A Prayer To Stop Sotheby’s Agony
An exceptional auction house was born in 1744 in the heart of London on New Bond Street. That house built a revered tradition of uniting collectors with world-class works of art and marketing the world’s most cherished possessions. Now, almost three centuries after, Sotheby’s auction house is crumbling. The victims: approximately 250 auctions each year in over 70 categories.[1] “The unprecedented shakeup follows a losing battle with an activist investor, a change in leadership, and a pricey acquisition of an art advisory firm, and it puts the auctioneer in a dicey position just before one of its big sale seasons.”[2]
[1] Data taken from “About: Board of Directors.” Sotheby’s. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. http://www.sothebys.com/en/inside/board-of-directors.html
[2] Boucher, Brian, and Kinsella, Eileen. “Exodus at Sotheby’s -artnet News.” Artnet News. 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2016. https://news.artnet.com/market/exodus-sothebys-plunges-auctioneer-rocky-waters-461087?utm_campaign=artnetnews