angeles, Zurich, Toronto, Melbourne, Munich, Edinburgh, Johannesburg, Housten, Florence, etc.).

In 1990, the turnover of all branches of Sotheby's reached more than 2 billion dollars.
The whole history of Sotheby's is a brilliant evidence that selling works of art is profitable, prestigious and promising.

One of the first markets for fine arts was captured by another major auction house, Christie's, whose history began on December 5, 1766, when its founder, a former naval officer, James Christie, opened the first auction. Soon he already owned premises in London with an auction room specially built for him.

It is believed that it was here that the largest auctions of the 18th and 19th centuries took place. And by the way, none other than James Christie himself acted as an intermediary in the sale of the famous collection of paintings by Sir Robert Walpole, who is considered the first British Prime Minister, to the Russian Empress Catherine II. This deal laid the foundation for the future Hermitage Museum.

The most important achievement of Sotheby's and Christie's firms in the 20th century was the triumphant sales of works by the Impressionists and contemporary artists. For the first time, it was possible to attract the attention of clients to the art of the new time and turn the works of these masters into expensive lots. Trade in works of art has now become a big business with its own specifics and surprises. In recent years, the two auction giants have managed to pull off some stunning sales that have gone down in business history and set the price level for art objects today. The amazing news of the auctions has become the property of the first pages of the press around the world.

Although today the auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's control up to 90% of the world's auction sales of antiques and art objects, but they, of course, do not exhaust the variety of auction houses in the world. There are several other important “players” on this market, such as the oldest auction house in Germany “Kunsthaus Lempertz” (Cologne), the temple of French auctioneers “Hotel Drouot”, the famous Austrian auction house “Dorotheum” and others.
It is safe to say that new sensations at the auction will not take long, and we will once again be witnessing intriguing events in the art world.

Twice a year, Christie's auction house arranges an auction of Russian art in London, and the rest of the time it is proud of the records set on them and tirelessly recalls the connection with our country, which was formed back in the 18th century. Then the founder of the house, James Christie, helped Empress Catherine II to acquire the collection of Sir Robert Walpole, which formed the basis of the State Hermitage collection. Since then, Russia's friendship with Christie's has only grown stronger

Having fallen into Christie's headquarters on King Street, we had no idea how everything was arranged in it, and even more so we could not imagine that under our feet, firmly standing on the patterned carpet in the foyer, there was a large vault with Russian art While the cultural population of Moscow dreams of looking behind the scenes of the Pushkin Museum, the Hermitage or the Tretyakov Gallery and does not have such an opportunity, and we share their unfulfilled desires, foreign museums, galleries and theaters are more accessible. , which is the same as the costume room of the Bolshoi Theater or the Ansaldo workshop in Milan, where they create monumental scenery for the performances of La Scala. If the last two places are periodically taken with excursions, and the repository of the RSBI, for example, is even opened to everyone as part of the Library Night, then it is almost impossible to get behind the scenes of one of the oldest auction houses without being involved in it. Christie's showed us the corridors, leaving a section with Russian art for dessert, but, as often happens, they were not allowed to photograph anything. However, after the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, where all things are taken from each visitor at the entrance, including mobile phones, such prohibitions surprise no one.

If you enter the building at 8 King Street and turn left from the main staircase, you will see an iron door that can only be opened with a special pass. Hidden behind it is a small spiral staircase, decorated with posters and posters. Going down underground, to the ground floor, you will find repositories of Russian, Islamic, Indian art, where experts collect lots for the upcoming auction. Before entering each tightly closed room, you experience confusion - as at the moment when the cover covering them is removed from the masterpieces or when the theater curtain is flung open. We met this minute in the company of the head of the Russian art department at Christie's, Sarah Mansfield, who kindly took us through the closed areas.

If in the vault of the Essl Museum in Vienna (we remembered it at the recent Christie's auction, where they sold the collection of the museum's creator, the Austrian Karlheinz Essl), you need to pull the handrails with all your might to bring three-meter stands with German paintings into the light, then miniature in comparison with him, the compartment of Russian art Christie's impresses with its comfort and warm atmosphere. It looks like a small library in an old building from the time of classicism, which can be found, for example, in the Serov Moscow Art School. Canvases by Russian artists are lined up on wooden shelves: Lentulov, Mashkov, Grigoriev. Shelves with Russian books hang above the desks, and enamel figurines, copper utensils, porcelain figurines, lamps and other objects of arts and crafts are scattered nearby. All treasures are at arm's length: there are no glasses or protective shells. "This is a great rarity," Sarah handed me a lamp with a pale pink lampshade, created in the collaboration between Tiffany and Faberge, which in 1901 was acquired by Empress Maria Feodorovna. She showed us some old Russian crockery, then dragged out some oil paintings for the upcoming auction and took one of them into a tiny back room. "Come in" - Sarah closes the door, and we find ourselves in darkness. Here, under the light of an ultraviolet lamp, Christie's experts examine the objects of art that have fallen to them, finding defects and traces of restoration - those that cannot be seen either in daylight or with electricity. In the sky of the landscape that she brought to check, we found a dark spot - which, according to Sarah, means that someone restored the picture a little decades after it was created.When we again went out into the world, the "secret" spot again became invisible.

