Christie's
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Art, auctions |
Founded | 1766 |
Founder | James Christie |
Headquarters | London , England |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Revenue | US$6.2 billion (2023)[2] |
Parent | Groupe Artémis |
Website | christies |
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Amsterdam, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai.[3] It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François Pinault.[4][5] In 2022 Christie's sold US$8.4 billion in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house.[6] On 15 November 2017, the Salvator Mundi was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million to Saudi Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, the highest price ever paid for a painting.[7]
History
[edit]Founding
[edit]The official company literature states that founder James Christie (1730–1803) conducted the first sale in London on 5 December 1766,[8] and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766. However, other sources note that James Christie rented auction rooms from 1762, and newspaper advertisements for Christie's sales dating from 1759 have also been traced.[9] After his death, Christie's son, James Christie the Younger (1773–1831) took over the business.[10]
20th century
[edit]Christie's was a public company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, from 1973 to 1999. In 1974, Jo Floyd was appointed chairman of Christie's. He served as chairman of Christie's International plc from 1976 to 1988, until handing over to Lord Carrington, and later was a non-executive director until 1992.[11] Christie's International Inc. held its first sale in the United States in 1977. Christie's growth was slow but steady since 1989, when it had 42% of the auction market.[12]
In 1990, the company reversed a long-standing policy and guaranteed a minimum price for a collection of artworks in its May auctions.[13] In 1996, sales exceeded those of Sotheby's for the first time since 1954.[14] However, profits did not grow at the same pace;[1] from 1993 through 1997, Christie's annual pretax profits were about $60M , whereas Sotheby's annual pretax profits were about $265M for those years.[15]
In 1993, Christie's paid $10.9M for the London gallery Spink & Son, which specialised in Oriental art and British paintings; the gallery was run as a separate entity. The company bought Leger Gallery for $3.3M in 1996, and merged it with Spink to become Spink-Leger.[16] Spink-Leger closed in 2002. To make itself competitive with Sotheby's in the property market, Christie's bought Great Estates in 1995, then the largest network of independent estate agents in North America, changing its name to Christie's Great Estates Inc.[12]
In December 1997, under the chairmanship of Lord Hindlip, Christie's put itself on the auction block, but after two months of negotiations with the consortium-led investment firm SBC Warburg Dillon Read it did not attract a bid high enough to accept.[15] In May 1998, François Pinault's holding company, Groupe Artémis S.A., first bought 29.1 per cent of the company for $243.2M, and subsequently purchased the rest of it in a deal that valued the entire company at $1.2bn.[1] The company has since not been reporting profits, though it gives sale totals twice a year. Its policy, in line with UK accounting standards, is to convert non-UK results using an average exchange rate weighted daily by sales throughout the year.[17]
21st century
[edit]In 2002, Christie's France held its first auction in Paris.[18]
Like Sotheby's, Christie's became increasingly involved in high-profile private transactions. In 2006, Christie's offered a reported $21M guarantee to the Donald Judd Foundation and displayed the artist's works for five weeks in an exhibition that later won an AICA award for "Best Installation in an Alternative Space".[19] In 2007 it brokered a $68M deal that transferred Thomas Eakins's The Gross Clinic (1875) from the Jefferson Medical College at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia to joint ownership by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[20] In the same year, the Haunch of Venison gallery[21] became a subsidiary of the company.[22]
On 28 December 2008, The Sunday Times reported that Pinault's debts left him "considering" the sale of Christie's and that a number of "private equity groups" were thought to be interested in its acquisition.[23] In January 2009, the company employed 2,100 people worldwide, though an unspecified number of staff and consultants were soon to be cut due to a worldwide downturn in the art market;[24] later news reports said that 300 jobs would be cut.[25] With sales for premier Impressionist, Modern, and contemporary artworks tallying only US$248.8M in comparison to US$739M just a year before, a second round of job cuts began after May 2009.[26]
In 2012, Impressionist works, which dominated the market during the 1980s boom, were replaced by contemporary art as Christie's top category. Asian art was the third most lucrative area.[17] With income from classic auctioneering falling, treaty sales made £413.4 million ($665M) in the first half of 2012, an increase of 53% on the same period last year; they now represent more than 18% of turnover.[27] The company has since promoted curated events, centred on a theme rather than an art classification or time period.[28]
As part of a companywide review in 2017, Christie's announced the layoffs of 250 employees, or 12 per cent of the total work force, based mainly in Britain and Europe.[29]
