What does an art auctioneer do?
An art auctioneer works to sell pieces of art for the highest possible price, but this is just the more widely-known aspect of his or her job. Most of the time, the auctioneer is the individual who sets the price on the piece, unless his or her clients request a specific price or reserve.
How do art auctions make money?
Auction houses already charge a seller's commission, a fee paid by the consignor to the auction house which goes towards the research, valuation, and promotion of an artwork.
How do I get into an art auction?
Here are ten steps to take to get started in your art auction house career.Get a College Degree in Art History. Andrew Watson/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images. ... Attend Auction School. ... Attend Art Auctions. ... Apprentice. ... Specialize. ... Work Hard. ... Be Active in the Arts. ... Do Thorough Research.More items...•
Can anyone go to an art auction?
While many view art auctions as exclusive events reserved for the elite, they're actually public events. Anyone can stroll in and attend (to get a bidding paddle requires a little more effort, but more on that later). Think of auctions as the “sport” of the art market.
What percentage do art auctions take?
They vary from one auctioneer to another and according to the type of sale and are generally between 15% and 25% (excluding taxes) of the hammer price. The auction fees must be indicated in the sales conditions and publicly announced before the sale.
How much commission does an art auction house take?
Typically, a seller might pay about 10 percent commission on a $100,000 artwork. A buyer would pay about 25 percent. But for some works of art — commonly those worth $1 million or above — sellers don't usually pay anything.
Do artists make money from auctions?
Materially speaking, artists only benefit from sales when their works are sold on the primary market, meaning a collector purchased the work from a gallery or, less frequently, from the artist himself. When a work sells at auction, the artist doesn't benefit at all.
How do I sell my art locally?
Local markets can include farmers' markets, flea markets, market areas at music and arts festivals and neighborhood fairs and festivals. These are always fun and often quite exciting environments, and can really attract art lovers, so you often find a lot of young aspiring artists there as well.
How do famous artists sell their paintings?
To get started, you may want to contact an auction house that specializes in art, not just a general auction house.Taking Artwork to an Auction House for Assessment.Seeking Appraisals of Fine Art Paintings.Selling Artwork to a Gallery.Whether to Sell or Consign Fine Art Paintings.
How do online art auctions work?
The general gist is that an auctioneer describes an item and prospective buyers raise their paddles to place bids on that item. That's a very simplified version of how it works. And now that most in-person activities have become virtual, many auctions have also gone 100% online, which changes the nature of the process.
What is a lot in art auction?
The winning bid for a lot at auction. It is the price upon which the auctioneer's hammer falls, determining the sale price, but does not include the buyer's premium.
How do you buy art from online auctions?
Tips for Buying Modern Art at An Online AuctionFind a Reputable Online Auction. ... Register for the Auction. ... Remember the date (and time) ... The Starting Price and Estimated Price Range. ... Filter by Your Interests. ... Keep an Eye on the Deadline – Don't Miss Out. ... Buy What You Love. ... Winning the Auction and the Buyer's Premium.More items...•
Do artists make money from auctions?
Materially speaking, artists only benefit from sales when their works are sold on the primary market, meaning a collector purchased the work from a gallery or, less frequently, from the artist himself. When a work sells at auction, the artist doesn't benefit at all.
How do online art auctions work?
The general gist is that an auctioneer describes an item and prospective buyers raise their paddles to place bids on that item. That's a very simplified version of how it works. And now that most in-person activities have become virtual, many auctions have also gone 100% online, which changes the nature of the process.
How do I host an art auction?
Twelve Steps to Preparing a Successful Fundraising AuctionSet Goals for Participation, Procurement, and Earning. ... Plan a Budget. ... Set a Date and Location. ... Choose an Auctioneer. ... Send Out Invitations. ... Solicit Donations of Goods and Services. ... Prepare Written Materials. ... Promote and Publicize the Event.More items...
What is a lot in art auction?
The winning bid for a lot at auction. It is the price upon which the auctioneer's hammer falls, determining the sale price, but does not include the buyer's premium.
What is the job of an auctioneer?
If you are considering launching your career in arts management , becoming an auctioneer is one possible path. A fine art auctioneer organizes and hosts auctions. He or she acts as a referee between buyers and sellers who makes it possible for them to come up with a price they both agree is fair. This profession allows you to have finger on the pulse of the art world, as you organize transactions. Famous auctioneer such as Simon de Pury play a major role in shaping the art market, and witness history by making possible the sales of major art pieces.
How to become an art auctioneer?
To pursue this occupation, there are multiple possible paths to follow.
What happens before an auction starts?
Before an auction starts, the estimated market price of the item is announced. Whenever a seller requires a reserve price, the auctioneer upholds this wish by starting the opening bid at this amount of money.
What is the duty of an art appraiser?