In other departments of Christie's - all the same impressive warehouses full of sculptures, canvases and stretchers, and only in one room the light is on: constant clicks of the camera shutter come from there. Ancient Chinese vases, paintings by Pablo Picasso, sculptures by Jeff Koons and other art objects necessarily pass in front of the lens of Christie's photographer, who over the years has seen almost more art than all the other employees of the auction house. I recall the photo lab of LIFE magazine, shown in the film "The Incredible Life of Walter Mitty", where the main character, who has been working in his position for 16 years, is immersed in the work of the entire magazine and knows it inside and out. For each of the pictures for the catalog, the photographer takes 60-70 frames and about 20 minutes of work. At the same time, Christie's have as many as six photo studios in a mansion on King Street, where all the main lots are taken.

Results of Russian Weeks - 2014

Christie's experts always talk about the Russian department as the fastest growing. The results of recent years clearly illustrate this. This summer, at the auction of Russian art, Christie's received a record revenue of £24 million, about £200,000 ahead of its main competitor, the oldest auction Sotheby's house. If you look into 2013, then £ 12.4 million was 49% higher than the revenue of similar auctions in 2012.

November 24, 2014 is now a special date in Christie's calendar. On this day, an absolute record was set for a work sold as part of Russian auctions. So, the canvas Valentina Serova "Portrait of Maria Tsetlin" went under the hammer for £9.3 million ($14.5 million). The list of ten top lots also included "Portrait of Alexander Tikhonov" by Yuri Annenkov (purchased for £4 million by a dealer from Russia), two paintings by Boris Grigoriev, Faberge products, a rare Soviet vase produced at the State Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg, and other works of fine and decorative art.

Christie's auction, dedicated to printed matter, in which Russian books were exhibited, was held in South Kensington the next day, November 25. 205 items were put up for sale, including 38 lots with Russian provenance, for example, a translation dedicated to Simon Chikovani Goethe's Faust (by Boris Pasternak), which went under the hammer for £6,875 ($10,766) plus other valuable documents, now the Russian department will be quiet for a while before preparations for the 2015 summer auction begin.

First row

The two main people who promote the Russian department are Alexei Tizenhausen and Sarah Mansfield. Connecting New York, Moscow and London, they have been together for ten years. heads the international department of Russian art at Christie's for 23 years and knows him better than anyone else. Tiesenhausen's track record includes large sales of Faberge collections in the late 1990s, and especially impressive - in 2007, when Christie's managed to sell a Faberge egg from the Rothschild collection for $18.5 million and set a new price record. He also catalogs all works of art that enter the Russian departments, and is a mandatory figure at all Christie's pre-auction openings in Moscow.

visits Russia more often than others: making several business visits a year, she acquired a lot of friends in Moscow, honed her knowledge of the Russian language and acquired important records in her biography. Through the efforts of Mrs. Mansfield, who is mainly engaged in Russian painting, in recent years, Christie's has managed to sell several works of art for record amounts. The most striking example is Natalia Goncharova's "Flowers", which in 2008 went under the hammer for more than $ 10 million, setting a record other major achievements are the sale of paintings by Abram Arkhipov ("On the Market"), Ivan Aivazovsky ("American Ship at the Rocks of Gibraltar") and Konstantin Somov.

Russian context

A whole galaxy of events was timed to coincide with the weeks of Russian auctions in London, which, in addition to Christie's, were also held by Sotheby's, Bonhams and MacDougall's. It is worth noting that neither sanctions nor the general situation in the world prevent the cross year of culture Russia and the UK ended successfully.Interest in Russian culture not only does not fade, but, on the contrary, flares up.The results of this year's auction, as well as the autumn months, which are very Russian for London, and December are proof of this.

London's Pace Gallery, for example, always front-row at art fairs and with ten venues around the world (slightly short of the Gagosian Gallery), on November 25 opened a major exhibition of Olga Chernyshova in one of its spaces. This Moscow artist, famous for her projects at international biennials (in 2001, for example, she represented Russia in Venice), first got into Pace and immediately found herself on Lexington Street, occupying the site for almost two months. Chernyshova works freely in various media, excelling both in graphics, photography and painting, as well as in creating video installations. All genres are mixed together in the London Pace, forming a common canvas that reveals Russia in general and Moscow in particular. Interestingly, in parallel with the London exhibition, Chernyshova is also shown in Antwerp: there her works are mixed with the permanent collection of the museum, and, it is worth noting, they contrast with her no less vividly than the works of Wim Delvoye and the Pushkinsky halls familiar to us.

We also note the opening of a new building of the Russified Phillips auction house in Berkeley Square, the active participation of Russian collectors in the October week Frieze Art Week, the performance of the play "As You Like It" based on Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on the stage of the Barbican Center and other related Russian autumn events.

Perhaps the main Russian event of December was hosted by Charles Saatchi in his gallery. He decided to reconcile Russia with the rest of the world and mixed in one exhibition "Post-pop: the meeting of East and West" the work of artists from the USA, Great Britain, China, Taiwan, Russia and the CIS countries. Thus, AES+F video installations, paintings by Eric Bulatov and Vladimir Dubossarsky, installations by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov are combined with the works of Chinese activist Ai Weiwei, American sculptor Daniel Arsham, iconic post-war artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, as well as exhibits from the British Glenn Brown, Gary Hume, Mark Quinn and many more. Milestones of the 20th century in the works of artists of that time and their echoes in contemporary art can be studied from November 26 to February 23, 2015.