In June 2021, Christie's Paris held its first sale dedicated to women artists, most notably Louise Moillon's Nature morte aux raisins et pêches.[30]
In 2022 Christie's sold $8.4bn in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house.[6][31]
Christie's agreed to acquire American classic car auction house, Gooding & Company, in September 2024.[32]
Commissions
[edit]From 2008 until 2013, Christie's charged 25 per cent for the first $50,000; 20 per cent on the amount between $50,001 and $1M, and 12 per cent on the rest. From 2013, it charged 25 per cent for the first $75,000; 20 per cent on the next $75,001 to $1.5M and 12 per cent on the rest.[33]
As of 2023, Christie's commission (buyer's premium) is 26 per cent of the hammer price of each lot up to £800,000/US$1,000,000, plus 21 per cent of the hammer price from £800,001/US$1,000,001 up to and including £4,500,000/US$6,000,000, and 15 per cent on the rest.[34]
Locations
[edit]As of 2023, Christie's has offices in 46 countries worldwide, with salerooms in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.[3]
Europe
[edit]Christie's flagship saleroom is in London on King Street in St. James's, where it has been based since 1823. It had a second London saleroom in South Kensington which opened in 1975 and primarily handled the middle market. Christie's permanently closed the South Kensington saleroom in July 2017 as part of their restructuring plans announced in March 2017. The closure was due in part to a considerable decrease in sales between 2015 and 2016 in addition to the company expanding its online sales presence.[35][36]
In early 2017, Christie's also announced plans to scale back its operation in Amsterdam.[29]
Americas
[edit]In 1977, led by then Chairman Stephen Lash, the company opened its first international branch on Park Avenue in New York City in the Delmonico's Hotel grand ballroom on the second floor;[37][38] in 1997 it took a 30-year lease on a 28,000 m2 (300,000 sq ft) space in Rockefeller Center for $40M.[39]
Until 2001, Christie's East, a division that sold lower-priced art and objects, was located at 219 East 67th Street. In 1996, Christie's bought a townhouse on East 59th Street in Manhattan as a separate gallery where experts could show clients art in complete privacy to conduct private treaty sales.[12]
Christie's opened a Beverly Hills saleroom in 1997.[40] In April 2017, in moved to a 4,500 sq ft (420 m2) two-story flagship space in Beverly Hills, designed by wHY.[41]
Asia
[edit]Christie's has been operating a space in Hong Kong's Alexandra House since 2014. In 2021, the company announced plans to move its Hong Kong headquarters to the Zaha Hadid-designed luxury tower The Henderson in 2024, where it will launch year-round auctions. Measuring more than 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) over four storeys, the new space, which incorporates a permanent saleroom and galleries, is comparable in size to Christie's London headquarters.[42]
Notable auctions
[edit]- In 1848 the sale of the contents of Stowe House after the bankruptcy of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos was one of the first and most publicised British country house contents auctions. The sale raised £75,400 and included the Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare.[43]
- The 1882 sale of the Hamilton Palace collection raised £332,000.[44]
- In March 1987, Vincent van Gogh's Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers fetched an auction record of $39.9M at Christie's, making it the most expensive painting in the world at the time, at more than three times the price of the previous worldwide record for the highest paid for any painting.[45]
- In November 1987, during the Royal Albert Hall auction, Christie's auctioned a Bugatti Royale automobile for a world record price of £5.5M.[46]
- In May 1989, Pontormo's Portrait of a Halberdier was sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum for $35.2M, more than tripling the previous auction record for an Old Master painting.[47]
- On 11 November 1994, the Codex Leicester was sold to Bill Gates for US$30,802,500.[48]
- In 1998, Christie's in New York sold the famous Archimedes Palimpsest after the conclusion of a lawsuit in which its ownership was disputed.[49]
- In November 1999, a single strand necklace of 41 natural and graduated pearls, which belonged to Barbara Hutton, was auctioned by Christie's Geneva for $1,476,000.[50]
- In June 2001, Elton John sold 20 of his cars at Christie's, saying he didn't drive them often because he was frequently out of the country. The sale, which included a 1993 Jaguar XJ220, the most expensive at £234,750, and several Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys, raised nearly £2M.[51]
- In 2006, a single Imperial Qing dynasty porcelain bowl, another item which belonged to Barbara Hutton, was auctioned by Christie's Hong Kong for a price of US$19.5M.[52][53]
- On 16 May 2006, Christie's auctioned a Stradivarius called The Hammer for a record US$3,544,000. It was, at that time, the most paid at public auction for any musical instrument.[54]
- In November 2006, four celebrated paintings by Gustav Klimt were sold for a total of $192M, after being restituted by Austria to Jewish heirs after a lengthy legal battle.[55]
- In December 2006, one of the three versions of the Givenchy black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's was sold for £467,200 at Christie's South Kensington.[56]
- In 2006, controversy arose after Christie's auctioned artefacts known to be looted from Bulgaria.[57][58]
