The Christie’s Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen on Working the Room
In November, you auctioned off a record-breaking $691 million worth of postwar and contemporary art in a sale for Christie’s. Is there a bubble in the art market?
We used to see high prices for our old-master paintings. We sold
Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” here in London in 1987 for $40 million,
which was a record at the time. Really, over the last five years
we have seen a steady march toward high prices in postwar art.
At the same time, new buyers are entering the market from the
Middle East, Asia, Russia and elsewhere.
We used to see high prices for our old-master paintings. We sold
Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” here in London in 1987 for $40 million,
which was a record at the time. Really, over the last five years
we have seen a steady march toward high prices in postwar art.
At the same time, new buyers are entering the market from the
Middle East, Asia, Russia and elsewhere.
From the outset, how do you identify the right bidders
in the room?
It’s the glint in their eye, and intuition. It’s about the posture
of the client, how they sit forward on the chair, how they
make eye contact with you. As I look up, I know the four
or five people that are definitely going to bid. Particularly
at the top of the market, the stakes are very high, and
you have 60 to 90 seconds to sell a very major work of
art.
in the room?
It’s the glint in their eye, and intuition. It’s about the posture
of the client, how they sit forward on the chair, how they
make eye contact with you. As I look up, I know the four
or five people that are definitely going to bid. Particularly
at the top of the market, the stakes are very high, and
you have 60 to 90 seconds to sell a very major work of
art.
And how do you keep them bidding?It’s a hell of a lot easier when you personally know the people that are bidding and you know, to some degree, how far they’re going to go, why they’re bidding and when they’ll stop bidding. Laurence Graff was bidding on Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘‘Woman With Flowered Hat,’’ and he stopped at $40 million. I looked at him and opened my hands; I knew he wanted to continue. He went all the way to $50 million. At $50 million, the gallerist Tony Shafrazi said, ‘‘Come on, you have to give him the picture!’’
How did you know he would keep going?
In that situation, the appetite to acquire that piece was significant. That’s when you have to pause and give the buyer time, because in their lifetime they may only have one opportunity to buy the masterpiece that they really crave. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but it’s true. Someone might have collected 40 or 50 good paintings, and when the one work that he wants more than anything else comes up for auction, the auctioneer has to be very sensitive to that.
In that situation, the appetite to acquire that piece was significant. That’s when you have to pause and give the buyer time, because in their lifetime they may only have one opportunity to buy the masterpiece that they really crave. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but it’s true. Someone might have collected 40 or 50 good paintings, and when the one work that he wants more than anything else comes up for auction, the auctioneer has to be very sensitive to that.
How much do you think the auctioneer affects sale prices?
It’s very difficult to judge, but I think that a good auctioneer can certainly bring 20 percent to the value of major works of art.
It’s very difficult to judge, but I think that a good auctioneer can certainly bring 20 percent to the value of major works of art.
Now that you have such an international room of bidders, have you picked up on differences in the way people from different nations bid?
Many of the key buyers will have homes in different countries, and they’ve studied in England or in France and live in the Middle East, or have made their businesses in Russia but live in London. I wouldn’t say that nationality is an indicator of how they bid. I think that’s something we presumed might be the case, but it isn’t.
Many of the key buyers will have homes in different countries, and they’ve studied in England or in France and live in the Middle East, or have made their businesses in Russia but live in London. I wouldn’t say that nationality is an indicator of how they bid. I think that’s something we presumed might be the case, but it isn’t.
In New York there’s a sense that the U.S. art collector right now is a net seller, while the Qataris and the Chinese are net buyers.
When I first joined Christie’s, it was what we called the Three D’s — Death, Divorce and Debt — that drove sales, but that doesn’t really play such a large part anymore. The Middle East, Asia and Russia are getting into the Impressionist and postwar markets, and others — furniture, ceramics and silver — and buying very strongly. On the flip side of that, you have the great American and European collectors, whose tastes have changed. They’ve sold Impressionist to buy postwar.
When I first joined Christie’s, it was what we called the Three D’s — Death, Divorce and Debt — that drove sales, but that doesn’t really play such a large part anymore. The Middle East, Asia and Russia are getting into the Impressionist and postwar markets, and others — furniture, ceramics and silver — and buying very strongly. On the flip side of that, you have the great American and European collectors, whose tastes have changed. They’ve sold Impressionist to buy postwar.
Are the buyers collectors who want to put pieces on their walls, or investors who trade art like stocks?
I’d say 90 percent are collectors who want to put works on the wall. In the late ’80s, there was a lot of speculation driven by finance houses enlarging their books by investing in art and so forth, but that was very different from the art world today.
I’d say 90 percent are collectors who want to put works on the wall. In the late ’80s, there was a lot of speculation driven by finance houses enlarging their books by investing in art and so forth, but that was very different from the art world today.
All the anger with banks and Wall Street hasn’t really carried over to the art world. Why do you think that is?
By and large, the art-buying public is very philanthropic. The other point to bear in mind is that Christie’s has many hundreds of thousands of clients, and not all of them buy Francis Bacon triptychs.
By and large, the art-buying public is very philanthropic. The other point to bear in mind is that Christie’s has many hundreds of thousands of clients, and not all of them buy Francis Bacon triptychs.
Another auctioneer once said, “The best art is the most expensive art because the market is so smart.” Is that true?
I see it very differently.
I see it very differently.