Auction house Christie`s is currently the largest in the world in terms of turnover. Named after its founder, James Christie (James Christie), who held his first auction in London on December 5, 1766. From the very beginning, Christie's house had an installation for the elite of the enterprise and the desire for leadership, which was largely determined by the list of high-ranking clients And the house has something to be proud of: members of the royal family and the aristocracy often sent their collections here, and even the values ​​\u200b\u200bof the British national heritage, as well as paintings by most of the great European artists: impressionists, modernists, cubists, were often exhibited as lots. - XVIII and XIX centuries, when the famous Christie held the largest auctions of that time.It was the representatives of this auction house who negotiated with Empress Catherine the Great on the sale of Sir Robert Warpole's collection, which later formed the basis of the Hermitage exhibition.

The most expensive painting by Vincent Van Gogh "Portrait of Dr. Gachet", sold in May 1990 for more than 80 million dollars. In July 2001, the work of Pablo Picasso from the "blue period" series - "Woman with Crossed Arms" - left for $55 million, twice its starting price. Another 6 buyers claimed for the masterpiece, ready to pay $ 32 million for it. A similar situation developed in 1940 with Matisse's painting "Persian Dress". She managed to sell for $17 million, while the initial cost was just under $12 million.

Christie's auction house is one of the most respected auction organizers. Together with Sotheby's auction house, it occupies 90% of the world market for auction sales of antiques and art objects. Its annual turnover is 1.5-2 billion dollars. Today, Christie's offers its numerous clients the work of masters whose paintings adorn the expositions of many museums around the world, as well as rare books, cars, cigars, collectible wines and other valuables. Christie's is an elite auction house, and therefore it is very sensitive to its reputation. All lots are provided with expert evaluation, so the number of scandals associated with this house is minimal.

Christie`s, at every opportunity, does not forget to note that its ties with Russia go back to the 18th century, when James Christie helped Empress Catherine II with the acquisition of the famous collection of Sir Robert Walpole, rightly considered one of the key collections of the State Hermitage. Christie's worldwide sales in 2006 were £2.51 billion ($4.67 billion). Christie's has over 600 sales (ie 2 times a day on average) across 80 categories, including fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photography, furniture, watches, wine, cars, and more. Christie`s has 85 offices in 43 countries on all five continents, and also has 14 own sales areas (salerooms), including London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Dubai , Hong Kong. Recently, the house has shown its activity in emerging markets - in Russia, China, India, the United Arab Emirates. Christie`s has a permanent Russian department and prestigious Russian sales (Russian Sales). As acknowledged by the house itself, Russian trading continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of the international market.

In 2006, turnover reached $54.9 million; several new records were set. “In the late 1890s, Russia's participation in international exhibitions allowed hitherto unknown Russian works to appear in America. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first wave of Russian immigrants brought with them a huge number of works of art, which was repeated every time with each new wave of immigration throughout the 20th century. Nostalgia and interest in Russian culture, instilled in the Russian intelligentsia from their youth, forced them to buy back their national treasure - a process that is now continuing on a larger scale, ”said a leading specialist in the Russian department of Christie`s in New York in a recent interview with Kommersant newspaper. York, Elena Harbik. The Russian department of Christie`s annually holds sales in April (New York) and November (London). Icons are regularly sold at a separate auction in London.

Sweet-tongued liar: the golden era of Christie's house

We know about the founder of Christie's house only in general terms. It is known that James Christie was born in the Scottish city of Perth in 1730 to a Scottish mother and an English father. After a short service in the Royal Navy, the young man began working as an auctioneer's apprentice in Covent Garden - the fashionable area of ​​London at that time.

A few years later, believing that he had gained enough experience, Christy takes a risky step and opens his own auction house on Pall Mall. The choice of location was made with prophetic foresight. Several decades will pass, and this street will become a symbol of luxurious life - the focus of gentlemen's clubs and art centers in London. Christie's first auction took place on December 5, 1766. The net proceeds from the sale of the lots, among which was the wine, amounted to 76 pounds 16 shillings and six pence. Thus began more than two hundred years of history of the world's largest auction house.

Things immediately went smoothly. James Christie, it seemed, was born like that - with a wooden hammer in his hands. Possessing a special charm and the gift of persuasion, he could sell everything - from a kitchen pot to an extra coffin, for which he earned the nickname "Sweet Liar" from the wits. After several years of successful sales, the auction house has already dealt with the works of venerable European artists and "old masters" of painting. And Christie himself moved to a new office at 125 Pall Mall, becoming a neighbor of Thomas Gainsborough, who later painted (like Sir Joshua Reynolds) a portrait of the auctioneer.

Having changed owners several times, the portrait of James Christie found an owner in the person of the famous American industrialist Jean Paul Getty, who bought the painting for 26,500 dollars in 1938. This was the first major acquisition in the field of art by the founder of the Getty Museum.