- In November 2007, an album of eight leaves, ink on paper, by China's Ming dynasty court painter Dong Qichang was sold at the Christie's Hong Kong Chinese Paintings Auction for US$6,235,500, a world auction record for the artist.[59]
- In 2008, the ink wash painting of Gundam painted by Tenmyouya Hisashi in 2005 was sold in the Christie's auction held in Hong Kong at a price of US$600,000.[60][61][62]
- In June 2008, Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas by Claude Monet was sold for a price of $80.4M, the highest price ever for a Monet.[63]
- Over a three-day sale in Paris in February 2009, Christie's auctioned the monumental private collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé for a record-breaking 370M euros.[64] It was the most expensive private collection ever sold at auction,[65] breaking auction records for Brâncuși, Matisse, and Mondrian.[64] The "Dragons" armchair by Irish furniture designer Eileen Gray sold for 21.9M euros, setting an auction record for a piece of 20th century decorative art.[66]
- In 2009, controversy arose again after the auction of two imperial bronze zodiac sculptures (for US$36M) collected by Yves Saint Laurent, as the items had been looted in 1860 from the Old Summer Palace of Beijing by French and British forces at the close of the Second Opium War.[67]
- Christie's Hong Kong, November 2009 sale of Fine Modern Chinese Paintings, sold a work by Fu Baoshi titled Landscape inspired by Dufu's Poetic Sentiments, for HK$60M (US$7.7M) – a world record for the artist.[68]
- Christie's auctioned Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust on 4 May 2010. The piece sold for US$106.5M, making the sale among the most expensive paintings ever sold.[69]
- On 14 June 2010 Amedeo Modigliani's Tête, a limestone sculpture of a woman's head, sold for $52.6M, making it one of the most expensive sculpture ever sold, and at the time the most expensive work of art sold in France.[70]
- On 18 April 2012, the silver cup given to the marathon winner, Greek athlete Spyridon Louis, at the first modern Olympic Games staged in Athens in 1896 sold for £541,250, breaking the auction record for Olympic memorabilia.[71]
- On 22 June 2012, George Washington's personal annotated copy of the Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America from 1789, which includes The Constitution of the United States and a draft of the Bill of Rights, was sold at Christie's for a record $9,826,500, with fees the final cost, to The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. This was the record for a document sold at auction.[72]
- On 12 November 2013, Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud sold for US$142.4M(including the buyer's premium) to an unnamed buyer, nominally becoming the most expensive work of art ever to be sold at auction.[73][74][75][76]
- On 11 May 2015, Pablo Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger ("Version O") sold for US$179.3M to an unnamed buyer, becoming the most expensive work of art ever to be sold at auction at Christie's New York. In November of the same year, Amedeo Modigliani's Nu Couché (1917–18) sold at Christie's in New York for $170.4M, making it the second most expensive work sold at auction.[77]
- In May 2016, the Oppenheimer Blue diamond sold for CHF56,837,000, a record price for a jewel at auction.[78]
- On 7 July 2016, the highest price ever sold for an old master painting at Christie's was achieved with £44,882,500 for Rubens' Lot and his Daughters.[79][80]
- On 11 November 2017, a Patek Philippe Titanium wristwatch Ref. 5208T-010 was sold for $6.226M (CHF6,200,000) in Geneva, making it one of the most expensive watches ever sold at auction.[81][82]
- On 15 November 2017, Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi sold for a record $450.3M (including buyer's premium).[83]
- On 4 July 2019, a bust fragment of Tutankhamun was sold for £4.7M.[84] The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities had tried to stop the auction, citing concerns that the bust had been looted from a temple and illegally taken from Egypt in the 1970s.[85]
- On 25 June 2020, Christie's sold a Timurid Quran manuscript, described as "rare and breathtaking", for £7M (with fees), ten times its estimate.[86][87] The price was the highest price ever paid for a Quran manuscript.[86][87] Probably created at a Timurid prince's court, the manuscript comprised 534 folios of Arabic calligraphy on "gold-flecked, coloured paper from Ming China". The sale was criticized that since the "object apparently has no provenance prior to the 1980s, we can't know anything about the context in which it was removed from its country of origin."[86]
- In October 2020, Christie's sold Stan, one of the world's most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons for US$31.8M, setting a new world record for any dinosaur skeleton or fossil ever sold at auction at the time.[88]
- In May 2022, Andy Warhol's silkscreen painting Shot Sage Blue Marilyn sold at Christie's New York for $195M, making it the most expensive work of American art sold at auction and the most expensive work of 20th-century art sold at auction.[89][90]
- In September and October 2022 at Christie's, the James Bond film franchise auctioned 61 lots of vehicles, watches, costumes, props, posters, and memorabilia from the 25 Bond films. The auction raised nearly £7M from 28 countries, and proceeds went to over 45 charities.[91]
