Christie's in the Gallery Business

Alexandra Peers of the Wall Street Journal is reporting the holding company that owns Christie's has purchased earlier this year London gallery Haunch of Venison, and just recently opened a large satellite gallery in New York. Haunch also has galleries in Berlin and Zurich. Earlier this month I posted on the AW about artist Damien Hirst bypassing the established gallery system and selling directly from his studio at auction through Sotheby's London showroom. It appears auction houses are seeking ways to expand their customer base and influence markets.

The lines very well appear to be blurring between the primary market and the secondary markets with Sotheby's having sales of primary market items, and Christie's selling in the retail market. Both Christie's and Sotehby's have long privately placed items with collectors. Some experts beleive the retail galleries Christie's is now operating will eventually take the place of the private sales division.

Christie's of course states the Haunch of Venison gallery operations will be run independently of from the auction business. They plan to represent artists and artist estates. The NY Haunch of Venison Gallery is very close to Christie's NY showroom. Very convenient. Yet with the recent success of the Hirst sale at Sotheby's, what happens in the future is anyone guess. Any person with even a limited amount of knowledge of the art business should realize that the auction house and gallery will interact. It appears all past informal lines are now being crossed by the two major international auction houses, be it private sales or selling at the gallery or through the auction house.

The article states "Certainly, Haunch gives Christie's some business advantages: It offers spacious, striking venues to showcase work year-round, not just prior to the big spring and fall auctions. It allows the company to make careers, spotting art stars and showing their work internationally before they hit the auction block. Insiders expect the art world to change as a result."

To visit the Haunch of Venison Gallery website click HERE.

To read the Wall Street Journal article click HERE.