Courage and natural talent Christie was enough for a successful start. But much more was needed to survive in the difficult world of London business. And Christie managed to see in his business a niche that no one had managed to occupy before him - the auctioneer relied on contemporary art. And I didn't guess. The fact is that in Britain at that time there was not a single exhibition hall in which the viewer could get acquainted with the artwork of his contemporaries. Therefore, the place where you could see the paintings of Landseer, Rosetti or Sargent was the Christie auction house.

Another successful move was the installation on the elitism of the enterprise. This was largely determined by the list of high-ranking clients. Over the history of Christie's, members of the royal family and the aristocracy often sent their collections here, and even the values ​​\u200b\u200bof the British national heritage were exhibited as lots. It was representatives of this auction house who were invited as experts to negotiate with the Russian Empress Catherine the Great on the sale of Sir Robert's collection Warpole, which later formed the basis of the Hermitage exhibition.The collection was sold for a phenomenal sum at that time - 40 thousand pounds sterling.

But the apogee of the golden era of the auction was, oddly enough, the French Revolution: Paris, the main art market of that time, was destroyed, and whole streams of the precious heritage of the French aristocrats poured into Britain - gold, painting, everything that was of any value. The revolutionary government of France even turned to Christie's with an offer to help sell the legendary jewelry collection of the mistress of Louis XV, Countess Dubarry, who died on the scaffold in 1793. James Christie himself outlived the countess by only 10 years. "Sweet-tongued liar" died in 1803 , and his son, James Christie Jr., became the head of the company.

The wind of change

The era of the industrial revolution meant for Christie's new realities to which it was necessary to adapt. Firstly, aristocratic buyers were replaced by tycoon buyers: American nouveau riches such as Andrew William Mellon or John Pierpont Morgan became the main players in the art market. The auctioneers dreamed of big profits, which means it was time to expand the business. In 1823, Christie's moved to its new home on King Street 8 (the company's London office is located here to this day).

Christie's The room reserved for auctions seemed huge. They called it the Great Hall. According to legend, its plan was conceived in the form of a hexagon by James Christie in order to create as many vertical areas as possible on which to place lots eyewitnesses later recalled that the walls of the Great Room were hung with paintings up to the ceiling.

The time of "serious business" also meant that the Christie family gradually began to lose its monopoly in the management of the auction house. In 1831, William Manson joined the company, and in 1859 Thomas Woods became another partner of the auction house, and Christie's changed its name to Christie, Manson and Woods. And 1889 was the last year when the Christie family was still involved in affairs of the auction house of his name - James Christie resigned fourth. Ironically, in the same year, the auction for the first time put up for sale the work of the Impressionists - the main innovators of their time.

Blows of fate

The first half of the twentieth century brought Christie's serious trials. The first blow was the appearance of a new player on the art market - the venerable auction house Sotheby's. Founded two decades earlier than Christie's, he still did not stand in the way of the latter, as he was mainly engaged in selling books. But the era of modernity brought with it new temptations: the heyday of painting meant a good opportunity to earn money, and in 1913 Sotheby "s starts selling paintings. Christie's was seriously scared. In response, he stopped selling his books through Sotheby's and organized his own sales of book collections. Thus began the competition between the two auction houses, which does not stop to this day.

The biggest success of the 20s. was the sale of a portrait of Mrs. Davenport (1782-1784) by the English portrait painter George Romney for £360,900.

But soon Christie's was out of competition. The global economic depression of the 1930s and the consequences of the First World War depleted the art market. As a measure of survival, even the option of merging Christie's and Sotheby's was considered. Nothing came of these discussions - having a well-established base in the USA, Sotheby's gradually won back positions, and the need for unification disappeared.

But the worst blow was not competitors and not even the Great Depression. On April 16, 1941, the premises of the auction house on Kings Street were hit by a bomb. The auctioneers were able to start its renewal only in 1953. For even longer - until 1966 - the company had to abandon the sale of collection wines, which also meant significant financial losses.

New opportunities

Several operational decisions helped the auction house to get back on its feet after the war. Firstly, Christie's from an elite institution, where only the rich had access, turned into a public show. The auction room was literally flooded with cameramen, and the loudest sales were talked about in the news. Auctions became public, attracting everyone to Christie's more clients. In parallel, the management of the auction house hires specialists to create a press office for the company. Then, mastering new technologies was added to the development of the media space. In 1965, Christie's acquired White Bros. Printers for £38,000 and began printing catalogs and other high-quality publications. The effect of all this publicity was immediate: in 1960, Christie's reported sales of 2.7 million pounds sterling, and the following year this figure reached 3.1 million. But a much more important result of such processes was that in the course of commercialization, it was the leading auction houses that began to dictate fashion in art.

The confrontation between Christie's and Sotheby's resumed with renewed vigor in the late 1950s. Companies literally competed in ... reading obituaries, looking for potential objects for sale.

Secondly, despite serious financial difficulties in the post-war period, Christie's was the first among British auction houses to start working on representation in continental Europe, first opening a branch in Rome. Soon the company's offices appeared in several European countries and Christie's focused on America . The auction house also expanded its special interests to include collectible coins and china, and increased its dedicated staff.

