Secrets of the Auction Room

Georginia Adam of the Financial Times recently published an article entitled the "Secrets of the Auction Room. Adam discusses various components of auctions, including the catalog, sales estimates, buyer/seller conditions, private financial arrangements, and anonymity. It is a rather basic look, but has good fundamentals about buying at auction, and some of the conditions and issues that may arise.

Adam states, The advantage to auctions is that they have a certain democratic, or rather meritocratic, element: for new collectors, buying at auction is easier than braving the haughty froideur of some top art galleries. At auction, if you have the money you can simply bid for a work, thereby avoiding the machinations of dealers who have waiting lists for some artists and select those to whom they will sell. The auction room is also often seen as the only place where “hard” figures can be obtained, with recorded transactions visible and available to all. But even this apparently transparent process is not all that it appears. Much of what is going on is secret, one way or another.

For appraisers, it is a good article to read and to refresh your opinion on auction house sales and terms.

To read the Financial Times article, click HERE.