ARTNews Live with CEOs

Probing online interviews from ARTNews with the CEOs of Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

Manion Maneker, president and editorial director of Art Media, was an excellent interviewer and asked some awkward and interesting questions firstly to Charles Stewart of Sotheby’s then Guillaume Cerulti of Christie’s. Both talked about the challenges of the last year and Covid-19 but also about how they saw the future of auction houses.

Interestingly they took slightly different viewpoints with Stewart felling the move to online had brough big changes that wouldn’t got away such as a move away from the rigidly timed main sales. However Cerulti felt that these would return as normality returned and that there was a real desire for people to get back together in this way. He emphasised the social aspects of sales and the importance of what you might overhear when you are there and the buzz in the room.

Maneker also asked about the role of luxury goods in their businesses as well as the growing importance of their private sales as opposed to auctions. Both houses has also undergone restructures and Maneker had some particularly probing questions around those.

It was fascinating to learn more about how the auction houses operated and the issues they face, both in theses strange times and more generally. It is a part of the art world I have found it most intimidating to engage with but once we get back to normal I might venture to their viewings a bit more. You can always see something new and learn something.

The Way Forward for Sotheby’s

Christie’s Faces the New Reality

Next talk in the series : Artsy Thrives in Lockdown (Released 25 February 2021)


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