“None were good enough quality for me to have any interest in buying,” he said, adding he’s open to acquiring “top tier work by artists I find compelling if prices fell enough.”
Christie’s, which closed all offices in Europe and the U.S., is seeing an increase in private sales inquiries and plans to launch online viewing rooms for clients interested in such deals, said Marc Porter, chairman of the Americas at the auction house.
“There’s aptitude to transact right now,” said David Schrader, Sotheby’s worldwide head of private sales. “I just went to look at an artwork for someone in Europe because they can’t see it. With high-res pictures and condition reports, seasoned buyers are comfortable -- as long as they are dealing with people they trust.”
Auctions of wine and modern South Asian art at Sotheby’s and decorative objects at Christie’s this week did surprisingly well, considering salerooms were nearly empty and all the action was on the phones and online. Art Basel Hong Kong, which launched online viewing rooms this week after canceling the live event, had many sales by the end of the first VIP day, including a $2.6 million painting by Marlene Dumas at David Zwirner gallery.
These amounts though are dwarfed by the money auction houses bring in during each major season. Art collectors and investors shelled out more than $2 billion over five days of sales in New York last May.
Bonds for Sotheby’s, which was taken private last year by Patrick Drahi for in a debt-fueled $2.7 billion acquisition, have tumbled with the junk-bond market and are trading at 81.5 cents on the dollar.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.