Relevant interviews with auction houses

Reporter: Mr. John, first of all, please allow me to ask you a series of small questions, which are simple introductory questions about Sotheby's. First of all, what does Sotheby's auction house do?

John: At first, it was a book selling company. In the past 23 years, the scale of the company has gradually expanded, including China pottery products and famous wines.

reporter: some people call you an empire.

John: I agree with that.

reporter: what kind of empire are you?

John: I tend to call it a benevolent empire.

reporter: is Sotheby's auction house a pure intermediary organization connecting collectors and buyers, or does it collect itself?

John: In principle, we only act as an intermediary, that is to say, we accept the entrustment of collectors, auction goods for them, get commissions from collectors and get bonuses from buyers.

Reporter: Why doesn't Sotheby's collect it himself and then auction it out? Isn't it easier?

John: The original intention of our company is an auction house, not a commodity dealer, but in recent years, we sometimes buy some goods that we think are suitable.

reporter: what are the sources of your artworks?

John: There are many ways. Most works of art come from Europe and America. Many people there have a large collection, including silverware, furniture, paintings and porcelain.

reporter: do you hold an auction for any commodity provider, or will you choose them?

John: We will only auction those goods that we think are valuable for auction, so we will identify the goods.

Reporter: We know that there is usually a starting price at auction. Who set this starting price?

John: Let's start from the beginning. For example, if you have a famous painting, our valuation is between 1, and 12, dollars.

reporter: unfortunately, I didn't.

John: You will have it one day. We will put the estimate of this painting on the auction list, and then we will set the lowest price below this estimate, which is the starting price. Below this price, we will not shoot this painting. When an auctioneer organizes an auction, he will start bidding at a price 5% lower than the starting price.

Reporter: A lot has a starting price and a bottom price. Is this bottom price required by the seller or decided by Sotheby's auction house?

John: It is determined by both. Reporter: There will be negotiations between you? John: Of course. Interviewer: On what basis?

John: We have our own evaluation of the value of a lot, and the owners of the lot also have their own psychological price. If we think that the price demanded by the owners of the lot is too high, we will refuse the auction, so we must reach an agreement.

reporter: so this means that Sotheby's only makes profits by getting commissions.

John: There are two sources of our income. One is the commission paid by the seller of the lot, and the other is the bonus paid by the buyer. Usually, the commission ratio is inversely proportional to the auction price. The higher the auction price, the lower the commission ratio.

Reporter: Many people joke that an auctioneer just knocks on the mallet, so can anyone be an auctioneer?

John: Just like not everyone can be an excellent TV host, it really needs talent. Our company has more than 2, employees, but auctioneers are only a few of them. You must have unique vision, strong expressive ability, loud voice and a brain sensitive to numbers. These are all talents that even I don't have.

Reporter: Is there any risk in the auction industry? What is the biggest risk for an auction house like Sotheby's?

John: The biggest risk for the collector is that his collection fails in the auction for some reasons. For the auction house, the biggest risk lies in the economic changes. If we can't clearly judge the economic situation and adjust the price of the auction items, then more items will not be auctioned smoothly. Sotheby's auction house was established in Britain in 1744. In 1983, it was in trouble because of poor management and was acquired by American real estate agent taubman. After becoming an American company, the auction house was divided into two headquarters, one in London and the other in new york. After two and a half centuries of pioneering and diversified development, the auction has become increasingly specialized. The Geneva branch mainly sells jewelry, while new york mainly sells art works. The auctions of ancient cultural relics and precious porcelain in China are held in London and Hongkong respectively. The prosperity of Sotheby's has proved the prosperity of the auction industry, and the ups and downs of hundreds of years have witnessed its difficulties and twists and turns. However, even this high-risk industry has created a historical miracle with high returns in the first half of this year. On May 5, 24, at a spring auction at Sotheby's, Picasso's famous painting "The Boy with a Pipe" was sold at a sky-high price of $14 million with the sound of a hammer from the famous auctioneer tobias Mayer. The most expensive art in auction history was born in this famous auction house which was founded for 26 years.

Reporter: People say that this figure is incredible. So, how did you get this painting?

John: This famous painting of Picasso belongs to the Whitney family, which is a very prominent family in the United States. Mr. Whitney was once the ambassador to Britain, and his mother was a famous collector. Their collection history lasted for 5 years. The Whitney family bought this painting of Picasso in the 195s, when he spent $28,. They bought it just to decorate their home. After Mrs. Whitney died, her family put it up for auction. Before, Picasso's painting sold for more than 5 million dollars, but this intuition tells us that this painting will surpass the value of any other painting, and it is an absolute masterpiece. Because this painting was painted by Picasso in the golden age of his creation, which is worthy of everyone's envy and the conditions are very favorable, we feel that this painting is worth at least $7 million. But this price is only our initial rough estimate.

Reporter: This painting is not as legendary as other works. If it has been stolen or its owners have changed repeatedly, why do so many people pay so much attention to this painting and sell it at such a high price? What do you think is the reason?

John: If you have seen it with your own eyes, you will feel a magical power, as if you were telling someone.

reporter: please tell us in detail.

John: It is not like those works on the market. It is a private treasure that has been carefully preserved for half a century. It has aroused people's widespread concern because it is not only a famous painting, but also difficult to understand. According to Picasso's own statement, this painting was created during the period when his creative style changed dramatically. It was regarded as a symbol of the 2th century, and its image was copied on postcards and other commodities.