This duty consists in .identifying any critical information about a piece, such as its origin, its production date, its creator, any defect it may have, etc. With this information, one can then properly assess the work of art’s value on the market, and set a starting price. In certain cases, the help of art experts and appraisers is required.
What is the key to becoming an expert in one particular type of art?
One of the key to make it in this profession is specialization, so becoming an expert in one particular type of art can be a way to achieve that.
Who said "Auctioneers must enjoy themselves and the bidders will too"?
This goes without saying, you must be passionate about arts and arts collecting. As Hugh Edmeades puts it : "Auctioneers must enjoy themselves, and the bidders will too".
How to get a good knowledge of art?
To build your knowledge of art and its market, we suggest you take a master’s degree or mba in art sales. One should also read articles specializing in auction and the art market to stay informed of its current trends. Sotheby’s Magazine and La Gazette Drouot are good examples.
What is an art auction?
An art auction or fine art auction is the sale of art works, in most cases in an auction house . In England this dates from the latter part of the 17th century, when in most cases the names of the auctioneers were suppressed.
What are the changes in art auctions?
One of the largest changes to art auctions in 21st century is introduction and expansion of online bidding in addition and sometimes replacement of physical auctions. This allowed larger auction houses like Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips and Heritage to expand both their reach to potential bidders and the inventory of artifacts auctioned, and the process is still going. On the other hand this concept made it possible for auctions mainly based online to appear and prosper, such as Invaluable, Live Auctioneers, Phi, etc. As a result of this shift, the art auction model is changing to become more inclusive of contemporary artists, and offering a broader range of the artworks to wider audiences. One of the most notable shifts associated with this change is constantly growing influence of the collectors from Asian markets.
What was the most remarkable feature in art sales during the last years of the 19th century?
The appreciation—commercially at all events—of mezzotint portraits and of portraits printed in colours , after masters of the early English school, was one of the most remarkable features in art sales during the last years of the 19th century. The shillings of fifty years before were then represented by pounds.
What was the most marked feature of the Edwardian art market?
The most marked feature of the Edwardian art market was the demand for the 18th century painters Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Pater and Lancret ; thus La Ronde Champêtre of the last named brought at the Say Sale in 1908, and Natoire 's Le Reveil de Vénus at the Sedelmeyer sale, 1907.
What was the chief feature of art sales in the late 19th century?
Late 19th to early 20th centuries. In the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th, the chief feature in art sales was the demand for works, particularly female portraits, by Reynolds, his contemporaries and successors.
What is the oldest auction house?
Some of the best known auction houses are Christie's and Sotheby's. The oldest auction house is Stockholm Auction House (Stockholms Auktionsverk). It was established in Sweden in 1674.
When was the Great Auction of Pictures?
In June 1693, John Evelyn mentions a "great auction of pictures ( Lord Melfort 's) in the Banqueting House, Whitehall ", and the practice is frequently referred to by other contemporary and later writers. Normally, an auction catalog, that lists the art works to be sold, is written and made available well before the auction date.
How to become an art auctioneer?
To work as an art auctioneer, you will need to become both a specialist in fine art and a savvy business-person. As an art connoisseur, it is mandatory to have a passion in art as this is something that cannot be faked. In other words, you must love handling aesthetic objects like ceramics and paintings and be able to evaluate them in the art marketplace.
What does it take to work at an art auction house?
Being employed in an art auction house requires staff members to work hard and to work collaboratively as there are constant deadlines and exacting details to focus on.
What is art appraising?
Art appraising is a vital skill to have to work in an auction house. St. Louis-based certified fine art appraiser Mary Carpenter advises, "to become a Fine Art appraiser, I would first obtain a degree in Art History. I would then work in a gallery or at an auction house in order to understand the market side of the business first-hand.
What to expect at an art auction preview?
What to expect at a preview: The preview is when visitors can examine and sometimes handle the artworks that are slated for auction. The art auction house staff is on hand to discuss the condition, provenance, value, and rarity of the artworks. What to expect at an auction:
Why is ethics important in art auctions?
Ethics are extremely important when it comes to art appraisals and art auctions as success in these fields rely upon maintaining an impeccable reputation. Since a large part of the art trade is unregulated, reputation is key and auctioneers must maintain a good reputation in order to be successful in their careers at art auction houses.
What do auction schools teach?
Auction schools also teach marketing, business and appraisal skills, plus how to deal with ethical, legal, and tax issues.
What degree do you need to become an art expert?
And to become a high-level art expert, a graduate and even a doctorate degree in your area of specialization required. To work in the field of art auctions, ...
What is an art auction?
An art auction is the sale of art led by an auctioneer, most commonly held in auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, which have different locations around the world.
What type of art is sold at auction?
Any type of art can be sold at auction, but paintings are far and beyond the most common medium up for grabs. The most high-profile auctions are for famous paintings by well-known artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which sold for an incredible 450 million dollars in 2017.
Who sets the price?
