Although arguably the best of the fine art and antiques fairs, TEFAF Maastricht is in many ways a bellwether in the fine art and antiques trade. The fair concluded this past March 19th, with attendance of 71,000- a considerable number of punters, albeit a few fewer than last year’s gate. Maastricht is not exactly cutting edge in terms of the material offered- most offerings are well inside the accepted canons of art and design history. However, without question, nearly everything is of museum quality, and a number of institutional sales are racked up every year.
What was most interesting, and a new feature of this year’s Maastricht was the participation of both Christie’s and Sotheby’s as stall holders. Sotheby’s, of course, as they purchased the well-established fine art dealer Robert Noortman, one of the fair’s founders, but turnabouts fair play, Christie’s demanded equal opportunity, which was given them. Dealing not as Sotheby’s but as Robert Noortman, Christie’s then was required to adopt a nom de guerre, King Street Fine Art. Silly, but whatever the rules are…
Although many of my colleagues have bitterly complained about the inclusion of the auction houses, under any guise, within the precincts of a fine art and antiques fair, I find it interesting that the sales rooms themselves find it necessary. Indeed, with their marketing budgets vastly outstripping any dealer that I know of, why do they then feel the need?
A couple of reasons. First, they need to make money. That may seem obvious, but let me stress- they really need to make money. The amount of overhead in an auction house is tremendous. I can’t even estimate what just the occupancy cost of either Christie’s or Sotheby’s is in London alone, to say nothing of New York and Paris. Second, they have inventory to sell that they really need to sell. Presumably we all know that the major auction houses compete with each other to obtain the consignment of the best goods. David Rockefeller’s Rothko that will highlight Sotheby’s upcoming 20th century art sale in New York has been rumored to be guaranteed by Sotheby’s for $40m- that’s 4 with 7 zeros behind it. If it doesn’t sell, Sotheby’s will still write a check to Mr. Rockefeller for $40,000,000. In this case, Sotheby’s has made a safe, albeit high stakes, bet, but not every guaranteed lot sells. And if it doesn’t? They own it. And since it didn’t sell, it was either over priced or flawed. And, everyone in the art world- dealers and collectors- know that it didn’t sell at auction and that the auction house needs to get as much of their money back as soon as they can. Ripe for the picking, wouldn’t you say? Yes, and the auction houses know it, but there isn’t much they can do about this.
So, the auction houses need not only to attract consignments but to have a retail outlet for their misjudgments. And in this respect, their competitors at the art fairs, particularly Maastricht, certainly have the better of them. Dealers like Wildenstein and French and Company have been in business for well over a century, know where the best pieces are- often because they had handled them at some time in the last 100 years, and, consequently, repeatedly offer pictures and decorative pieces that are fresh to the market and always of the finest quality. Indeed, it is the best dealers’ connoisseurship that is a significant part of their stock in trade, and what many collectors, both private and institutional, are happy to pay for.
And the art fair patron? More money than time a lot of them, and browsing an art and antiques fair provides the opportunity to see a variety of pieces in a short amount of time. Maastricht, for instance, had 219 exhibitors. That’s a lot of merchandise, equivalent to waiting years to see the same number, to say nothing of the same level of quality, come under the hammer at the auction houses. And, the patron can transact their business privately. And, if they don’t like the piece in a year- they can take it back and have the dealer resell it- gratis! What auction house is even willing to provide the same service? And, on top of everything else, the patron may just possibly, or even probably, pay the dealer less than what the same piece might cost them if purchased at auction. Mind you, the consignor may be able to negotiate favorable sales terms- the buyer, considerably less often.