1st auction: Michele Drascek Report

Christie's London, South Kensington:
OLD MASTER & DECORATIVE PRINTS

It is Wednesday 8 December when we explore the world of the auctions at Christie’s. As we get into 85 Old Brompton Road, I am so attracted by the painting-filled corridor in front of me that, at first, I don’t direct my attention to the reception desk. I take my time for a first glance on the setting of the place. Then I ask some information to the receptionist to understand how to proceed to take part to the auction of the morning.



The entrance of Christie's at
85 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington.


We start to walk through the corridor, where most of the hanged painting are of English and German origin, are date back to XVII or XVIII century and are associated to Schools form different regions.

We move in direction of the room prearranged for the auction: a bright high-ceilinged room. On our left the Old Master and Decorative Prints are displayed on the wall, one close to another, almost frame to frame. On our right, the area dedicated to the telephone bidders, with tidy Christie’s employees preparing for the auction. Someone already have a bidder on line. In front of us the empty podium of the auctioneer. We have a backside seat.

I leave there my bag and I go to check the works on the wall. The first is a Canaletto (XVII Century), followed by a Carracci and a Mantegna (XVI Century), and then Tiepolo (XVIII Century). I can’t contain my happiness and complacency (personally, it feels like home). And I wonder where exactly these pieces are coming from. I proceed and a Van Dick is hanging there, a Dürer follows it and a Rembrandt is followed by a De Ribera (XVII Century). Definitely, I think, it could be a dangerous place for an art lover. I conclude my view with a beautiful Ensor of 1904 that will glance at me during all the next hours (it is a piece of the afternoon auction, Modern and Contemporary Prints).
During this morning session Christie's sells the lots form number 100 to number 307. All of them are presented in the Auction Catalogue avaiable at the reception desk. 

The catalogue of the auction:
London South Kensington
Old Master & Decorative Prints
Wednesday 8 December 2010

I go to my seat and I notice the monitors hanging from the walls: there they will display the works at auction, with the prize and the bids.

In the meanwhile some bidders entered in the room and took position: there is who took a seat (no one in the first row), who stands closed to the old masters displayed on the wall, who is still looking around and who move the seat at the back of the room, to be isolated from the others. Someone greets and other shakes hands: probably regular customers here at Christie’s. All the generations are represented.

The auctioneer enters and goes up the podium. He’s in suit, a classical and at the same time outstanding suit. An assistant stands on his left. After a brief introduction, the auctioneer suddenly starts. At the same moment, the first piece is presented and on the monitors around us are displayed the photo of the piece, some information about it and the starting prize. It takes few seconds and the prize changes already four or five times. It is an amazing ability that of the auctioneer to follow who bids, inviting the other to bid more, repeating the same structural formula and finally conclude with a curt hammer blow. At that it follows the writing on a paper: the number of the bidder on the work sold. In fact every bidder needs to register to bid and to obtain a number to make it possible. The auctioneer gives the paper to the assistant who, then, leave the room. At the same moment another assistant take his or her place. And so the auction runs, with a speed that I didn’t expect.


What surprise me are also the affordable prizes of some pieces. Some of them have a really good estimate prize from the start.
For example an etching by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) has the starting estimate prize of £500 - £700. And, as I can experience here, if it is your lucky day and no one is really interested in that particular artwork, you could also bring home a piece like that - as really it happens today - for £875.
For the detailed auction result for this artwork:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5395677&sid=60ff1c5e-ad5a-4728-8c61-73ccfffa51ef


Another example is an etching by  Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727-1804). The achievable starting estimate prize is £1,000 - £1,500. At the end, the prize realised is £1,125. That particularly surprise me  and touch me. In fact, I have been used to appreciate the original artworks - mostly frescos - of the Venetian artist in Udine (Italy), just thirty minutes form Gorizia, city were I was born.
For the detailed auction result for this artwork:

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5395758&sid=2adb8b65-bb7e-4473-9c39-f0e18baa4b8c

The auction continues and I catch some of the different way to bid: a man is slightly moving the head, looking the auctioneer above his glasses; a person in charge for a telephone bidder antes up raising his arm; someone else bids, but I can’t say who: I don’t catch any movement, any change of position on the seat or a behaviour that can lead to recognize him or her.

The auctioneer, then, starts to ask to someone behind and above us if he or she wants to bid more. Curious, I turn and see no one. It happens again and I read on the monitors that who bids is named “Massachusetts”. This time, when I turn, I know what I have to look for and I find it on the wall at the back of the room: it is a video camera. Who bids in Internet has a direct video access and follows in real time the auction. Moreover, he/she/it (an Institution, maybe a Museum?) is focused only on one artist.

At the end, the Internet bidder from Massachusetts brings home a whole series of etchings by Rembrandt (1606-1669), for which he/she/it insistently raised the stakes.

The final investment comes to tens of thousands pounds.

What intrigue me is who could be on the other side of the video camera: a Museum that wants to build a Rembrandt collection and open a wing of a gallery dedicated specifically to the Dutch painter? Or just an art lover?

In the meanwhile, another bidder comes: a young man in his thirties. He doesn’t bid. He looks like he waits for one particular piece. Suddenly, he starts to bid on a Rembrandt, he heads to win and he gets it. He shows his number to the auctioneer, he stands up and he walks out of the auction. He staked all to one artwork and he overcame a telephone bidder, raising the biddings from the estimate prize of  £500 - £700 with persistence, till the final prize of £3.500.
For the detailed auction result for this artwork:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5395723&sid=2adb8b65-bb7e-4473-9c39-f0e18baa4b8c

In front of me, an old couple tries to have an etching, but they fail. They try more times without result. By they insist, choosing the artworks with starting prize between £300 and £500 and never surmount the sum of £1.000. At the end, they get a print exactly for that maximum limit. They show their satisfaction and, moreover, their happiness and then leave the room. They don’t look like professional bidders, but like pensioners with – now - a significant present to celebrate their Christmas.

When we leave the auction and Christie’s, I feel excited for what I experienced: the artworks displayed and on sale, the procedure of the auction and the concrete possibility to possess an artwork for a reasonable prize. It is a starting point of a complex process. And it is pleasantly challenging.


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For the detailed auction results of the day, Wednesday 8 December 2010:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=23191#action=refine&intSaleID=23191&sid=2adb8b65-bb7e-4473-9c39-f0e18baa4b8c