- In November 2022, the art collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was auctioned at Christie's New York.[92] It was the biggest sale in art auction history, surpassing $1.5bn in sales. Six works sold for more than $100M: Seurat's Les Poseuses Ensemble (Petite version), ($149M, with fees); Paul Cézanne's 1888–90 La Montagne Sainte-Victoire ($138M); van Gogh's Verger avec cyprès ($117M); and Gustav Klimt's 1903 Birch Forest ($105M). The auction also included paintings by Botticelli, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Jan Brueghel the Younger. Proceeds from the auction benefitted undisclosed philanthropies.[93][94][95]
- In May 2023, the jewellery collection once owned by Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten, who died in 2022, set a record for the most valuable single collection of jewels in an auction, fetching CHF180M ($201M).[96][97] In August 2023, Christie's cancelled a second Horten jewellery sale, which had been scheduled for November, after Jewish charities and organizations refused to accept portions of the proceeds from the first sale citing the source of Horten's wealth.[98]
Criticism
[edit]Price-fixing scandal in 2000
[edit]In 2000, allegations surfaced of a price-fixing arrangement between Christie's and Sotheby's. Executives from Christie's subsequently alerted the Department of Justice of their suspicions of commission-fixing collusion.
Christie's gained immunity from prosecution in the United States as a longtime employee of Christie's confessed and cooperated with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Numerous members of Sotheby's senior management were fired soon thereafter, and A. Alfred Taubman, the largest shareholder of Sotheby's at the time, took most of the blame; he and Dede Brooks (the CEO) were given jail sentences, and Christie's, Sotheby's and their owners also paid a civil lawsuit settlement of $512M.[99][100][101]
Insufficient or invalid provenance for looted works
[edit]Christie's has been criticised for "an embarrassing history of a lack of transparency around provenance".[86] In 2003, Christie's was criticised for its handling of two Nazi-looted artworks claimed by heirs of the original Jewish owners. In one case, it refused to divulge to the heirs the location of an Italian painting formerly owned by Jewish Viennese banker Heinrich Graf, looted by the Gestapo.[102][103] Christie's eventually revealed the holder's name after the Jewish Community of Vienna filed a successful suit in the UK on behalf of Graf's American daughters in late 2004.[104] In the other 2003 case Christie's declined to inform the family that it had discovered that a painting consigned to it had been looted from Ulla and Moriz Rosenthal, a Jewish couple murdered in Auschwitz.[105][106]
On 19 May 2020, the craft supply company Hobby Lobby, who purchased material for loan or donation to The Museum of the Bible, filed a diversity action on the auction house regarding the sale and purchase of the Gilgamesh tablet by private sale agreement on 14 July 2014, allegedly while knowing the Iraqi-origin cuneiform object had a fake provenance.[107][108] In June 2020, they were forced to withdraw four Greek and Roman antiquities from sale after it was discovered that they came from "sites linked to convicted antiquities traffickers".[86][109] The same month, they were criticised for putting up a Benin plaque and two Igbo alusi figures for auction.[110][111] The plaque was tied to similar plaques taken from Nigeria during the Benin Expedition of 1897 and remained unsold after an auction was held.[111] The alusi figures are alleged to have been taken from Nigeria during the Nigerian Civil War and were sold for €212,500 (after fees), below their low estimate of €250,000.[111][112] Christie's claims to require "verifiable documented provenance that the object was taken out of its source nation prior to the earlier date of 2000, or the date which is legally applicable between the country in which the sale takes place and the source nation".[111]
In November 2014, Christie's had to withdraw a prehistoric sculpture from Sardinia, valued at $800,000–$1.2m, put on auction by Michael Steinhardt, a US-billionaire, who was given a lifetime ban on acquiring further antiquities by the Manhattan district attorney's office in 2021.[113] After having acquired artworks with unverified provenance for years, for example by convicted art dealer Giacomo Medici, Steinhard's collection had been subjected to search warrants and investigations since 2017. He finally surrendered 180 looted and illegally smuggled antiquities valued at $70m. According to The Guardian, the district attorney said: "For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artefacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe.[114]
In February 2023 a French court ordered Christie's to unconditionally restitute Dutch painting The Penitent Magdalene, signed Adriaen van der Werff (1707), looted in 1942 from Lionel Hauser in Paris and last sold by the auction house without any provenance in London in April 2005.[115][116] Christie's had offered the Hauser heirs 50 per cent of the sale price; the heirs refused the offer and took the case to court.[117][118]
Christie's Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS)
[edit]Christie's first ventured into storage services for outside clients in 1984, when it opened a 100,000 square feet brick warehouse in London that was granted "Exempted Status" by HM Revenue and Customs,[119] meaning that property may be imported into the United Kingdom and stored without incurring import duties and VAT. Christie's Fine Art Storage Services, or CFASS, is a wholly owned subsidiary that runs Christie's storage operation.
