Wonderful world of autumn auctions

THE numbers shot up in split seconds: 10.6; 10.7; 10.8. They kept on spiralling but less than 10 minutes later the gavel came down. “Sold!” And Francis Bacon's Version No 2 of Lying Figure With Hypodermic Syringe went to an anonymous buyer for US$15mil (RM53.82mil).

Autumn auctions began last month in New York, a shrine of sorts for wheeling and dealing in the art world.

Christie's and Sotheby's, the Goliaths of auction houses, frequently announce their events in the newspapers.

The room at Sotheby's in Manhattan was packed during a recent evening auction of contemporary art when Bacon's 1968 oil on canvas was sold.

“There may be almost 1,000 people here,” said an employee.

To help the auctioneer see a bidder in such a large, crowded room, sales clerks often stand around the place. So, cries of “bidding!” boomed throughout the room whenever they saw an interested buyer raising his paddle.

Almost two dozen employees, meanwhile, were manning the telephones to take bids from buyers who wanted even more discretion.

Auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's often welcome visitors to observe the bidding process.

There is no obligation to bid, and no one will give you funny looks for just being there.

For the uninitiated (like yours truly), it was quite an experience to know the staggering amount of money out there.

As the New York Times noted, one unidentified telephone bidder spent at least US$25mil (RM89.70mil) within an hour during that contemporary art auction as he bought the Bacon masterpiece and another painting for US$10.6mil (RM38mil).

Two weeks earlier, an auction of 19th century European Art was held in a smaller room at Sotheby's.

There was a small revolving stage to exhibit the painting that came up for bidding. Prospective buyers perused their bulky catalogue of the works that were about to be auctioned off.

A row of telephones was placed in front and at the back of the room.

The auctioneer began by explaining briefly the terms and conditions of the auction.

Just before he accepts the final bid on any lot, he would announce “fair warning” or “last chance” and scan the room to see whether any more bids were coming before he brought down the hammer.

A group of college girls were there to observe the bidding process as well.

At one point, there was frenzied bidding for a large painting measuring 324cm by 166cm titled Property of a Gentleman by Rene Rousseau-Decelle.

“It is like a phone war,” commented one of the college students, referring to the unrelenting bids coming through the telephones. Two interested buyers tried to outbid one another by raising the amount.

The employees who manned the lines often worked quietly, usually just nodding or raising their hand slightly to indicate to the auctioneer that the buyer on the line wanted to up his bid.

If an item failed to be sold off, the auctioneer would declare “passed.”

At Christie’s, it is an almost similar setting.

There is an electronic board flashing the bid amount in euro, Swiss francs, Hong Kong dollars and yen.

I heard one successful bidder whispering to his partner: “Do we need to pay taxes?”

“Yes,” came the reply.

The winning bid (which is also known as hammer price) does not include a sales tax and a percentage of that purchase price the buyer must pay to the auction house.

Of course, it is not just the paintings that come under the hammer. There could be other precious items such as furniture, sculptures, manuscripts and watches.

Tomorrow, Christie's will hold an auction of rock and pop memorabilia while “finest and rarest wines” will be sold on Dec 8 and 9. Sotheby’s is offering magnificent jewels on Dec 6.

Some of Christie's auctions are available live online, too.

(Sunday December 3, 2006)