Beschaffungsanalyse, Absatzplanung, Kundenorientierung, Markenpflege - der Kunstmarkt verändert sich so rasant wie nie zuvor. Für Kunstwerke erzielte Preise bestimmen deren Einordnung in den kunstgeschichtlichen Kanon. Auktionshäuser haben sich neben Kunstmessen, Galerien und Kunsthandel als dominante Distributionsform etabliert. Dabei gleicht die rituelle Dramaturgie der Auktion bis heute einem archaischen Wettstreit: Sie verschlägt Mitwirkenden die Sprache und zieht Unbeteiligte in ihren Bann. Im Zentrum steht der Auktionator, dessen Art des Auftritts zunehmend den Zuschlag bestimmt. Anhand der Porträts von Auktionatoren, darunter auch eine Frau, erzählt der Band die Geschichte des Kunstauktionswesens. Entscheidende Ereignisse an Schauplätzen wie New York, Paris, Zürich, Berlin, Stuttgart oder Pompeji werden lebendig und zeigen, wie der Auktionator aus dem Schatten gesichtsloser Dienstleistung als Star ins Rampenlicht tritt.

Procurement analysis, sales planning, customer orientation, brand management-the art market is changing more rapidly than ever before. The price that a work of art commands influences its place in the art-historical canon. Auction houses have become dominant avenues of distribution, as have art fairs, galleries, and art dealers. Even today the ritual dra­maturgy of the auction resembles an archaic compe­tition, which can leave participants speechless and captivate bystanders. At the center of the action is the auctioneer, whose performance is increasingly critical to the success of the auction. With portraits of auctioneers, this volume tells the story of the art auction business. Key events that played out in cities such as New York, Paris, Zurich, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Pompeii come alive and show how the auctioneer is emerging from the anonymity of a service provider and stepping into the limelight as the star of the show. (Deutsche Ausgabe ISBN 978-3-7757-3902-3) In conjunction printed volumes (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3902-3, English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3903-0) are also available.

Autorentext
Dirk Boll, 1970, hat in Göttingen und Freiburg/Br. Rechtsanwalt studiert und praktizierte in Stuttgart und Brüssel, bevor er sich mit einem Aufbaustudium »Art Management« dem Kunstmarkt zuwandte. Er begann seine Karriere bei Christies 1998 in London. Seit 2005 ist er Geschäftsführer für die Deutschschweiz sowie European Director, Christies International.

Zusammenfassung
Procurement analysis, sales planning, customer orientation, brand managementthe art market is changing more rapidly than ever before. The price that a work of art commands influences its place in the art-historical canon. Auction houses have become dominant avenues of distribution, as have art fairs, galleries, and art dealers. Even today the ritual dra­maturgy of the auction resembles an archaic compe­tition, which can leave participants speechless and captivate bystanders. At the center of the action is the auctioneer, whose performance is increasingly critical to the success of the auction. With portraits of auctioneers, this volume tells the story of the art auction business. Key events that played out in cities such as New York, Paris, Zurich, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Pompeii come alive and show how the auctioneer is emerging from the anonymity of a service provider and stepping into the limelight as the star of the show. (Deutsche Ausgabe ISBN 978-3-7757-3902-3) In conjunction printed volumes (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3902-3, English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-3903-0) are also available.

Leseprobe

Dirk Boll

A Cultural History of the Art Auction in 14 Portraits

It is possible that money has always played a role in the perception of art. Certainly this became obvious in the 1980s, when collectors from Japan bought Impressionist paintings following the investment of British pension funds in this category a few years earlier. Similarly, everybody began to buy Contemporary Art in the 1990s. These days it is an accepted fact that the market value of art has a bearing on the canonisation process. We may regret this, but it is unlikely to change any time soon. The all-encompassing transparency that the Internet now brings to the market practically guarantees a grassroots democratic approach and also leaves an indelible mark. Since more than half of all art works sold globally in 2013 achieved prices below EUR3,000, the market clearly also plays an important role in popularizing the arts.1

Even though art markets follow traditional rules and regulations, they have been subject to unprecedented change since the turn of the millennium. At last, auction houses have achieved a transformation from wholesaler to retail business. This was only possible once they had established themselves in the eyes of the buyer as a third channel of commerce alongside art fairs on the one hand and galleries and dealerships on the other. New auction buyers are mainly 'end consumers' who are willing to pay higher prices than traders and are receptive to client development activities.

Christian Jankowski, Strip the Auctioneer, 2009, C-print, 41 × 50.8 cm, edition of 10, II

In the course of this evolution, the art world has quite clearly become an art industry, at least on its commercial side. As such, it now displays numerous industrial characteristics such as procurement analysis, sales planning, client service, public relations, and brand marketing. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the auction business, where sales are of a public nature and industrial elements become increasingly evident the larger a firm becomes.

But what kind of industry is this actually? There are two large enterprises with business plans: Christie's and Sotheby's. Think Starbucks, or Nespresso. The implementation of the plan is facilitated by direct competitors from the art trade, who have always had a certain entrepreneurial interest in the success of the auction business model, since they can easily use the public validation of art to support their own commercial activities.

When the hammer comes down at auction, it creates a moment of truth, a price achieved in public. This is often explained and almost condoned by the argument that art is merely used as an investment vehicle and that the market is thus manipulated by its participants. However, even the counter-argument - emphasizing the exceptionally high quality of a work of art that sells at a very high price - is only a mitigation masquerading as an explanation. Economically, there is a simple fact: goods were offered and demand has met the supply at a publicly agreed price. This price will remain on record and become a reference point for future sales. The seasonal nature of the auction business enhances the effect, as it creates suspense. As in an Olympic 100-meter sprint, any attempt to break the record can only be made at the next round of games. In the meantime, the historic success becomes both a reference point and an ambition.

Parker Brothers Inc., Salem, Mass., Masterpiece: The Art Auction Game, 1970

The focal point of the process is the figure of the auctioneer. Even if he (or she!) cannot alone create value, the auctioneer's performance has a significant effect on the price of the art work. He strives to turn audience members into bidders engaged in competition, and to this end he makes use of the visceral fascination that auction sal

Inhalt

DIRK BOLL - A Cultural History of the Art Auction in 14 Portraits DIRK BOLL - 1 London 1766 CELINA FOX - 1 James Christie - The Power of Place, Promotion and Personality DIRK BOLL - 2 Pompeii 1875 DIRK BOLL - 2 Lucius Caecilius Iucundus Messages from the Art Market in Antiquity DIRK BOLL - 3 London 1882 CHRISTOPHER MAXWELL - 3 The Hamilton Palace Sale and a Global Market DIRK BOLL - 4 Berlin 1916-1932 WALTER FEILCHENFELDT - 4 Paul Cassirer 81 Auctions between 1916 and 1932 DIRK BOLL - 5 Lucerne 1939 STE…