As appraisers we sometimes get into research methodologies and forget to stay current with what is happening on the internet. I have recently noticed that many appraisers are searching on the free ArtFact search page to find comps, but then have to request additional help for the hammer price and auction house. Many of the upper market lots happen to be from Sotheby's and Christies catalog sales. Both sites now have around 10 years worth of archived sales information online for free. Christies's recently redesigned its website, and now has the past 10 years worth of auction results, most with images on-line for free. Sotheby's has had sales archives online for some time now.
In the past I primarily subscribed to ArtFAct because of the access to Christie's and Sotheby's results. I have let my ArtFact subscription expire because of the ability to search both Sotheby's and Christie's for free. This is not to say that ArtFact does not have uses beyond Sotheby's and Christies, but if I now need data from ArtFact, I will buy a single days subscription instead of one of the longer term packages. Jane and I typically review these online database during the Good, Better, Best Apprasier Workshop and recommend the best ways to economically take advantage of them.
To use the archive searches on Sotheby's and Christie's:
On the Sotheby's site, to search past auctions you must register, but registration is free. Once you are signed into your MySotheby's page, click on the Explore Auctions tab and then click on Sold Lot Archive. Fill in the text boxes with the pertenent information and filters, click Go and back come the results, with descriptions, prices and most with images. It is that easy. To visit the Sotheby's site click HERE.
Christie's has now also caught on to the benefits of the internet and listing of sales and sale archives. At Chirstie's you do not need to register like at Sotheby's. You can also search from the home page, but I prefer to go to the Auction Results page. Make sure you are searching Past Lots, if not upcoming lot information will be returned. If so, just click on Past Lots, and the past 10 years (or however you have filtered, date, location etc) will be returned. To visit the Chirsites site, click HERE.
Happy researching.
2 comments:
You may also want to check out http://www.LiveAuctioneers.com as it is the leading FREE fine and decorative arts, antiques and collectibles auction archive database with more than 5 million fully-illustrated results, not to mention thousands of lots up for bid at upcoming auctions worldwide.
In addition to the catalog lot description, provenance, condition, estimate and images, each search result includes the auction date, hammer price and also identifies the auction house at which the object was sold.
LiveAuctioneers.com offers live Internet bidding to more than 730 auction houses worldwide, and it's post-auction database includes data from the world's finest--Skinner, Freeman's, Phillips de Pury & Co., Rago, Kamelot Auctions, Bonhams, Garth's, Cowan's, Sotheby's, John Moran Auctioneers, Jackson's International, Alderfer Auction Co. and hundreds more, at no fee.
Artfact deals exclusively with art, antique, and collectible auction houses, so search results are focused and precise. Artfact has also recently upgraded their search engine, which searches some 31 million lots in ten seconds. This is makes it much easier to find that “needle in the haystack.”
You can research the full original auction catalog descriptions, provenance, price results and original price estimates, and images of all types of objects sold at auction from 2,000 prestigious international art, antiques, and collectible auction houses.
Artfact is a great resource and first choice database for libraries, museums, and historical associations, not to mention serious collectors. The results are comprehensive; the website boasts over 31 million auction results and over $97 billion in lot value.
Plus, as the article mentions, you can subscribe on an as-needed basis with 24 hour subscriptions.
When searching for art, antiques or collectibles auction results, Artfact has the most focused and complete database available. If you need to get it right and find it fast, the best results are worth paying for.
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