Christie’s CEO on hopes for new Asia HQ in Hong Kong, and its place in global art market
Guillaume Cerutti explains Christie’s move to year-round sales at new Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, and challenges facing European market
The usually smooth back and forth between auctioneer and bidder had an unexpected hitch during the sale of the top lot in Christie’s evening sale in Hong Kong on September 26.
Xin Li, deputy chairman at Christie’s, indicated to veteran auctioneer Adrien Meyer that her client on the phone wanted to place a bid for Vincent van Gogh’s Les Canots Amarrés (1887).
Instead of just adding a standard increment to the last bid, which was already at around HK$200 million (US$25.7 million), she hesitated and then blurted: “26 million!” Her client, it seemed, insisted on bidding in US dollars.
This was not much of a snag for a multinational company that is French-owned, London-based, has auctions in three continents and has just opened a new office in Saudi Arabia. Meyer calmly asked for a conversion and carried on.
But the challenge of getting different markets and time zones to work together within the Christie’s empire is not quite so simple. And with Hong Kong switching to having year-round sales instead of just two marquee weeks in spring and autumn, the calibrating and coordination have just got more complicated.
