Small auction house won’t let the coronavirus stop the bidding

Going once, going twice! Sold! Excitement fills the air, it was all so fast, a blur really. The rush of bidding at auction in a room full of buyers is exciting. But in the times of the coronavirus when salesrooms are closed or restricted for the public, this is a feeling more often felt alone in front of a computer or mobile device.

This year, Sotheby’s and Christie’s have postponed most auctions and moved some to other locations. Offices are opening in Asia and Europe, but are still closed in the US. For years the two giants have been accused of being resistant to change. Now change is being forced upon them.

Since COVID-19 started sweeping the world both big auction houses have pushed their “private sales” business, which are direct sales they broker. They have also scrambled to create more online-only sales. Between April and July Christie’s more than doubled the number of online sales compared with the same period last year. 

Sotheby’s has also ramped up online-only sales. Since March they have had 37 and brought in nearly $70 million (€63 million) according to company boss Charles F. Stewart. In Hong Kong, the first place to be hit by the coronavirus shutdowns, they moved their July sales to the convention center as a way to give everyone enough space.

Small and sticking to tradition

Other regional and smaller auction houses have forged ahead more traditionally because they don’t have the luxury or space to put things on hold or cancel auctions. Bassenge is one of these. It is a small Berlin auction house that specializes in prints, drawings and paintings from the 15-19th centuries plus modern art, rare books and photography.

Art on display at Bassenge. Anyone wanting to look at the artworks must call ahead and wear a mask when they get there

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Germany in mid-March, the company has stuck to its spring and fall schedule. In early April, it held its three-day book sale as planned and had some record sales. At the beginning of June, art and photography will be sold like in years past. Still despite appearances everything is different.

Adapting to a social distancing world

The showrooms can still be visited, but a note on their website and printed in the catalogs asks everyone to make an appointment beforehand. In the past anyone could stop by whenever they wanted during opening hours to inspect the objects for sale.

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Cloth gloves to handle art have long been a common sight at auctions; now distancing rules are important. There are hand sanitizer stations at the entrances and plexiglass screens around employee desks. When clients come in masks are also required. To accompany the new rules, they have extended the preview from one week to two weeks.

Online there is a virtual tour of their salesrooms, though this only shows things hanging on the walls. Everything in draws, portfolios or in storerooms is not available virtually. Still many of Bassenge’s customers like to inspect items for sale in person. But the days of handshakes and air kisses are a thing of the past.

Jennifer Augustyniak, head of the photography department, has been with Bassenge since May 2000

“Many of our customers have known us for years and come in twice a year to have a look at what is on offer. Up until now the majority are still coming,” Jennifer Augustyniak, head of the photography department, told DW. “The ones who can’t come in — collectors from France or the UK — have asked for more images or detailed condition reports than in the past.”

This additional information can’t show the size of something, its true colors or impact. But over the years Augustyniak and her colleagues have built up a Rolodex of regular customers around the world who have stayed true to the business. Clients trust their judgments and often take their advice, even if it is on the phone or with an email. This confidence may be one of the company’s most valuable assets during the coronavirus.

The future of small auctions

In Germany, like many other countries, auctions are governed by strict rules. Auctions are a public record and not just anyone can stand at the podium and take bids, they must be licensed. And for it to be a “public auction“ there need to be people in the audience. Currently Bassenge is limited to nine live bidders; even the staff handling the phones will not be in the room.

Traditional auction houses make money in two main ways: They take a commission from the seller and charge the buyer a fee on top of the hammer price. Unsold items don’t bring in any money. It is no wonder that many companies are seeking new shockproof business models.

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In many ways smaller auction houses are more adaptable to changing times than their bigger competitors. Being smaller, they are nimbler and easier to point in a new direction. They just need to invest in new technologies and build up their online presence. A focus on more direct and personalized contact with clients and perspective buyers and sellers may also help.

Changing with the times

Bassenge was started by Gerda Bassenge in West Berlin at a time when men dominated the German cultural scene. She worked at the famous Galerie Rosen for years. After Rosen died and his gallery closed, she set up Galerie Gerda Bassenge in January 1963. Her first auction was in June.

Five years later they moved to their current headquarters, a large villa in the lush residential district of Grunewald. Today, David Bassenge is the third generation of the family to run the business. He has 20 employees in two Berlin locations.

Even in the digital age, Bassenge still prints auction catalogs, which Augustyniak thinks is important. “They are an important reference and besides looking through a catalog is different than scrolling online,” she said. At the same time she sees a big increase in the amount of time people are spending online looking and researching in detail — and most importantly buying — compared to five or 10 years ago. So far this year there has been more interest than usual with a lot of people signing up for online bidding.

Even while much of the world is going online, many collectors still want printed catalogs. Some are so popular the auction house runs out of copies

That’s why she is sure that a buyer will be found for two highlights: a portfolio of 10 photographs of Berlin’s Tiergarten by Herman Vogel from 1866 with an estimate of €15,000; and 36 prints by Japanese photographer Shotaro Shimomura titled “The World through Lenses” from 1934-1935 with an estimate of €9,000.

The final test

In ordinary times, planning ahead stabilizes the ups and downs of the auction business. This time it helped because before lockdowns Augustyniak already had about three-quarters of the things for the current sale. She does worry though that if travel restrictions stay in place it may soon be harder to visit clients and get artwork to sell. That will be a big test of business under the coronavirus.