Finally, a successful move was the placement of the company's shares on the London Stock Exchange. This immediately brought good results: in five years, Christie's pre-tax profit grew from 139 thousand to 1.1 million pounds. The company remained public from 1973 to 1999 until it became the property of the French multibillionaire Francois Pinault.

Gigantism as a business

The further development of the company cannot be called otherwise than gigantism. Having taken the first step towards worldwide expansion in Rome, a few years later Christie's was already striding by leaps and bounds around the world. Faced with strict laws in Italy restricting the export of art objects, the auction house founded another subsidiary in Geneva - Christie's International SA , and Australia, Japan and Canada were included in the "world capture" plan. In 1977, Christie's opened a sales hall in the famous Delmonico Hotel in New York. A year later, another showroom of the company appeared in the city, and sales in the United States became of paramount importance for the auction house. Finally, Christie's reputation in the States was strengthened in 1980, when Henry Ford II approached the company with an offer to sell 10 paintings from his Impressionist and Modernist collection. It was then that Van Gogh's painting "The Garden of Poets" was sold for a record amount of $5.2 million. Today, Christie's offices are located in 43 countries around the world, and permanent auction rooms operate in London, New York, Paris, Zurich, Milan, Amsterdam, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

In the 70s, public attention was attracted by the sale at Christie's of Coco Chanel's wardrobe of 40 dresses, which brought in £43,250.

All this time, the company continues to set auction records. One of the biggest successes of the 1960s was the sale of Holman Hunt's The Lady of Shalott for $27,950, the largest amount ever paid for a Pre-Raphaelite painting. And the sale in 1965 of the Cook collection (paintings by old masters) finally established the reputation of the auction house. A portrait of Titus, the son of Rembrandt van Rijn, was sold for a sum that exceeded all expectations - $ 2.2 million.

1987 was distinguished by the number of record sales at Christie's auction. In particular, Van Gogh's famous painting "Sunflowers" went under the hammer for $ 39.9 million, a pear-shaped diamond weighing 65 carats and a 1931 Bugati Type 41 Royale were sold for $ 6.4 million for $9.8 million

In recent years, the auction house has been paying more and more attention to jewelry. Their solid sales helped Christie's International raise their earnings in the first half of 2008. If the company's total sales revenue rose by 10 percent, then the sale of jewelry, jadeite and watches rose by 34 percent and revenue from them amounted to $275 million.

Recipe for the crisis

The global economic crisis that began in the third quarter of 2008 brought Christie's a 19% drop in sales (the main competitor, Sotheby's, had a 15% drop). Nevertheless, the auction house in 2008 sold 629 works of art for amounts exceeding one million dollars. The best lot was Claude Monet's Water Lilies, which went under the hammer for 80.5 million. The second position in the top ten most expensive works was taken by the triptych of Francis Bacon - 51.7 million, the third - the painting "No. 15" by Mark Rothko (50.4 million). The total result of trading for the year amounted to 5.1 billion dollars. And in early 2009, the auction house won a competition with Sotheby's for the right to put up for auction the art collection of Yves Saint Laurent. Experts estimated this meeting at 300 million euros. Bidding, which the French press has already managed to call the "auction of the century", will be held in the Paris Grand Palais on February 23-25. On the eve of them, the director of the department "Art of Impressionism and Modernism" Christie's Matthew Stevenson voiced his recommendations for collectors and investors in a crisis: "In difficult times, always buy the best."

Interesting Facts

* In 1962, as the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated, the company's CEO, Peter Chance, surreptitiously entered Cuba, trying to find the auction property, which had been nationalized in 1959 after Castro came to power. And although the evaluation committee arrived with a catalog of valuables, their efforts were unsuccessful.

* In the late 60s, five years after the failure in Cuba, Christie's was able to establish successful trade relations with the USSR, selling 1,700 cutlery from a dinner service made in 1830, formerly owned by Tsar Nicholas I, for the amount of 65,751 pounds ($ 193 308).

* In January 1967, on the 200th anniversary of its founding, Christie's organized a huge exhibition. About 60 of the most famous paintings that were in the auction walls were borrowed from the owners and put on public display. The total cost of these works, including a portrait of the founder of the company brush Gainsborough, was about $ 5 million.

* At the end of 2008, representatives of Christie`s named the market of ... icons among the most promising, because there are more and more potential buyers, people from countries where Orthodoxy is accepted.

* In November 2008, Christie's brought its masterpieces to Kiev: 18 paintings by old masters, Russian and Ukrainian contemporaries, among which are works by Canaletto, Frans Hals, Natalia Goncharova and Kazimir Malevich. The highlights of the exhibition were unanimously recognized as two works by Canaletto - "St. Mark's Square in Venice" and "View of the Grand Canal in Venice". The cost of each of them is at least 4 million euros. Ukrainian painting, except for Malevich, was represented by the works of David Burliuk.

*In February 2009, a nude photo of Madonna taken by Lee Friedlander for Playboy magazine in 1979 was sold at Christies for $37,500.

