The Auction House Battle for India Begins

Kelly Crow isolates from Christie’s data dump today the news that the auction house will hold sales in Mumbai at the end of this year:

Christie’s chief executive Steven Murphy said its own base of Indian clients has increased four-fold over the past decade, so he thinks the country is ready for a major auction house to step in. Christie’s will hold its first sale in December in Mumbai, where it opened an office in 1994, and it plans to offer a mix of classical, modern and contemporary Indian art.

Rival Sotheby’ssaid it opened an office in Mumbai in March—the same month it held its first evening sale of Indian art in New York, which totaled $6.7 million, the spokeswoman said.

Christie’s to Hold Its First Sale in India (WSJ)