Yet there is a huge gulf between small auction houses like Bassenge and Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Selling things for a few thousand euros or even a book for €140,000 is not the same as buying multimillion-dollar artworks by Monet, Picasso or Francis Bacon sight unseen. So far the small fish have the online advantage, but as buyers and sellers become more accustomed to online sales, the sky is the limit.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Monet’s ‘Meules’: $110.7 million

  The French painter Claude Monet created multiple landscape series that depict the same subject in different types of light and seasons, showing off his ability to capture atmosphere. The painting “Meules” (1890), from his “Haystacks” series, fetched $110.7 million (€98 million) at a Soethby’s auction — the record for a Monet and the first impressionist painting to cross the $100-million threshold.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’: $450.3 million

  Created around 1500, this painting of Christ attributed to Leonardo da Vinci is one of the master’s 20 still existing paintings. In 1958 “Salvator Mundi” was sold for just $60 because it was thought to be a copy. But it fetched more than four times Christie’s pre-sale estimate on November 15, 2017, when it was sold for over $450 million (€382 million) — setting a world record for auctioned art.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Picasso’s ‘Women of Algiers’: $179.4 million

  From 1954-55, Pablo Picasso did a series of 15 paintings inspired by Delacroix’s “Les Femmes d’Alger,” with versions named “A” through “O.” He started them after the death of Henry Matisse, as a tribute to his friend and artistic rival. “Version O” broke the world record for an auction sale, selling for $179.4 million (167.1 million euros) at Christie’s in May 2015.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Modigliani’s ‘Reclining Nude’: $170.4 million

  At a Christie’s auction held in November 2015, seven potential buyers spent nine frantic minutes bidding on this painting. It was finally snapped by a telephone bidder from China. The nude, painted in 1917-18, provoked a scandal at its first exhibition in Paris. The police shut down the art show after a crowd gathered outside the window.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Modigliani’s ‘Nude lying on her left side’: $157.2 million

  Modigliani’s work “Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)” caused such a controversy when it was first shown in Paris in 1917 that the police had to close the exhibition. The Italian artist’s oil painting became the most expensive artwork to have been sold at New York auction house Sotheby’s in May 2018.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Klimt’s ‘The Woman in Gold’: $135 million

  This 1907 painting by Gustav Klimt is considered one of the most elaborate and representative of his “golden phase.” In 2006, it was sold through a private sale brokered by Christie’s for a record sum for a painting, $135 million. That same year, Jackson Pollock’s classic drip painting “No. 5 1948” broke that record, obtaining $140 million through another private sale.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Van Gogh’s ‘Portrait of Dr. Gachet’: $149.7 million

  Van Gogh allegedly said of the homeopathic doctor Dr. Gachet, whom he painted here in 1890, that “he was sicker than I am.” The plant is a foxglove, which is used to make the drug digitalis. In 1990, the work was auctioned off to Ryoei Saito, Japan’s second-largest paper manufacturer, for $82.5 million, making it the world’s priciest painting at the time (the price above has been adjusted).

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Bacon’s ‘Three Studies of Lucian Freud’: $142.4 million

  This 1969 triptych documents Francis Bacon’s friendship and rivalry with fellow painter Lucian Freud. At the time it was sold, in November 2013, it obtained the highest price for a work of art at an auction, until Picasso – and now Modigliani – surpassed that record in 2015.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Renoir’s ‘Dance at Moulin de la Galette’: $141.7 million

  This 1876 work by Impressionist master Renoir depicts a dance venue for high society on the outskirts of Paris, the Moulin de la Galette. One of Renoir’s most famous works, it exudes the joie de vivre that is characteristic of his style. In 1990, the work was purchased for $78.1 million (adjusted price above) by Japanese buyer Ryoei Saito, along with van Gogh’s “Portrait of Dr. Gachet.”

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Picasso’s ‘Boy with a Pipe’: $130.7 million

  This portrait of an adolescent holding a pipe and wearing a garland of flowers in his hair was created during the Spanish master’s “Rose Period” in 1905. Just a little under a century later, the painting fetched an impressive sum of $104.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction in 2004 (price adjusted above).

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Munch’s ‘The Scream’: $119.9 million

  This agonizing character painted by Edvard Munch is one of the most iconic paintings in the world. The Expressionist artist had actually made four versions of it: Three are in Norwegian museums, and the fourth one was sold for the screeching price of $119.9 million in May 2012 at Sotheby’s, which would be adjusted to $130.7 million today.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Picasso’s ‘Young Girl with a Flower Basket’: $115 million

  Picasso is well represented among the highest earning painters. His 1905 masterpiece “Fillette a la corbeille fleurie” (“Young Girl with a Flower Basket”) was sold – along with two other Rose Period paintings – by the artist himself to writer Gertrude Stein in a sale that helped launch his career. The work, which was later part of David and Peggy Rockefeller’s collection, sold for $115 million.

• Most expensive artworks sold at auction

  Picasso’s ‘Nude, Green Leaves and Bust’: $106.5 million

  Inspired by his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walther, Picasso created this painting in a single day in 1932. If you add the eight minutes and six seconds it took for the auction record bid at Christie’s in May 2010, it still appears to be well-invested time. Its price could be adjusted to $115.7 million today.

  Author: Elizabeth Grenier, Kate Müser

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/small-auction-house-won-t-let-the-coronavirus-stop-the-bidding/a-53610187?maca=en-rss-en-bus-2091-xml-atom