The auction house Christies, at every opportunity, does not forget to note that its ties with Russia go far back to the 18th century, when James Christie helped Empress Catherine II with the acquisition famous collection of Sir Robert Walpole, rightly considered one of the key collections of the State Hermitage. Sales Christies makes over 600 sales (ie 2 times a day on average) across 80 categories, including areas such as fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photography, furniture, watches, wine, cars, and more. Christies has a permanent Russian department and the prestigious Russian Sales. As acknowledged by the house itself, Russian trading continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of the international market. In 2006, turnover reached $54.9 million; several new records have been set. “In the late 1890s, Russia's participation in international exhibitions allowed hitherto unknown Russian works to appear in America. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first wave of Russian immigrants brought with them a huge number of works of art, which was repeated every time with each new wave of immigration throughout the 20th century. Nostalgia and interest in Russian culture, instilled in the Russian intelligentsia from their youth, forced them to buy back their national treasure - a process that is now continuing on a larger scale, ”said in a recent interview with the Kommersant newspaper a leading specialist in the Russian department of Christies annually sells in April (New York) and November (London). Icons are regularly sold at a separate auction in London.

The first Sotheby's auction took place on March 11, 1744. It sold rare books. At the moment, Sotheby's is another largest universal auction house: more than 100 Sotheby's offices around the world on all five continents. Sotheby's have become the first to conduct auctions on the Internet. Also, Sotheby's has long been the auction leader in the category of contemporary art, the main sales of which take place in New York in May and November, in London in February and June. It is noteworthy that it was Sotheby's auction that held the first auction of Russian avant-garde and Soviet nonconformist art in Moscow 1988. It is also worth mentioning the recent first sensational Sotheby's London auction (February 15, 2007) of contemporary Russian art, which set world records and brought to international auction market of many Russian contemporary artists. The next sales of Russian contemporary art are scheduled for 2008.
Sotheby's also has permanent Russian departments in London and New York. They offer art from the mid-18th century to the present day - Wanderers, World of Art, Jack of Diamonds, Russian Futurism, Russian avant-garde, contemporary art. Sales also include Faberge items, items from the Imperial Porcelain Factory, jewelry, silverware and icons.On average, auctions are held twice a year in London and New York.

The third largest and most versatile auction house in the world. It was formed in 1793 by the famous engraving dealer Thomas Dodd and book antiquarian Walter Bonham and expanded by the middle of the 19th century. Today, Bonhams trades in 70 categories, including paintings, cars, musical instruments, wines, carpets and design objects. The auction house holds over 700 sales worldwide. Bonhams has auctions in the US (Bonhams & Butterfields) and Australia (Bonhams & Goodmans).

The largest and most respected auction house in German speaking countries, Dorotheum in 2007 celebrates the 300th anniversary of its founding. Founded in 1707 by Emperor Joseph I, in this sense, the oldest of the world's major auctions. Dorotheum averages about 600 auctions a year. In addition to Vienna, where the headquarters is located, it has representative offices in a number of Austrian cities (Salzburg), as well as in Milan and Prague.

Relatively young, MacDougall's is the only auction house that specializes exclusively in Russian fine art. Auction sales in 2006 rose to US$10 million. The auction house trades in paintings and other works of art from the 18th century to the present day and has set several records for Soviet nonconformist art. The head office is located in London, there are offices in Paris, Moscow and Kyiv. Auctions are held on average twice a year.

Stockholm Auction House (Stockholms Auktionsverk)

The oldest auction house in the world was founded in 1674 in Stockholm. On average, it holds 75 auctions per year. Operates only in Sweden, has offices in Gothenburg and Malmö. Specialized Russian auctions are held at least once a year. Also, Russian things can often be found at auctions selling European fine and applied art of the 19th-20th centuries.

Uppsala auction was formed in 1731, it is the third largest auction in Sweden and the largest outside of Stockholm. Among the traditional sales of art of the XVIII-XIX centuries, Russian names are often found. Among the important paintings sold in the fall of 2006, the house highlights Ivan Shishkin, Ilya Repin, Alexei Kharlamov and others.

The Bukowskis auction house was founded in 1870 in Sweden by an emigrated Polish nobleman Henryk Bukowski. Between 1870 and 1940, he made several important sales of collections of royal origin, thanks to which the house gained a worldwide reputation. It is the leading auction house in Scandinavia and has offices all over the world. Swedish Bukowskis holds four main auctions a year. Two of them, spring and autumn Bukowskis Modern Sales are dedicated to modernist and contemporary art, including design objects, furniture, silver, glass. The nearest spring sale is April 24-27, autumn - October 30-November 2. Two other auctions, spring and autumn, Bukowskis International Sales are dedicated to old masters, the 19th century, antiques, furniture, carpets, jewelry, etc. The nearest spring sale is May 29-June 1, autumn - November 27-30.
In 1979, an office was opened in Finland, which quickly became the leading auction house in that country, holding over 100 auctions a year. As acknowledged by the house itself, thanks to the common history of Finland and Russia, there are many Russian works of art in the catalogs of both auctions.

France is another country where, for historical reasons, there are a lot of Russian things on the art market. One of the biggest auction houses Tajan organizes Russian auctions at least twice a year

On April 15 and 16, 2013, two leading auction houses in New York hosted interesting auctions of Russian antiques, which will be discussed in the new material on-line Magazine Elegant New York.

