Sotheby's is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK.
Sotheby's was established on 11 March 1744 in London by Samuel Baker, a bookseller.[4] In 1767, the firm became Baker & Leigh, after George Leigh became a partner, and was renamed to Leigh and Sotheby in 1778 after Baker's death when his nephew, John Sotheby, inherited Baker's share. Other former names include: Leigh, Sotheby and Wilkinson; Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge (1864–1924); Sotheby and Company (1924–83); Mssrs Sotheby; Sotheby & Wilkinson; Sotheby Mak van Waay; and Sotheby's & Co.[5]
The American holding company was initially incorporated in August 1983 in Michigan as Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. In June 2006, it was reincorporated in the State of Delaware and was renamed Sotheby's.[6] In June 2019, Sotheby's was acquired by French-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi at a 61% market premium.[7][8]
Sotheby's Institute of Art (an educational facility), Sotheby's International Realty (real estate dealers), and RM Sotheby's (classic car dealers) are subsidiaries or partner organisations.[9]
History
Beginnings (18th and 19th century)
Sotheby's was established on 11 March 1744 in London by Samuel Baker, a bookseller. In 1767 the firm became Baker & Leigh,[5][10] after Samuel Baker auctioned several hundred valuable books from the library of The Rt Hon Sir John Stanley, 1st Baronet, of Grangegorman and became business partners with George Leigh.[10][11] The library Napoleon took with him into exile at St Helena, as well as the library collections of John Wilkes, Benjamin Heywood Bright and the Dukes of Devonshire and of Buckingham (both related to George Leigh), were sold through Samuel Baker's auctions.[10]
History of public and private ownership
Sotheby's became a UK public company in 1977.[67] In 1980, after a drop in sales,[68] Sotheby's relocated its North American headquarters from Madison Avenue to a former cigar factory[69] at 1334 York Avenue, New York. In 1982, the auction house closed its Madison Avenue galleries at East 76th Street, and its Los Angeles galleries were sold and West Coast auctions moved to New York.[70]
In 1983, a group of investors including American millionaire Alfred Taubman purchased and privatized Sotheby's.[71] Sotheby's was initially incorporated as Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. in Michigan in August 1983.[6]
Auction process
Sotheby's auctions are usually held during the day. The majority are free and open to the public, with the exception of occasional evening auctions, which require tickets. Attendees have no obligation to bid.[76]
Bidding finishes when only one bidder remains willing to purchase the lot at the bidder's declared price. The auctioneer "knocks down" the lot, declaring it sold to the winning bidder. The winning bid for a lot is also called the hammer price. Sotheby's organises the delivery of the lot in private with the buyer.
Buying
Buyers can find out what is for sale at Sotheby's by browsing e-catalogues, visiting pre-sale exhibitions, purchasing print catalogues and registering for e-mail alerts.[77] Buyers can register to bid in person at Sotheby's offices, or online. Sotheby's requires that prospective buyers provide government-issued proof of identity and sometimes a bank reference. There are four ways buyers can bid: in person at the auction rooms, by telephone, bid live online or make an absentee bid online. When a bid is successful, Sotheby's calculates and sums the hammer price, the buyer's premium and taxes.
Selling
Service categories
As of, Sotheby's listed the following services:[79]
Sotheby's links sellers with prospective buyers in private if sellers do not want a public auction. The identities of buyers and consignors are not disclosed.[80] Sotheby's Private Sales works with clients with confidentiality and tailors the buying and selling process in a private setting. Private Sales accounted for 16.5% of all Sotheby's sales in 2011.[81] That year, Sotheby's inaugurated a new gallery space called S2 at its York Avenue headquarters with a show of work by American abstract painter Sam Francis. Unlike Haunch of Venison, a gallery that Christie's bought in 2007, S2 is solely devoted to showcasing the auction house's private sales.[82] In 2013, Sotheby's opened a gallery for private sales close to its branch in London, in a five-story block at 31 George Street.[83]
Partners and subsidiaries
Sotheby's Institute of Art
In 1969, Sotheby's founded Sotheby's Institute of Art in London.[93] The Institute now offers full-time accredited master's degrees as well as a range of online and other courses.[94]
Sotheby's International Realty
Sotheby's International Realty is a luxury real estate brand founded in 1976 by Sotheby's. It operates as a franchise.
RM Sotheby's
RM Sotheby's deals in classic cars, headquartered in Canada with offices across the US and Europe. Formerly RM Auctions, the company has been part-owned by Sotheby's since 2015.
Sotheby's Prize
The Sotheby's Prize, launched in 2017, is a $250,000 annual award given to museums that exhibit what are vaguely described as "groundbreaking shows".[95] The inaugural winners were Many Tongues: Art, Language and Revolution in the Middle East and South Asia curated by Omer Kholeif of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and Pop América: Contesting Freedom, 1965–1975 curated by Esther Gabara of the Nasher Museum.[95] The Sotheby's Prize program concluded in 2020, following a promise to honor existing commitments to shows that are still in formation.[96]
Notable sales
Auctioned artwork
Sotheby's has set, then later reset, a number of world records for auctioned works of art. The following monetary values are given in United States dollars.
- On 22 May 2002, Norman Rockwell's original painting of Rosie the Riveter was sold for $4.96 million.[97]
- On 3 May 2006, Sotheby's auctioned Pablo Picasso's Dora Maar au Chat for $95 million, becoming the second-most-expensive artwork ever sold at auction at that time.
- On 7 June 2007, a Roman bronze sculpture of Artemis and the Stag was sold at Sotheby's for $28.6 million, setting the new record as the most expensive sculpture as well as work from antiquity ever sold at auction at that time.
- Sotheby's holds the world record for most expensive piece of contemporary art ever sold at auction, with Mark Rothko's 1950 White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose), grossing $72.8 million in May 2007.
Controversies
Illegal antiquities
1990s scandal
In 1991 and 1997, an edition of ITV's The Cook Report and Channel 4 Dispatches programme alleged that Sotheby's had been trading in antiquities with no published provenance, and that the organisation continued to use dealers involved in the smuggling of artefacts.[136] From the late 1980s through to the early 1990s, the antiquities department in London was managed by Brendan Lynch and Oliver Forge. Lynch travelled to India frequently and bought unprovenanced pieces from Vaman Ghiya in Rajasthan, which turned out to be stolen from temples and other sites. British historian and journalist Peter Watson wrote Sotheby's: The Inside Story (1997), outlining these illicit activities, which he also exposed on CBS's 60 Minutes. As a result of this exposé, Sotheby's commissioned their own report into illegal antiquities, and made assurances that only legal items with published provenance would be traded in the future.[137]
See also
- Lorna Kelly, auctioneering
- Love Is in the Bin, Banksy painting sold by Sotheby's in 2018 and then again in 2021
- Peter Wilson (auctioneer), former chairman
- The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia
Further reading
- Includes bibliography.
External links
References
- Sothebys Contact Info Business Insider, retrieved 22 May 2013^
- Sotheby's Form 10-K, Securities and Exchange Commission, 27 February 2017^
- Sotheby's 2018 Annual Report Sotheby's, 2018^