Antiques Trade Gazette
3 news
Sotheby’s enjoy second best year ever in 2010
■ Gap closes between leading two firms for auction sales
■ Private transactions now make up over 10% of all sales
Ivan Macquisten reports
CONSOLIDATED sales at Sotheby’s for 2010, including buyer’s premium, were up 74% to $4.8bn, putting the firm marginally behind Christie’s, who posted results of £3.3bn ($5bn) last month.
The figure is made up of auction sales,
which saw their biggest increase ever, up 88% to $4.3bn, and private sales, up 5% to $494.5m. Christie’s auction sales rose by a more modest 34% to $4.4bn, the significant gap between the two for 2009 all but closing. It means that private sales, made away
from the glare of the saleroom spotlight, now account for just over 10% of all sales at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The latter announced a 39% rise in private sales for the year, giving a sterling total of £369.3m, broadly equivalent to about $560m. It also means that the world’s two
leading auctioneers are now among the world’s leading dealers in terms of turnover. Sotheby’s turnover was $774.3m, with
profits of $161m – the company’s best year after a record 2007. Of the profit, $96.2m came from the fourth quarter. Just as the staggered buyer’s premium
protects the auctioneers’ revenues in a falling market, so it acts as an attractive marketing incentive as prices rise. This certainly appeared to be the case in 2010, when there was a 105% increase in the number of works sold over $1m, the point at which the buyer’s premium rate decreases from 20% to 12%. “The recovery of the global art market,
which was aided in part by the increased buying activity of clients from new markets, certainly contributed to these results, as did the difficult decisions we had to make beginning in the autumn of 2008 – the headcount reduction, tightening of our cost structure and steadfast focus on auction commission margins,” said chief executive Bill Ruprecht. “Our success was achieved with a much lower risk profile than in the previous peak years of 2006 and 2007, as we have been highly selective in our use of auction guarantees and only issued such guarantees in tandem with risk sharing arrangements that very significantly reduced our financial exposure,” he continued. The significant upturn has allowed
Sotheby’s to reduce their debt obligations, and Mr Ruprecht revealed that sales for the first two months of 2011 were already ahead of the equivalent period for 2010. Sotheby’s have not yet published
separate figures relating to their online bidding service Bid Now, which they launched last year. Their rivals’ equivalent, Christie’s Live, is a much more established operation, and Christie’s were keen to highlight that 28% of all their clients now bid via the internet on Christie’s Live, accounting for 11% of all sales at £76m – a rise of 69% on the total taken in 2009. Christie’s also reported that new clients registering to bid rose by 22.7%, with new buyers up 13%.
Greek courts reduce and suspend Hay sentence
THE Greek courts have commuted the sentence of antiquities dealer Malcolm Hay from four years to three, suspended for three years. The move means the end is in
sight after more than a decade of investigation and Mr Hay’s highly controversial conviction for dealing in illegally excavated antiquities. “Any sentence of less
than three years in Greece is automatically suspended if the condemned has a clean record,” explained Mr Hay. “Hence, they chose the road of least resistance.” The five appeal court judges in
Athens had retired on February 18 to consider their verdict, with Mr Hay’s lawyers expressing optimism after having the chance to highlight all the inconsistencies of the case. The judges gave their ruling on February 25. As ATG readers will know from
earlier reports, at the heart of the case was a disputed invoice, giving brief details of a transaction, made out in the sum of £1800 by Mr Hay to Athens antiquities dealer Anna Patrikiadou. He has always argued that it referred to a small box of pot
sherds he sold her when she visited him in London in 1999. She used it to explain a large number of illegally excavated antiquities found on her premises in 2000, valued at hundreds of thousands of pounds, which she claimed Mr Hay had sold to her. Her testimony led to the
Greek courts issuing a European Arrest Warrant demanding the deportation of Mr Hay from the UK, followed by a court case in which Mr Hay was not present and Mrs Patrikiadou’s testimony was accepted wholesale, apparently on little more than her say so. Mr Hay has since argued that
it has been the acceptance of the Patrikiadou testimony as hard fact, despite the lack of any evidence to support it, that has led to a miscarriage of justice. He has also argued that the
European Arrest Warrant process was invalid in his case as even the Greek courts acknowledged that any potential offence on his part would have taken place in London, not Greece. He is now awaiting further
clarification from the court on the decision and its implications. Ivan Macquisten
Venice to benefit from art crime talk
FORMER Scotland Yard Art & Antiques Squad detective Vernon Rapley is one of two speakers at a lecture on art crime at the Royal Geographical Society on April 5. The event, organised by the Venice in Peril fund, will see Noah Charney, the
founding director of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, talking on The World Wishes To Be Deceived: A Brief History of Art Forgery – Famous forgers and their tricks, while Mr Rapley will speak on Art Forgery Today, a discussion on ‘How and Why’ and understanding the impact of modern forgeries on the market. As an added incentive, ATG readers are being offered a special discount ticket price
of £15 (standard ticket price £20). More details at
www.veniceinperil.com
THE 19TH BRITISH ANTIQUE DEALERS’ ASSOCIATION FAIR 23–29 MARCH 2011
DUKE OF YORK SQUARE, OFF SLOANE SQUARE, LONDON SW3 Open: Wed. 11am–9pm; Thurs., Fri. & Mon.11am–8pm; Sat., Sun. & Tues.11am–6pm
For further information:
bada-antiques-fair.co.uk Bookings for the Cellini Restaurant: 01233 662166 THE F INES T ART & ANTIQ U ES F O R S ALE
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