The power of telly? Marketing the Old Masters
November 4 2015
Picture: BBC
A couple of weeks ago, I appeared in a BBC Artsnight programme to discuss an upcoming Old Master auction, with an emphasis on how affordable some of the great names of art history could be. A picture I picked out from Christie's mid-season Old Master sale was the above unfinished head by Sir Thomas Lawrence, my favourite British artist. The estimate was £15k-£20k, and it had previously bought-in at a Christie's sale when estimated at £30k-£50k. This time around it sold for £40,000.
All of which made me think about the way to market these Old Master auctions - are the auction houses really doing enough? The short answer is no.
For example, Sotheby's mid-season sale (that is, with pictures from the hundreds of pounds up to the low tens of thousands) was held on a Tuesday, starting at 2pm. The view, however, was only open on the previous Friday till 4.30pm, Sunday from 12 till 5pm, and Monday till 4.30pm. That left precious little time for anyone to see what was on offer - for most working people it was just a few hours on a Sunday afternoon, when they probably had other things to do. Nor was the cataloguing at Sotheby's particularly informative; for the most part title, artist, dimensions and estimate. Sure, the rooms looked nice when you got there, with good lighting and a nice atmosphere, and the website has good quality images. But is that enough to persuade potential new collectors to come and bid?
Not really. Let's say you went to the view on Sunday, and liked a picture. That gave you a day to think about bidding, which you might not have done before. Perhaps you might fancy an online bid - but then you find out the cut off time to register is 24 hours before the sale, so unless you're committed to bid by 2pm on Monday, you can't take part. If you're busy, you're unlikely to have the time to go and bid in person. Which leaves a phone bid of course, but then that too takes time to set up, especially if you don't have an account at Sotheby's already. Some advice on delivery and hanging your new purchase? A photo of the picture in its frame? Good luck.
In other words, it seems to me that the auction houses sometimes don't do enough to tempt new collectors into the market. Christie's are a more pro-active in London, for their saleroom at South Kensington is more retail-friendly. It's open on Saturdays, has late night viewings, and publishes magazines directed towards new collectors and the 'middle market'. Sotheby's has no secondary saleroom. Bonhams does, in Knightsbridge, but they're a long way away from Christie's in their presentation (and viewing times).
So that's why I suggested the BBC film at Christie's, because there at least anyone in the audience who was interested in the Lawrence, or some of the other pictures we featured, had a better chance of being able to follow it up.
Of course, these questions are all part of the wider issue of whether the auction market is best placed to help drive interest in Old Masters. Fewer dealers around (because they find it hard to compete with the auction houses) means fewer ambassadors out there to make the pitch for Old Masters all year round, at fairs, with catalogues, and galleries. So instead the Old Master market is becoming concentrated into three or four sales a year. And for the 'middle market' sales, like the ones last week, that means dumping about 600 or more pictures onto the market in a quiet week in October, with little effort made to get out and advertise them. It's no wonder some of the lots (like this one)* could hardly be given away. Few other markets would function like that.
So here we are, then, with a business model primarly designed centuries ago to cater for a wholesale market now trying to be a retail market - but failing. Certainly, the auctioneers might say they only really care about the high end stuff. But in fact auction margins are highest for items up to about £500,000. And if the auctioneers don't take care to nurture the new Old Master buyer who wants to start with a £2k picture, before graduating up to a £200k one, or even higher (and in my experience that's how most of them start), then they're in danger of turning away future clients.
Many people who saw the Artsnight programme were genuinely amazed that a picture by a big name like Lawrence could be so (relatively) 'cheap' - at least at the initial estimate. As regular readers will know, I am optimistic about the depth of interest out there for Old Masters. But those of us in the trade, collectively, need to think again about how we reach that market in today's time-starved, short-attention-span, digital world. As far as auction houses go, there would seem to be a few simple steps to take: have longer viewing times which are more suited to people's lifestyles; make it easier for people to register and bid; write a few lines in the catalogue entry about the artist and period of the picture you're selling, even if it is a generic cut and paste paragraph about the life of an artist; and at viewings, don't be afraid to go up to obviously new clients, ask them what they're looking for, and generally be helpful. It is possible to convert people to the virtues of Old Masters - we just have to try.
Update - a reader writes:
I couldn’t disagree more with you about the lighting at [Sotheby's] Bond Street for their mid season sale.
It was like viewing in a nightclub. I know they are trying to cut costs but this was ridiculous.
Otherwise spot on.
* I was watching the sale online, but couldn't bid because I'd not registered in time. I'd certainly have bid on some these bargains, where there was no reserve, if I'd been able to.
