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The auctioneer, who whose role used to be more like that of a mediocre salesman amidst a slightly distracted audience, is now a trained conductor with the room at his attention. Christie's chief auctioneer, Christopher Burge, exemplifies the profession's evolved role. He has a reputation for being "genuinely “genuinely charming and having tight control over the room" room” (Thornton, 5). As Burge explains his selling strategies, one may call to mind the world of sports or gambling before art. Burge discloses that he keeps a book recording the seated positions of the bidders and their bidding styles, whether they are aggressive or looking for a deal (Thornton, 4). He also credits his ability to read bidders body language after years of experience (Thornton, 21). As a result, Burge and other experienced auctioneers, have a good sense of how things will turn out before the auction begins.
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Other factors have changed since Christie's opened. The works offered at auction tend to be quite recent. As Thornton notes in her first chapter, primary concern is not for the meaning of the artwork but its unique selling points, which tend to fetishize the earliest traces of the artist's brand or signature style." ” (Thornton, 7).
The bidding room itself is has changed from the greyish-green ideal of 18th century gallery interiors to the stark minimal white that is the standard of today (Klonk, 28). Additionally, the condensed arrangement of paintings characteristic of 18th century displays has given way to a focused and separate display of each work (Klonk, 30).
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Link to image here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/arts/design/sothebys-art-auction-totals-nearly-200-million.html
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This resonates with Thornton's observation that serious collectors tend to buy newer works because they want to stay ahead of the curve (Thornton, 13). This may also help explain why, aside from the Klimt painting, the other top grossing sales were from the modernist paintings. Though these modernist paintings aren't exactly new, perhaps this is a compromise between the uncertainty of the primary art market and the desire to have more recent work.
Bibliography:
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Klonk, Charlotte. Spaces of Experience.
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