Guide prices and reserves are the work of expert art consultants. Appraisal is a profession in itself, and major auction houses use teams of specialists who are tasked with contextualizing every artwork on offer within the trajectory of the art market and broader economic climate.
What is an auctioneer?
Auctioneer - The MC of the sale. A consummate showman (or woman), oftentimes British at the tonier houses, who is able to use both humor and high drama to wheedle remarkable prices from even reluctant bidders.
What is art auction?
Auctions are the art world's blood sport, with wealthy collectors and art speculators convening in tony salesrooms to compete with one another for the finest works coming to market —providing delight for the rows of onlookers who attend the events to watch the action. They also tend to set the mood for the art market, with successful sales indicating a continuing boom and poor-performing auctions undermining confidence throughout the art world. For the initiated, they are enormous fun to watch, with record prices eliciting gasps and applause and celebrity bidders causing stirs. For those unfamiliar with the baroque logic of art auctions, they can seem impenetrable mysteries. In the interest of spreading the joys of art auctions, we've compiled a glossary of auction terms to explain how these glamorous contests work.
What is seller commission?
Seller's Commission - This is the vigorish that the auction house extracts from a work's consigner—un less the auctioneer is intent on landing the consignment, in which this fee can be waived (or negotiated down).
What is guarantee in art auction?
Guarantee - An amount of money that the auction house promises it will pay the consignor regardless of whether a work sells at auction. Issuing guarantees was a central strategy during the years of the mid-2000s art book for houses to acquire showpieces for their marquee evening sales, but after the 2008 financial collapse drained confidence in the art market, auctioneers lost millions and millions of dollars paying out guarantees on overestimated lots. As a result, Christie's and Sotheby's more or less stopped offering guarantees backed by the auction houses. In the immediate aftermath the two auction houses saw annual revenues for contemporary art decline by a stunning 75 percent, but since then—with the help of third-party guarantees—sales have rebounded.
What is an auction block?
Auction Block - The podium behind which the auctioneer stands, and frequently the object of the hammer's thwack. When an artwork goes up for auction it is said to "go on the block," though in reality the work is displayed by white-gloved handlers who strut out behind the auctioneer or on a screen.
What is an estimate in auction?
Estimate - This is the auction house's guestimate for what a particular work could fetch in a sale, agreed upon in advance by the house's specialists (as a bracket around the appraisal) and included in the auction catalogues. It includes a low estimate and a high estimate, and is typically written in the format of "$14,000,000 - $18,000,000," or a permutation thereof. There are estimates for each individual work and estimates for the overall sale. In auction reports, journalists can squeeze great writerly pleasure from these figures, saying that a work "unstoppably hurdled its high estimate," "sputtered and died short of its low estimate," et cetera.
What is an evening sale?
Evening Sale - These are the marquee auctions held at night, offering the most coveted lots in a sophisticated atmosphere of high drama and adrenaline. Champagne is often served, and bidders (and onlookers) typically arrive in formal attire, with gawkers craning around to spot celebrities.
Overview
An art auction or fine art auction is the sale of art works, in most cases in an auction house.
In England this dates from the latter part of the 17th century, when in most cases the names of the auctioneers were suppressed. In June 1693, John Evelyn mentions a "great auction of pictures (Lord Melfort's) in the Banqueting House, …
History
Before the introduction of regular auctions the practice was, as in the case of the famous collection formed by Charles I, to price each object and invite purchasers, just as in other departments of commerce. But this was a slow process, especially in the case of pictures, and lacked the incentive of excitement. The first really important art collection to come under the hammer …
Controversy
In 2000, Christie's and Sotheby's admitted to a criminal price fixing conspiracy in violation of antitrust law, and each agreed to pay clients million in compensation for illegally coordinating the commissions they charged on sales between 1993 and early 2000. Alfred Taubman, former chairman of Sotheby's, went to prison upon being convicted for his part in the scheme. Sotheby's CEO Diana Brooks and her counterpart at Christie's, Christopher Davidge, confessed to the crime…
See also
• Art dealer
• Art valuation
• Blockage discount
• CINOA, an international organization of art dealers
Historical bibliography
The chief compilations dealing with art sales in Great Britain are: G. Redford, Art Sales (1888); and W. Roberts, Memorials of Christie's (1897); other books containing much important matter are W. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting; The Year's Art (1880 and each succeeding year); F. S. Robinson, The Connoisseur; and Louis Soullié, Les Ventes de tableaux, dessins et objets d'art au XIX'e siècle (chiefly French).
Notes
1. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 268.
2. ^ Evelyn 1906, p. 303.
3. ^ Graves, p. 305.
4. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 269.
5. ^ "Sotheby's - Page Not Found". sothebys.com. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
External links
• Michel Cruz, Is the current art market boom just the beginning of a whole new era for international trading?, Rimontgo, 2006, archived from the original at archive.org.