Christie's. The auction was already sold.
Christie's sold a billion dollars of art in one evening, and the most expensive sculpture got a single bid. The biggest lots are sold before anyone walks in.
THE GIST ON CHRISTIE'S: "Performance Art"
What happened at Christie's?
Christie's just sold a billion dollars' worth of art in a single evening, and the most expensive sculpture of the night only got one bid, because the biggest lots at auction are already sold before anyone walks in the room.
Two weeks ago, Christie's New York held the biggest art market night in years. A Jackson Pollock went for 181 million dollars, nearly three times its previous record. A Brancusi sculpture went for 107 million. The total for the night was over a billion.
How can a world record have one bidder?
The Brancusi was a world record for the artist, and it had precisely one bidder. A world record set with one person in the room, already sold before the auction started.
It's called a third party guarantee. An outsider agrees, for a fee, to buy the lot at a set price before bidding starts. The auction is then a public performance of a deal already done.
Is the bidding real?
Most of the big lots work that way. The drama and the back and forth bidding is pageantry. Even when there is real competition, the guarantor keeps bidding to push the price up, because they pocket a share of whatever it goes for above their bid.
The auction's job is to take a private number and make it look like a public one.
Who wins?
The new record becomes the new floor for every other Pollock in private hands. The buyer paid for entry into Pollock ownership. The seller, the guarantor, the house and every other Pollock owner alive just collected a free upgrade. Everyone in the room is on the same side. The real value is the number. The product is the valuation.
And here was me thinking every record was a bidding war.
Is the art market a con?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
What is a third party guarantee?
An outsider agrees, for a fee, to buy a lot at a set price before bidding starts, so the auction is a public performance of a deal already done.
What sold at Christie's New York?
A Jackson Pollock for 181 million dollars, nearly three times its previous record, and a Brancusi sculpture for 107 million dollars, with over a billion in total for the night.
Why does a high price benefit everyone?
The new record becomes the floor for every other work by that artist, so owners, the guarantor and the auction house all gain.
See you on the next one.
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