Christies Moving Into Art Fairs

Scott Reyburn reporting for Bloomberg states that Christie's is now moving into show promotions with a fair planned for the Frieze Art Week in London.  The Frieze draws over 60,000 dealer and collectors to the main show, satellite shows and auctions, so the opportunity for a Christie's expansion fits their aggressive business plan.  According to Reyburn the show will be called Multiplied focusing on  contemporary prints, editions and photographs and will be held at  Christie’s South Kensington showroom from Oct. 15 to 18.

As noted on the AW Blog in the past, Christie's has been expanding into many art related fields beyond auctions, to include galleries, appraisals, art storage, insurance, private sales, direct artist to auction sales and now shows.

Reyburn states

The model for the event is the annual Editions/Artists’ Book Fair in New York, Richard Lloyd, Christie’s international head of prints, said in an e-mail.

Creating Buzz

“I was inspired to stage something similar in London and help to create a buzz and a platform for the very best in contemporary publishing,” said Lloyd. “Christie’s isn’t taking any percentage of the sales; stands are very competitively priced and entry to the fair is free.”

Christie’s has participated in international art fairs. In March 2007, the company exhibited as King Street Fine Art Ltd. at Tefaf, Maastricht. Christie’s wholly owned subsidiary Haunch of Venison has exhibited at the Netherlands-based fair since 2008, having been excluded from Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach and Frieze.

The Moniker International Art Fair will be another newcomer during Frieze Week. The Oct. 14-17 event in the disused warehouse setting of the Village Underground in east London will provide spaces for 12 galleries specializing in urban art.

To read the full article, click HERE.