TOP 5 AUCTION HOUSES

Christie’s is an auction house of international renown and long standing:  the company’s official literature states that its first sale was conducted in London on 5 December 1766 by the founder James Christie, and the oldest auction catalogue in the company archives also dates back to December 1766. The company has salerooms in London as well as Amsterdam, Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong, Milan, New York, and Paris, and offers real-time, online bidding service.

With a short time Christie’s had acquired a solid reputation, and its business benefited greatly from the shift in the international art trade from Paris to London due to the French Revolution.

The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1973 to 1999; it was then bought by François Pinault from France.

During the making of the film “Something’s Gotta Give,” producer Nancy Meyers created a Christie’s sign for a scene shot outside the company’s New York premises. The auction house liked the sign so much that the film team was asked to leave the sign behind after shooting finished.

Sotheby’s is a world leader in fine arts auctions. The company started by selling books in the mid 1700s, adding other objects later. By the 1940s Sotheby’s was expanding beyond its British base. It had gained a strong presence worldwide during the art boom in the 1980s and its sales figures soared. When the art market collapsed, Sotheby’s succeeded in branching into new types of collectible.

The company has offices on New Bond Street, London, and York Avenue, Manhattan. Renovations at the latter site were completed in 2001, adding unique on-site storage facilities for art works to the headquarters. Ever since, Sotheby’s New York has offered storage, galleries, and salerooms under the same roof as its specialist departments. These premises also house Aulden Cellars (wine).

In 1983 Sotheby’s was sold to A. Alfred Taubman, an American millionaire, who took the company public in 1988.

Sotheby’s competes passionately with Christie’s for the position of the world’s leading auctioneer of fine art. In August 2004 Sotheby’s adopted an online system and more recently, improved its web presence to optimize its client service. In May 2007, Sotheby’s opened an office in Moscow to address the exploding demand for international art on the Russian market.

While numerous, well publicized real-life auctions are held at Sotheby’s, the auction house has also made an appearance in several movies, such as the 1983 James Bond film “Octopussy” where Bond bids for a rare Fabergé egg – actually a fake he had cleverly planted – , deliberately losing the auction to the villain in the end.

Phillips de Pury & Co is an auction house and art dealers. The company has offices in London as well as Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Los Angeles, Milan, Munich, New York, and Paris. Phillips conducts auctions in New York, London, and Geneva in the areas of contemporary art, photography, 20 to 21st century design art, and jewelry. Phillips also provides consulting advisory services, including building private collections, and private treaty sales.

The company’s roots date back to 1796. Harry Phillips, a young entrepreneur, founded the auction house of Phillips in London after resigning as the senior clerk to James Christie. Phillips conducted twelve auctions during his first year of business and soon became a success. Before long the auctioneer was conducting sales for all the famous and distinguished people of the day, including Beau Brummel, Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon.

Phillips was an astute salesman, combining business acumen with a sense of showmanship. He promoted his sales with novel methods, e.g. preceding major auctions with sophisticated evening receptions. This has become a regular feature of modern auction business. Phillips was quick to gain the confidence of the British aristocracy.

Upon his death in 1840 Harry Phillips passed on a thriving business to his son, William Augustus. William changed the firm’s name to Messrs Phillips & Son In 1879. In 1882 he changed the name again, to Phillips, Son & Neale when his son-in-law, Frederick, entered the business; that name endured until the 1970s, when the company reverted to simply Phillips.

From 1999 to 2003 Phillips was part of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. After a difficult period the UK operations of Phillips were bought by Bonhams in 2001 and re-branded under the Bonhams name. Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, brought in Simon de Pury & Daniela Luxembourg, private dealers in impressionist, modern, and post-war art, to run the remainder, which was renamed Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg. In 2002 de Pury and Luxembourg acquired a majority; in March 2004 de Pury, took majority control of the company, which continued under the name Phillips de Pury & Co. De Pury narrowed down activities to works of modern and contemporary art. The company has grown, successfully introducing the best of new art talent to the secondary market while hosting noteworthy exhibits and sales for contemporary artists and designers. The new European headquarters in Howick Place, London, were opened in early 2008.

On 6 October 2008 the company was purchased by the Russia-based Mercury Group, a luxury retail company. Mercury reputedly paid around US$60 million to acquire a majority share, although the actual transaction was private. “Around 50 %” of the figure went to cover Phillips’s liabilities. Mercury is run by Leonid Friedland and his associate, Leonid Strunin.