A long train of history and a slight veil of mystery colors our attitude to auctions in romantic tones. The personalities of those who, visiting the auctions, leave there many-valued sums, knowingly acquiring antiques and art objects, are intriguing and arouse interest. The assertion seems indisputable to us that this world belongs only to very, very wealthy people. But, like any stereotype, this point of view is only partially true.

It is not at all necessary to look up to the King of Qatar, who, not so long ago, was lucky enough to purchase a painting by Paul Cezanne “Card Players” for 300,000,000. He, without hesitation, paid a sum that had never been paid before in the world for any work of art. But, as they say, Caesar is Caesar's, God's is God's, ... and to each his own.

The turnover of the world's leading auctions cannot but impress - according to Bloomberg, in 2012 the total value of the 10 most expensive art objects was $594.6 million, which is 44% higher than in 2011 ($413.6 million).

And statistics, as they say, is a stubborn thing and you don't have to be a king to agree with leading financial experts - investing in works of art and antiques, these days, brings in more significant returns than investing in, say, real estate. And who among us over the past 15-20 years has not thought of investing in an apartment or land?

The latest economic crisis in the world showed that bank deposits, real estate, securities are far from being disputed as a means of preserving and multiplying capital, but unique antiques are always valuable. Moreover, in the modern world, collecting antiques and works of art is not the prerogative of only rich people, everyone can find their niche here. It is not without reason that now there is an intensive growth of interest of ordinary people who consider themselves to be "middle class" in investments in antiques and art.
After thinking about this phenomenon, I decided to visit the New York auction houses. True, for the time being, not for the purpose of investment, but with the firm intention to see what's what, and how everything is going.

The history of auctions began in the 18th century. One wait, 1707, to the Austrian Emperor Joseph I came up with the idea of ​​selling art by auction to the highest bidder. These first auctions formed the basis of the oldest auction house Dorotheum. Soon, having picked up the original and profitable idea of ​​the Austrian monarch, English auction houses were created, now famousSotheby's (sotheby‘ s) AndChristie (Christie` s).

Christie ( Christie ’ s) - auction houseEngland, founded in London in 1766. It is believed that it was Christie ’ s turned the auction process into a kind of art. Here were the most important auctions XVIII And XIX centuries. None other than James Christie, founder of the House, brokered the sale of an outstanding collection of paintings by Robert Walpole, the English Prime Minister, to Empress Catherine II. These paintings became the beginning of the Hermitage museum collection.

Sotheby's ( sotheby ’ s) – appeared a little earlier than Christie ( Christie ’ s) - however, for more than a century and a half, the company was engaged in the sale of rare books and did not expand the scope of its activities. First painting auction sotheby ’ s held only in 1917, and in the middle of the 20th century it entered the international level and since then the two London houses have been leading and competing in the painting and antiques market.

Exactly, these two auction houses became the goal of one of my New York walks. Moreover, on April 15 and 16, both Houses held auctions of Russian art objects of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including rare items from the Faberge jewelry company. These auctions were included in the spring program Russian Works of Art auctions Sotheby's (sotheby‘ s) AndChristie (Christie` s) .

As you know, auction houses produce high-quality catalogs for all their auctions, in the preparation of which several hundred experts take part. Such catalogs provide comprehensive information about the items for sale, and they are rightly called illustrated sales guides. Arriving at the Rockefeller Center, where the Christie's auction house is located (you can enter it from 49th street) and armed with such a catalog, I went to inspect the collection.

Before each auction, the auction house sets up an exhibition, which shows all the lots. Such an exhibition lasts 5-6 days and everyone can visit it for free. As a rule, the exhibited collections are worthy of the best museums and consist of unique items owned by private individuals. Moreover, most of these things for a long time, or never at all, were not exhibited to the general public, except perhaps before the previous sale at auction. Viewing such a collection is extremely interesting: the showrooms are spacious and, as a rule, not crowded, and the knowledge that the things in front of you are collected together and available for viewing only for a very short time gives rise to a pleasant feeling of exclusivity.

Moreover, unlike the museum, where vigilant grandmothers constantly repeat: “do not touch with your hands”, here elegant young people kindly offer to open a showcase and let them hold it in their hands in order to carefully examine any of the items on display, whether it is a Faberge snuff box, or a medallion Nicholas II in an elegant frame adorned with diamonds.
This time, 166 lots were put up at the Christie's auction. Products, many of which belonged to the royal family or their immediate circle, are made of silver, bronze, gold, and many of them bear the Faberge brand. Cigarette cases, caskets, photo frames, lorgnettes, snuffboxes, mouthpieces, animal figurines, figurines, cutlery, dishes, vases, letters, postcards, telegrams - such a set of everyday things, for the past centuries, was put up for sale.

At the auction, each product has a range of estimated prices, which are set by the expert, having previously agreed with the seller. If none of the buyers gives the minimum specified price, the lot is withdrawn from the auction. It happens that the lot goes beyond the price lying in the range named by the expert, but more often it significantly exceeds the upper limit. As, for example, happened at the auction on April 15: a silver dish with partial gilding, decorated with an engraved and embossed silver napkin that emits silk lace, was sold for $62,500, with an estimated price of $4,000-$6,000.