In September 2008, Christie's signed a 50-year lease on an early 1900s warehouse of the historic New York Dock Company[120] in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and subsequently spent $30M converting it into a six-storey, 250,000 square feet[121] art-storage facility.[119] The facility opened in 2010 and features high-tech security and climate controls that maintain a virtually constant 70°[clarification needed] and 50% relative humidity.[122]
Located near the Upper Bay tidal waterway near the Atlantic Ocean, the Brooklyn facility was hit by at least one storm surge during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. CFASS subsequently faced client defections and complaints arising from damage to works of art.[120] In 2013, AXA Art Insurance filed a lawsuit in New York court alleging that CFASS' "gross negligence" during the hurricane damaged art collected by late cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and his wife Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild.[123] Later that year, StarNet Insurance Co., the insurer for the LeRoy Neiman Foundation and the artist's estate, also filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court claiming that the storage company's negligence caused more than $10M in damages to Neiman's art.[124]
Educational and other ventures
[edit]Christie's Education previously offered master's degree programs in London and New York, but they were planned to be phased out in 2019. In 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, Christie's noted that there was a lack of racial diversity in the art world, and admitted that Christie's degree programs only exacerbated these inequities.[125]
However, Christie's continue to offer non-degree programmes in London, New York, Hong Kong and Amsterdam as well as online.[126] In addition they offer an Art Business Masterclass Certificate and the Luxury Masterclass Certificate.[127]
With Bonhams, Christie's is a shareholder in the London-based Art Loss Register, a privately owned database used by law enforcement services worldwide to trace and recover stolen art.[128]
Management
[edit]Since its acquisition by François Pinault, Christie's CEOs have been as follows:
- 1999–2010: Edward Dolman[129]
- 2010–2014: Steven Murphy[130]
- 2014–2017: Patricia Barbizet[131]
- 2017–present: Guillaume Cerutti[132]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Carol Vogel (19 May 1998), Frenchman Seeks the Rest Of Christie's The New York Times.
- ^ Cassady, Daniel (18 December 2023). "Christie's Brings in $6.2 B. in 2023, Down More Than $2 B. from Last Year's Total". ARTnews. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Christie's Locations". Christies.com. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "Christie's". Groupe Artémis. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012.
- ^ Kazakina, Katya (14 December 2016). "Christie's Names Guillaume Cerutti as CEO Replacing Barbizet". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- ^ a b Cassady, Daniel (19 December 2022). "Christie's Racks Up $8.4. B. in 2022, An All-Time High for An Auction House". ARTnews. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ Crow, Kelly (16 November 2017). "Leonardo da Vinci Painting 'Salvator Mundi' Sells for $450.3 Million". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ "Christies.com – About Us". Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
James Christie conducted the first sale in London on 5 December 1766.
- ^ Gazetteer and London Daily Advertiser (London, England), 25 September 1762; Issue 10460
- ^ M.A. Michael (2019). "Not Exactly a Connoisseur A New Portrait of James Christie". The British Art Journal (London: Robin Simon). 19:76.
- ^ Sarah Lyall (27 February 1998), Jo Floyd, 74; Led Growth and Change at Christie's The New York Times.
- ^ a b c Carol Vogel (11 February 1997), At the Wire, Auction Fans, It's, It's . . . Christie's! The New York Times.
- ^ Rita Reif (12 March 1990), Christie's Reverses Stand on Price Guarantees The New York Times.
- ^ Carol Vogel (6 May 1998), Frenchman Gets Big Stake In Christie's The New York Times.
- ^ a b Carol Vogel (19 February 1998), Christie's Ends Talks On Takeover By Swiss The New York Times.
- ^ Carol Vogel (22 June 2001), Re: Real Estate The New York Times.
- ^ a b Scott Reyburn (17 July 2012), Rothko, Private Sales Help Boost Christie's Revenue 13% Bloomberg.
