Critics claim art auction houses are the epitome of elitist sophistication, snobbery and skulduggery. And there is more intrigue in a Sotheby’s or Christie’s auction room than there is in the sum of all brothels on the planet. Of course none of this may be true but it makes for a good story.
Sadly for journalists with a nose for scandal, the days when auctioneering made headlines for its shameless theatrics and charismatic swindling are practically over. Ushered in so graciously by notorious cad and founder of Sotheby’s, Peter Wilson, those good old day are gradually being replaced by equally outrageous, but rather less satisfying reports of ‘corporate realignment’, price-fixing and anti-trust anti-trust investigations.
When Peter Wilson purchased New York art auction house Parke Bernet in 1964 it heralded a new era for the art auction industry. Wilson was among the first to recognise that auctioneering was ultimately destined to serve beyond the aristocratic interests of its discreet European and American clientele. After years of dealing behind closed doors Wilson opened up the auction business to new markets in Asia and among the nouveau riche. Wilson pioneered the new breed of auction house that courted publicity and sold works by contemporary artists. Art auctions began making headlines in the U.S.A. and abroad, and prices soon shot up.
Parke Bernet morphed into Sotheby’s, by which time Christie’s, the other giant of the art auction universe, was reconstituted in much the same way as its major rival. Both had offices across the world and an ever-growing list of staff providing the highest standards of service to VIP clients. The cost of maintaining such a business model were enormous and coupled with dwindling supplies of works for sale (something that was unthinkable before the expansion of the industry began in the 60’s) meant that, in today’s parlance, the business model was not sustainable. Illegal activities were called for, and embraced, to ensure their survival.
Classic tales of corruption abound. No more eloquently told than in former society art-dealer, Tod Volpe’s spilling-the-beans memoirs.
The extent of foul play in the arts world reaches its terrible pinnacle in the smuggling of ancient artefacts which continue to surface at major auction houses today, and no amount of incarceration seems likely to stop the practice.
Volp’s allegations and happenings such as the criminal trial, of Sotheby’s former Chairman A. Alfred Taubman, are a reminder that intrigue and skulduggery is still a part of art auctioneering, yet the veneer of sophistication that once masked the protagonists flagrant greed has been rubbed away. Whilst notions of class are as strong as ever, our inclination to defer to those of ‘superior breeding’ is not what it was. This is reflected in the subject matter of contemporary art and by the backgrounds of those artists who make it. Society has changed since Wilson’s day and so has its attitude towards tolerating the criminality of its elite members. The scenario of Sotheby’s chairman appearing in the dock would have been less likely in Wilson’s day, indeed, the fact that he was never arraigned himself is almost tantamount to proof.
It seems inevitable that market forces would predict the future path of art auctioneering, but when the merger between Sotheby’s and online auction giant e-Bay was announced in 2000 it was regarded by many as something of a mismatch Christie’s attempted a similar merger with Amazon in 2000 and so far both have posted disappointing fiscal results. The thinking behind the mergers is that those who have the money are looking for ways to spend it, and online is as good a place to shop as any.
Maria Puente, writing 2000 in USA TODAY, predicted that, “The Web is turning the snooty art world into something approximating a real ‘art democracy.’” At the same time academics are investigating the nitty-gritty of the way art auction houses function.
All this contributes to removing the layers that once made the business so intriguing to a public who never had a hope of peeking through the Establishment doors of the art auction industry. And it is on the other side of those doors where the major sales continue to be generated in the glitzy real-life auction rooms. What’s more that is also where the public fascination will remain as long as there is art available to be sold and rich buyers around to pay astronomical prices for it.