It is interesting that everyone can attend the auction without an appointment, but in order to participate in the auction, in order to purchase something, you must register via the Internet. And, probably, documents certifying your solvency will be required. Therefore, if you are not ready to buy yet, then you should just come and see how the auction takes place. In this action, there is definitely grace, excitement and drama.

This time the auction was very successful, almost everything was sold out.

For clarity, here are a few examples of lots put up at the Christie's auction on April 15, 2013.

The central and most expensive lot was a pink presentation porcelain vase of 1908, with the initials of Emperor Nicholas and Empress Alexandra, decorated with silver handles in the form of Faberge griffins, from a New York private collection, made for an important gift, but remained in the vault of Nicholas's office II. Later, it was acquired by an American, India Early Minshall. Since then, the vase has been sold at auction several times, and its value during the sale has increased each time.

She was sold for $483,750 with an estimated maximum price of $250,000.

A folder with letters and telegrams from the Grand Dukes Maria Alexandrovna and Alexander Alexandrovich, including letters to Countess Tolstoy, was sold for $43,750, and several folders with similar letters did not find a buyer and were withdrawn from the auction.

Of great interest at the auction was the phaleristic section of the Golden Order of St. Anna, II degree left for $6,000. Vladimir, II degree for $4 500.

A GOLD AND ENAMEL ORDER OF ST. ANNE SECOND CLASS, WITH SWORDS
MARK OF ALBERT KEIBEL WITH THE IMPERIAL WARRANT, ST. PETERSBURG, 1899-1908

Golden Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, I degree.
It was sold for $291,750, and the order chain to it for $315,750.

Icon of the Kazan Mother of God in a gilded silver frame, embroidered with pearls, 1880.
Was sold for $40,000.

The next day, April 16, Russian art and European silver of the 19th and early 20th centuries were auctioned Sotheby's (Sotheby ’ s) , which is located in Upper Manhattan on York Avenue and 71 street .

The principle of sales is the same here, but the size and scope of this auction house in New York is much larger. 400 lots were put up for sale. The exhibition is located in several large halls, and it took a couple of hours to properly examine it.

Simultaneously with the exhibition of Russian art and European silver, in the adjacent halls, a pre-sale exhibition of jewelry called Magnificent Jewelry was held, where platinum and gold jewelry with unique precious stones were put up for auction. Among them was a rather interesting lot No. 387 - Exceptional Pearl-Shaped Diamond, a teardrop-shaped diamond of 74.79 carats, an estimated price of $9,000,000 - $12,000,000, was sold on April 17 for $14,165,000.

Also interesting is lot No. 393 - MAGNIFICENT PAIR OF PLATINUM, FANCY PINK DIAMOND AND DIAMOND PENDANT-EARCLIPS

Platinum earrings with 5.79 and 5.68 ct pink diamonds, 19.25 ct drop-shaped diamonds and marquises.
Pre-sale price: 3,500,000 - 4,500,000, the earrings did not find a buyer and were withdrawn from the auction.

Interestingly, at the auction of Russian Art, the Sotheby's auction on April 16, 2013, the sales prices were much closer to those previously set by experts than at the Christie's auction on April 15.

Eugene Lanceray (1884-1886). Sculptural bronze group “Arab equestrian game.”
Sold for $173,000, with a preliminary price of $140,000-$160,000.

Silver samovar Alexander Cordey, 1869
Sold for $75,000(preliminary estimate $20,000 – $30,000)

Coronation album in 2 volumes, in a leather cover, with black and white photographs and color illustrations of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II. 1899 Sold for $21,250(preliminary estimate $7,000 – $10,000)

Punch set, silver inlaid with enamel. Ovchinnikov. 1899-1908. Sold for $161,000(preliminary price $80,000-$120,000)

The most significant and expensive lot: a desktop portrait of Emperor Nicholas II, framed with diamonds, with a diamond imperial crown, and four monograms. Master Heinrich Wigstrom, artist Vasily Zuev, 1909

Such portraits were among the rarest imperial gifts and were intended only for important and significant people. Under Nicholas II, only nine Russians and nine foreigners were awarded such precious portraits.
Sold for $413,000(preliminary price $200,000-$400,000)

The total amount of sales that day was 5,673,692 USD

It is known that many galleries, salons, shops and stores sell antiques all over the world. But it is auctions that make this market global, that is, interconnected. Thanks to their catalogs, a common database of information about antiques is formed, which allows you to follow the main price trends and to some extent protects the market from fakes.

Quite often, the owners of outstanding antique or artistic rarities, deciding to sell them, resort to the services of an auction, which serves as a certain guarantee for the honesty of the transaction for them and gives them the opportunity to earn good money. Therefore, high-profile and significant events in the field of antiques sales take place precisely at the auctions of the leading auction houses. Thanks to auctions, such lots receive wide publicity, and it is on the basis of their sales that an elite fashion for art objects is formed.

So keeping track of events happening at auctions is interesting and useful, even if you are not going to become a serious collector.

And, even if my story about the New York auction houses did not convince the average citizen of the world of the expediency of investing in antiques, I hope it showed that visiting these places is an exciting and educational leisure, good food for thought, combined with undeniable aesthetic pleasure.

Text by Tatyana Borodina

Any reprint of the text or use of author's photographs is possible only with the permission of the author of the project.