Christies Auction House

Tibet House US has announced its eighth annual benefit auction to be held December 6th, 2010 at Christie's in New York City. A portion of the proceeds will go towards supporting many of the important projects and programs spawned by the Tibet House in their mission of displaying and maintaining the ancient traditions of the Tibetan civilization. This year the Tibet House has pledged to give another portion of the proceeds to the Tibetan Children's Village, an educational community for Tibetan children in exile.

The event always attracts high profile supporters. This year's Honorary Chair Committee includes Christy Turlington Burns & Ed Burns, Donna Karan, Yoko Ono Lennon, Sandra & Eric Ripert, Martin Scorsese, Trudie Styler & Sting, Uma Thurman, and Arden Wohl. The auction features some tempting offerings such as a $10,000 shopping-spree at Donna Karan's Urban Zen store; a Precision Bass guitar autographed by Sting; two VIP tickets to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the 2010 Newark Peacemaking Summit; a cooking class personally conducted by Chef Eric Ripert for ten people at Le Bernardin or in the winner's home, and an opportunity to join the Chef behind the scenes on one of his TV appearances; a private jet to the destination of your choice; memorabilia from Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Martin Scorsese and others. You can also bid on exotic travel adventures, contemporary art and photography as well as jewelry and a large selection of Tibetan antique and ceremonial objects, rugs, tangka paintings, statues and more. Pre-bidding on select items starts November 19 on Charity Buzz http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/tibethouse. Tickets to the cocktail reception and auction start at $175 and can be ordered online.

A painting by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens listed for auction by the family of the late Princess Diana sold on Tuesday at Christie's for 9 million pounds ($13.68 million). The picture "A Commander being armed for Battle," was painted in 1613 or 1614. The bearded man had been identified by some as Emperor Charles V and carried an estimate of 8-12 million pounds ($12-18 million). The painting has been at the Spencer family home, Althorp for more than 200 years. Although it was originally described as being in the "school of Rubens" it has now been identified by noted scholars as being painted by the master himself.

The painting is part of a Spencer collection sell-off of approximately $30 million designed to help preserve the family home. Althorp is undergoing a major restoration and the trustees of the estate decided to sell artwork deemed not integral to the Spencer Collection. Diana's brother Earl Spencer also sold off "King David" by Baroque artist Il Guercino for 5.2 million pounds. Overall the auction raised 42.3 million pounds solidly mid-range against an estimate of 36.9-55.8 million pounds.

A collection of the photographs of legendary master Richard Avedon will head to auction November 20 at Christie's in Paris. The Avedon Foundation is selling photographs from its archive to raise money to create an endowment to promote the work and legacy of the photographer. The image shown above, "Dovima with Elephants," an over seven-foot-tall image that graced Avedon's New York City Studio, is estimated to sell for $500,000 to $700,000. The total of over 60 photographs is hoped to bring in between $3.7 million and $6 million.

Avedon, who died in 2004 was famous for both his glamorous fashion work starring models like Jean Shrimpton, Veruschka and Twiggy in the 1960s and 1970s as well as for later images of stark portraiture. He was on assignment for the New Yorker when he died at the age of 81. This auction will be the largest auction of Avedon's images. His personal belongings were auctioned off in 2005 around the time his house was sold.

Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips de Pury have released their estimates for the October auctions, and late summer signs of confidence have disappeared. Contemporary art forecasts for next month's auctions are down 81 percent from October 2008 – which was the first series of auctions conducted following the financial crisis.

The three auction houses expect to rake in around $33 million during London's Frieze Art Fair, according to Bloomberg News. Last year's low-end estimate (not accounting for currency fluctuations) was five times greater than this year's low-ball number. And, last year, the houses were offering minimum price guarantees to sellers, a practice that has since been suspended.

Frustrating the situation for auction houses further is the fact that many collectors are turning to private sales rather than auctions, as they hope to retain a greater degree of control over the outcome of the transaction. If the buyer doesn't agree to a sufficiently high price, the seller at least walks away with his piece.

The coming of the Frieze Art Fair includes contemporary art auctions by Christie's and Sotheby's which will be held on the same day. The former will send 25 lots under the gavel on October 16, 2009, with a low estimate of ₤6.8 million. This is a profound drop from 2008's 47 lots (six guaranteed) and a low estimate of ₤57.8 million. The only promising sign earlier this year was an increase in sold rates, with Christie's moving 88 percent of its lots in June and Sotheby's selling 92.5 percent.

Okay, so it seems like Christie's is looking for any way it can to get into your wallet. Can you blame the auction house? Even with the occasional touch of good news, 2009 has generally been a dismal year, thanks to a global economic crisis that has brought the art market back down to Earth (hell, some would say six feet under it). Any business guru would tell you that when the market sucks, you need to find a new revenue stream. And, iPhone apps offer a brand new bandwagon to jump on, so why not?

This is a pretty wild development for a company that celebrated its tenth anniversary when the colonies declared independence (Christies was founded in 1766, if you couldn't figure it out). The iPhone will stand alongside the gavel, if all goes well, as the implement by which an auction is defined.

Christie's hopes that the bidding application will attract new money bidders to the auction house, ideally to pick up some of the lots that aren't moving and to possibly push prices up a bit. Think about it: if you're not into the auction scene, going to one of those things is a friggin' drag. Unless you move heaven and earth to get "approved," you're stuck in the back with the prolies – standing. That's no way to spend money! And, the dress code? If I hit it big, my first move would be to never wear a suit again. My jeans would lead to discrimination, so the iPhone app makes sense ... as long as there are wealthy versions of me out there (and I think there are).

Obviously committed to promoting how brilliant this idea is, Christie's draws a parallel to bids from its Christie's LIVE website, which accounted for 11 percent of the lots sold last year. There's no comment on what the website's been worth this year. But, let's be fair. The auction house is having trouble selling through any channel, so we can't blame innovation.

One client is putting up a third of the take at the Christie's wine auction this weekend. A total of 613 lots are available, with one party accounting for than 200 of them. This seller is described only as a "wealthy New York family" (duh). For collectors, according to the auction house's spin, this is a great time to buy. Prices are falling, which means that there are plenty of bargains out there.

Apparently, there's some wisdom to this perspective. At the Sotheby's auction last weekend, bidders dropped more than $2.9 million on vino, thrashing a pre-auction estimate of only $1.8 million to $2.6 million. New buyers are coming into the market. At the Sotheby's auction, more than 20 percent of the bidders were new. Two weeks before that, Hart Davis Hart, of Chicago, moved nearly $2.7 million of liquid bliss, beating its presale mark of $2.4 million.

In a Reuters interview, wine consultant Judy Beardsall likens wine collecting and investing to gardening, "At a time like this, it's a chance to turn over the soil in the garden, put down some stock for the next generation."

But, if you aren't interested in waiting, all the wines put up for auction are fit for consumption ... for a price.

The New Year may mean new beginnings for many of us but the iconic auction house, Christie's, could have a new owner! Francois Pinault is rumored to be considering selling his auction house which he bought in May 1998 for $1.2 billion. While all auctions across Bonhams, Sotheby's and Christie's haven't experienced a great year, Christie's has already cut a couple of departments, shrunk others, let a few employees go and plan more reorganization for the company in January. The worldwide financial crisis has certainly dampened the demand for art and certainly it is expected that many luxury-based companies will be experiencing unpleasant shifts in their businesses. Hopefully, the New Year will ring in a better economy and with that healthier auctions...at least for Christie's sake.