Christie’s seeks more ‘realistic’ auction prices

AFP, DUBAI: The global economic slowdown com-bined with “selective demand” are pushing Christie’s to seek more realistic prices on their collections, directors of the auction house said Sunday.
“This year the market is not at the same level as it was one year or two years ago. We are facing a more challenging market,” Guillaume Cerruti, Christie’s president for Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India, told journalists in Dubai.
“To face this situation, the key word for us is selectivity,” he said, announcing two auctions this week in the glitzy Gulf emirate, one on Modern and Contemporary Art and another showcasing “Important Watches”.
“We want to have sales that are well curated, sales with maybe less objects but of high quality at... realistic estimates,” he said.
While he did not provide specific figures on the fall in overall sales, he said that online-only sales “have been a real success”.

 

Christies seeks more realistic auction prices

AFP, DUBAI: The global economic slowdown com-bined with selective demand are pushing Christies to seek more realistic prices on their collections, directors of the auction house said Sunday. This year the market is not at the same level as it was one year or two years ago. We are facing a more challenging market, Guillaume Cerruti, Christies president for Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India, told journalists in Dubai. To face this situation, the key word for us is selectivity, he said, announcing two auctions this week in the glitzy Gulf emirate, one on Modern and Contemporary Art and another showcasing Important Watches. We want to have sales that are well curated, sales with maybe less objects but of high quality at... realistic estimates, he said. While he did not provide specific figures on the fall in overall sales, he said that online-only sales have been a real success.