- ^ Souren Melikian (17 January 2004), The battle of Paris: Christie's rising International Herald Tribune.
- ^ Souren Melikian (12 January 2007), How Christie's kept top spot over Sotheby's in 2006 sales The New York Times.
- ^ Judd Tully (24 October 2011), Private Sales Go Public: Why Christie's and Sotheby's Are Embracing Galleries Like Never Before Archived 23 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine The New York Observer.
- ^ Colin Gleadell (27 February 2007), Christie's move stuns dealers The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Kate Taylor (16 April 2007), Auction Houses Vs. Dealers New York Sun.
- ^ Walsh, Kate (28 December 2008). "Pinault woes may force Château Latour sell-off". (London) Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
- ^ Werdigier, Julia (12 January 2009). "Christie's Plans Cuts as Auctions Slow". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
- ^ Holson, Laura M. (8 February 2009). "In World of High-Glamour, Low-Pay Jobs, the Recession Has Its Bright Spots". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
- ^ "Christie's Resumes Cutting Jobs After May N.Y. Auctions Decline". Bloomberg News. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- ^ Georgina Adam (17 October 2012), Battle for private selling showsArchived 23 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine The Art Newspaper.
- ^ Childs, Mary (26 January 2016). "'Curated' auctions and new buyers keep Christie's in the frame". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ^ a b Scott Reyburn (8 March 2017), Christie's to Close a London Salesroom and Scale Back in Amsterdam The New York Times.
- ^ "Christie's Paris is Holding Its First Sale Dedicated to Women Artists in June". Observer. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Crow, Kelly (19 December 2022). "Christie's Sells Record $8.4 Billion in Art, Spurred by Big Estates and Young Bidders". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022.
- ^ Elliot, Hannah (12 September 2024). "Merger of Christie's, Gooding Auction Houses Applauded as 'Overdue'". Bloomberg News.
- ^ Carol Vogel (18 February 2013), Christie's Raises Its Commissions for First Time in Five Years. The New York Times.
- ^ "Buyer's premium". Christie's. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ Spero, Josh (9 March 2017). "Christie's to close South Kensington sale room". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
- ^ "Christie's South Kensington to close sooner than expected". Antiquestradegazette.com.
- ^ Reif, Rita (15 May 1977). "The London Art Market Arrives". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ Reif, Rita (30 September 1976). "Christie's Will Open New York Galleries". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ Carol Vogel (25 March 1997), Rockefeller Center Lease Is Signed By Christie's New York Times.
- ^ Irene Lacher (2 August 1996), Christie's Ups the Ante With Beverly Hills Space Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Gabriella Angeleti (9 February 2017), Christie's to open new flagship location in Los Angeles The Art Newspaper.
- ^ Annie Shaw (27 July 2021), Follow the money: Christie's bets on Hong Kong with vast new headquarters as clients in Asia spend over $1bn so far this year The Art Newspaper.
- ^ Country Life (27 December 2016). "1848: the Stowe sale". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Country Life (28 December 2016). "1882: the Hamilton Palace sale". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Clines, Francis X. (31 March 1987). "Van Gogh Sets Auction Record: $39.9 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ "The most expensive car in the world". The Telegraph. 23 March 2002. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Kimmelman, Michael (3 June 1989). "The Getty Fills a Role, for Itself and the Public". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
- ^ "Christie, Manson and Woods, sale 8030, 11 November 1994". Christies.com. 11 November 1994. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ Michaud, Christopher (30 October 1998). "Eueka!: Archimedes Text Fetches $2.2 Million". Washington Post. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Moonan, Wendy (20 April 2007). "Rare Books, New Worlds". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Car auction 'thrills' Elton John". CNN. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Qing Dynasty bowl smashes record auction price". China Daily. Reuters. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Watts, Jonathan (28 November 2006). "Woman pays Asian record £10m to keep Qing bowl in family". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Stradivarius tops auction record". BBC News. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
- ^ Vogel, Carol (9 November 2006). "$491 Million Sale at Christie's Shatters Art Auction Record". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
- ^ Collett-White, Mike (20 January 2007). "Breakfast at Tiffany's dress fetches $800,000". Reuters. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Bulgaria, Christie's Face Off Over Looted Artifact". Art Info. 7 November 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ Kodzhabasheva, Ani (7 June 2011). "Rogue excavators routinely steal and destroy Bulgaria's archaeological treasures". The Oxonian Globalist. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- ^ "Christie's". Studiospecial.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ^ "Most expensive Gundam picture sold in history". People's Daily. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ^ Lim, Le-Min (25 May 2008). "Gun-Slinging Robot, Wooden Beams Mark Quiet Hong Kong Art Sale". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011.
