Cathy's Art Diary

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 import...

Fun exhibition at Sotheby’s Café of images representing the last 275 years of the auction house from its beginnings as a bookseller. It was lovely to get a great cup of coffee in this café and read through the handout which described the images around you. Make sure you get the handout of it would all just feel a bit random and confusing. I loved the fact that it included a portrait of the founder Samuel Baker as well as pictures of objects which recorded record sales. The handout was full of fascinating stories and I particularly liked the tradition of the gallery technicians who handle a sale where 100% of the lots are sold giving a pair of white gloves to the auctioneer of the sale. Closes on September 2019 Review Guardian