How to gain visibility in these times of Covid-19 when amateurs can no longer come in numbers to the auction rooms because of the measures imposed by the health crisis?
In the race to win over more and more audiences and audiences, Sotheby's has decided to go all out.
The American house bought by the Franco-Israeli magnate Patrick Drahi has just joined forces with Museum TV, the 100% art TV.
The purpose of this partnership is to broadcast live and exclusively its next two autumn sales of modern and contemporary art.
A test that could lead to others.
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The first sale, titled Modernités, was to be held during the Fiac in Paris (International Contemporary Art Fair) and the second, Contemporary, during the London Frieze, the two major fairs in October, both canceled due to the news. restrictions related to the pandemic.
These two sales will therefore take place at the same time, to become one and the same prestigious event, on Wednesday, October 21, at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., Paris time.
They will be held live from London with the new
live-Stream
format
allowing the auctions to be followed live and continuously on both places.
In search of new successful formats, Sotheby's broke new ground on June 29 with a sale of a very promising genre.
For four hours, Oliver Barker (president of Sotheby's Europe) had offered a great show with a dispersion yet behind closed doors but wonderfully scripted.
Alone in front of a battery of screens, he had assumed the role of conductor to take auctions all over the world as well as those online.
Christie's responded to him on July 10, with a relay sale (One: a global sale of the 20th century) started in Hong Kong, and ended up in New York, via Paris.
Both were a huge success.
Proof that if there is a show, with beautiful works to buy, the audience is there.
In the current context, there is a real demand on the part of those who can no longer travel to be there at the sales but also an interest of a wider public who want to learn about art.
Nela Pavlousoka, Managing Director of Museum TV
"
It was Sotheby's that asked us for a distribution in France and internationally, it is up to us to make the event as televisual as possible,"
says Nela Pavlousoka, Managing Director of Museum TV.
In the current context, there is a real demand on the part of those who can no longer travel to be there at the sales but also an interest of a wider public who want to learn about art.
We will do a long program, with a hot decryption by a speaker whose name we will soon reveal and a shorter, more dynamic, with a common theme.
This program will be seen in no less than 40 countries.
"
So as not to get bored during the good two hours of sales, Museum TV intends to provide entertainment.
But the content remains to be specified.
We expect a commented visit by the experts of the exhibition of the objects before they are auctioned but also lighting on the major pieces for sale.
Museum TV * recently proved its worth at Art Paris.
And its director Guillaume Piens was very satisfied with the name of "
the fair and its actors, without forgetting the artists, was put forward on the channel, to then snowball on social networks
" explains he.
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The content of the Paris auction (led by Helena Newman, co-president of Sotheby's Europe) displays works by Picasso, Soulages, Picabia and Kandinsky.
It also includes a private collection of twenty-five almost unpublished pieces, for a global estimate of over 10 to 12 million dollars.
And in particular a
Head of a Man
by Pablo Picasso, a rare male portrait from the 1940s, when the artist stayed in Royan with Dora Maar (4 to 6 million euros).
That of the London auction (directed by Oliver Barker) highlights leading names such as Bridget Riley, Banksy, Warhol with a portrait of Marilyn Monroe or Piero Manzoni, the pioneer of Arte povera.
Not to mention more recent pieces by Toyin Ojih Odutola or Andrian Ghenie.
Head of a man
by Pablo Picasso, a rare male portrait from the 1940s, when the artist stayed in Royan with Dora Maa.
Sotheby's
“
Paris and London have long reigned as major European poles.
Even today, they continue to be at the center of the art market,
explains Helena Newman
.
This year, with the art community not being able to physically congregate in these cities, we are bringing enthusiasts together by expanding this model of live sales broadcasting that we had developed this summer in New York. and in London.
A new step was taken by being able to follow the auctions not only on the Sotheby's app but also on a television channel.
Provided, however, that it brings something more to the public ...
* Channel broadcast exclusively in Canal offers, Orange TV and on Freebox TV Revolution and from October 19 on its streaming platform accessible anywhere in the world).