- ^ "Gundam Painting Auctioned for US$600,000+ in Hong Kong". Animenewsnetwork.com. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ^ Vogel, Carol (25 June 2008). "A Monet Sets a Record: $80.4 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Record-breaking YSL auction shrugs off crisis". Reuters. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
- ^ Erlanger, Steve (23 February 2009). "Yves Saint Laurent Art Sale Brings In $264 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
- ^ "Small brown armchair sells for £19 million". The Daily Telegraph. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ Harris, George (2 March 2009). "China demands return of Christie's 'looted relics'". France 24. Agence France-Presse (AFP). Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
- ^ Pomfret, James (30 November 2009). "Classical paintings shine at Christie's in Hong Kong". Reuters. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Vogel, Carol (4 May 2010). "At $106.5 Million, a Picasso Sets an Auction Record". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ Crow, Kelly (14 June 2010). "Christie's Sells Modigliani for $52.6 Million". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
- ^ "Marathon cup from 1896 sets Olympics auction record". Reuters. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "NYC Auction of George Washington Document Sets Record". CBS News New York. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ Vogel, Carol (12 November 2013). "At $142.4 Million, Triptych Is the Most Expensive Artwork Ever Sold at an Auction". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ Sherwin, Adam (13 November 2013). "When Lucian met Francis: Relationship that spawned most expensive painting ever sold". The Independent. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Bacon painting fetches record price". BBC. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ Swaine, Jon (13 November 2013). "Francis Bacon triptych smashes art auction record". Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Contemporary art market cools, but Modern sector heats up at Christie's in 2015". theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ "Oppenheimer Blue diamond sells for world record at auction". The Guardian. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- ^ Alain Truong art blog
- ^ 6010107 Christie's sale record
- ^ "PATEK PHILIPPE (REFERENCE 5208T-010 REFERENCE 5208T-010 WAS CREATED SPECIALLY FOR ONLY WATCH 2017)". Christies.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- ^ Besler, Carol. "Christie's ONLY Watch Charity Auction Totals $10.8-Million, Including A $6-Million Patek Philippe". Forbes. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- ^ "Leonardo da Vinci painting 'Salvator Mundi' sold for record $450.3 million". Foxnews.com. 15 November 2017.
- ^ "'Stolen' Tutankhamun bust sells for £4.7m". BBC News. 4 July 2019.
- ^ Michaelson, Ruth (10 June 2019). "Egypt tries to stop sale of Tutankhamun statue in London". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c d e Rice, Stephennie Mulder and Yael. "The mystery of the Timurid Qur'an". Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ a b "Quran quietly sells for record £7m despite questions over its provenance". Theartnewspaper.com. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ Guy, Jack (11 October 2020). "T. rex skeleton sells for $31.8 million setting new world record". CNN.
- ^ Ulaby, Neda (9 May 2022). "A Warhol 'Marilyn' brings a record auction price, $195 million". NPR. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
- ^ Tarmy, James (9 May 2022). "Warhol Marilyn Sells for $195 Million, Most Ever for U.S. Artist". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
- ^ Bedigan, Mike (6 October 2022). "James Bond 60th anniversary charity auction raises nearly £7m". The Independent. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ Shetty, Bhavya (12 November 2022). "Art from Microsoft founder Paul Allen sells for $1.6 billion". Storyik. pp. storyik.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ Pogrebin, Robin (26 August 2022). "Christie's to Sell Paul G. Allen's $1 Billion Art Collection". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
- ^ Pogrebin, Robin (10 November 2022). "Paul G. Allen's Art at Christie's Tops $1.5 Billion, Cracking Records". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ Angelica Villa; Daniel Cassady (10 November 2022). "Collection of Deceased Tech Billionaire Paul Allen Draws Historic $1.5 B. in Christie's Auction". ARTnews.
- ^ Holland, Oscar; Orie, Amarachi (16 May 2023). "Controversial jewelry collection fetches a record-shattering $201 million". CNN.
- ^ Hernandez, Belen (10 April 2023). "Christie's largest jewelry sale: A billionaire widow, diamonds and a fortune built on Nazi plunder". El País.
- ^ Small, Zachary (31 August 2023). "Christie's Cancels Sale of Jewelry Connected to Nazi-Era Fortune". The New York Times.
- ^ Rohleder, Anna (2001). "Who's Who in the Sotheby's Price-Fixing Trial". Forbes. New York. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ^ Mason, Christopher (3 May 2005). Art of the Steal: Inside the Sotheby's-Christie's Auction House Scandal. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 978-1-4406-0480-5.
