Auction Houses in Turmoil: Christie's and Sotheby's Navigate Crisis

The auction world is in chaos, with major houses like Christie's and Drouot facing decline and financial losses. On April 15, Jeff Koons received the Legion of Honor from Jean-Jacques Aillagon at Christie's, hosted by François Pinault, owner of the auction house and a prominent collector. Pinault had acquired Koons's Split Rocker for 12 million francs in June 2000. At Sotheby's 2001 sale of Koons's Michael Jackson and Bubbles for 41 million francs, the catalogue text was written by Alison Gingeras, a curator at the Musée National d'Art Moderne. In May, Sotheby's led New York modern sales, securing three collections, two guaranteed for over $20 million each. To finance these, Sotheby's enlisted dealers Robert Mnuchin and Bill Acquavella, as its majority shareholder faced a one-year prison sentence. A Cézanne sold for $16.7 million, meeting estimates, while an unguranteed Gauguin disappointed. Contemporary sales saw strong sell-through rates (81-87%), with buyers favoring safe bets: Basquiat at $5.5 million (a record), Richter's Candle (1982) at $3.9 million, and Warhol's four flowers at $3.4 million, up from $700,000 two years earlier. Minimalist art is rebounding: Christie's New York featured a Donald Judd piece from 1967, estimated at $2.5 million and sold for $4.6 million, far exceeding a similar piece at Phillips for $1.3 million, rumored to be bought by Pinault.