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It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 5:29 am
by Steve
It was inevitable some day. So the traditional staid pompous auction houses are having to lower themselves to climb into bed with crass popular everyday online house-hold auction sites. Of course, they will be spinning it for their own continued glory, no doubt.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28301139
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:26 am
by estott
Oh come on- Sotheby's is just a joke now. They are in the real estate business and I've seen weed choked lots in back alleys with their local agent's placards stuck in the ground. They would sell Princess Di's shoe boxes if they could get them.
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:12 pm
by Johnny Smoke
They do seem to be a bit pedestrian, wouldn't you say?
Regards, Johnny
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 5:32 pm
by JohnM
If I recall correctly, eBay bought Sotheby's over a decade ago.
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 5:45 pm
by estott
JohnM wrote:If I recall correctly, eBay bought Sotheby's over a decade ago.
No- they entered into a partnership, but they are still separate companies.
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 11:19 pm
by Edisone
This brings to mind the Sears & Roebuck program of 1962 to 1971 -
https://archive.org/details/the_vincent ... f_fine_art
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 4:23 am
by estott
That one was pretty successful for a while. His daughter said that at the time etchings were out of favor with collectors so the Prices were able to buy several fine collections for low prices- even a few Rembrandt etchings. Mrs. Price did the framing herself at first.
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:26 am
by FloridaClay
Internet bidding has become a major factor, even in high-end auctions, so I am not at all shocked. It is the way the world is going.
Clay
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 10:28 am
by JohnM
estott wrote:JohnM wrote:If I recall correctly, eBay bought Sotheby's over a decade ago.
No- they entered into a partnership, but they are still separate companies.
After doing my homework, I found that eBay purchased Butterfield & Butterfield in 1998, not Sotheby's.
Re: It's The End Of The (Po-faced Art) World As We Know It
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:02 pm
by Steve
estott wrote:Oh come on- Sotheby's is just a joke now. They are in the real estate business and I've seen weed choked lots in back alleys with their local agent's placards stuck in the ground. They would sell Princess Di's shoe boxes if they could get them.
That's interesting but over here in Ol' Blighty, things are very different it might appear and they would never do such things! You won't see a Sotheby's board advertising property available to any old "riff raff"! They might sell grand houses and estates but that's about it.