- ^ "Going Once, Going Twice... Glamour, Greed and Fraud at Sotheby's and Christie's". Knowledge@Wharton. University of Pennsylvania. 8 September 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ^ Reich, Howard (30 December 2002). "Sisters track art stolen by Nazis". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ Pratley, Nils (25 October 2003). "Christie's hides behind confidentiality over painting stolen by Gestapo". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ Reich, Howard (27 May 2017). "Bittersweet ending: A Nazi-looted painting resurfaces but is not returned". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ Pratley, Nils (24 October 2003). "Christie's hid Nazi past of painting". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ "Christie's denies Nazi cover-up". 24 October 2003. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ^ "HOBBY LOBBY STORES, INC., Plaintiff, v. CHRISTIE'S INC. and John Doe #1, Defendants. 20-CV-2239". FindLaw. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ "Hobby Lobby sues Christie's for selling it an antiquity authorities say was looted". Theartnewspaper.com. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ "Christie's withdraws 'looted' Greek and Roman treasures". The Guardian. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ Obi-Young, Otosirieze. "Art Historian Chika Okeke-Agulu Calls for Cancellation of Paris Auction of Igbo Sculptures". Folio Nigeria. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Waning market for African artefacts? Controversial Benin bronze fails to sell at Christie's". Theartnewspaper.com. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ "Christie's Paris Sells Two 'Sacred Sculptures' From Nigeria, Despite Protests From Scholars and Nigerian Heritage Authorities". artnet News. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ McKinley, James C. Jr. (6 January 2018). "Looted Antiques Seized From Billionaire's Home, Prosecutors Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Alberge, Dalya (7 December 2021). "US billionaire surrenders $70m of stolen art". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
- ^ "French court orders Christie's to restitute a Nazi-looted painting sold in London". The Art Newspaper – International art news and events. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ Villa, Angelica (31 January 2023). "Christie's Ordered to Return Painting That Was Confiscated During World War II to Proust Heirs". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Legal battle over 'Mary Magdalene' painting looted by Nazis in Paris". Le Monde.fr. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ "Justice orders the return of a painting looted by the Nazis from a cousin of Marcel Proust". Time News. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ^ a b Kelly Crow (26 April 2010), The Ultimate Walk-In Closet: Christie's Offers Art Storage in Brooklyn The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ a b Laura Gilbert (26 April 2013), An exodus from Red Hook The Art Newspaper.
- ^ Diane Cardwell (24 August 2009), A High-Tech Home for Multimillion-Dollar Works of Art The New York Times.
- ^ Jennifer Maloney (10 May 2013), Builder Is Bullish on New York City's Fine-Art Storage Market: Developer Starts Construction of Art Storage Facility in Long Island City The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Laura Gilbert (20 August 2013), Axa sues Christie's storage services over Sandy damage The Art Newspaper.
- ^ Laura Gilbert (12 December 2013), Christie's storage hit by second lawsuit over storm damage The Art Newspaper.
- ^ "A statement from Christie's Education". education.christies.com. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ Karen W. Arenson (20 October 2005), Getting a Master's Looking at the Masters The New York Times.
- ^ "FAQs | Christie's Education London". education.christies.com. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ The Art Loss Register, Ltd.: "The Art Loss Register is the world's largest database of stolen art and antiques dedicated to their recovery. Its shareholders include Christie's, Bonhams, members of the insurance industry and art trade associations. " Retrieved 27 September 2008.
- ^ "Christie's appoint new CEO". Antiques Trade Gazette. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Christie's CEO Steven Murphy will step down". Fortune. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- ^ "Christie's Names Barbizet First Woman CEO as Murphy Exits". Bloomberg. Retrieved 14 May 2015
- ^ Pogrebin, Robin (14 December 2016). "Christie's Chief Executive to Step Down and Hand Reins to Guillaume Cerutti". The New York Times.
Bibliography
[edit]- J. Herbert, Inside Christie's, London, 1990 (ISBN 978-0340430439)
- P. A. Colson, The Story of Christie's, London, 1950
- H. C. Marillier, Christie's, 1766–1925, London, 1926
- M. A. Michael, A Brief History of Christie's Education... , London, 2008 (ISBN 978-0955780707)
- W. Roberts, Memorials of Christie's, 2 vols, London, 1897
- "Going Once." Phaidon Press, 2016. ISBN 978-0-7148-7202-5.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Christie's Education Graduate Programmes official website
- Christie's International Real Estate – Luxury Properties and Estates official website
- Christie's page on Arcadja Art database with several auction catalogs
- Bill Brooks – Daily Telegraph obituary
- Christie's Fine Art Storage Services – Official website