Going, going, gone – shop at Sotheby’s
We’ve all seen the comic cuts where someone sneezes or scratches his nose and ends up buying a Van Gogh he can’t pay for as the auctioneer bangs his gavel…
Don’t worry. It’s not going to happen to you. Not at Sotheby’s, anyway – you have to register, and use a numbered paddle to bid. So you can watch the action in the auction room without wondering if you’re going to end up with a few million quid’s worth of Post-Impressionist and no money to pay for it.
So you can settle down, and watch what’s going on. You’ll see bidders raising their paddles – you’ll also see the auctioneer taking telephone bids, and sometimes written bids have also been registered. And just occasionally you’ll see the auctioneer take a bid ‘off the wall’. This is real brinkmanship – the work being sold hasn’t reached its reserve price and the auctioneer is just trying to nudge it up past the reserve.
It’s free theatre. At least, it is if all the buyers aren’t written bids. Then it can get a bit unreal. None the less, if there’s a really expensive piece up for sale, you can feel the tension in the room – suddenly, it goes silent, and you could cut the air with a knife.
While Sotheby’s is best known for its sales of art, it handles all kinds of auctions – wine, classic cars, furniture, even jewellery and watches. And at some of these auctions, the average price is way below the multimillion pound Van Goghs and Monets – just a few thousand pounds could secure many of the items.
Look up auctions on the Sotheby’s website (above). Art fans may also be interested in going to see one of the viewings – it’s basically a free art gallery! But of course, you’ll need to be quick off the mark, because the viewings only take a few days – once the auction’s over, the brown paper and string will be coming out and off all the paintings go…
Photo credit: Bryan Gosline on flickr
behind the scenes
Where: 34 New Bond Street (Green Park or Bond Street tube stations)
Comments Off