This article has been updated to reflect updates to Phillips’s Hong Kong sale schedule.
With the coronavirus disrupting nearly all sectors of the international art world, auction houses have been hit hard. Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, and Bonhams have all closed many of their locations, and various sales have been moved around while houses work to meet the needs of clients and the safety of their workers. Now, it appears that the effects of the shutdowns could ripple out for months, with major sales that are typically expected to May being postponed.
In a conference call today, Christie’s said it will consolidate its marquee Impressionist and modern and contemporary sales, and stage them over the course of one week in New York; all will take place between June 23–28. The house said it will proceed with its scheduled Hong Kong sales slated for the end of May, and its “Classic Week” sales, which include an important Old Masters painting auction, will take place in London during the week of July 6.
Phillips also made a similar adjustment to its scheduling, revealing that it will merge its New York and London 20th century and contemporary art sales and dating them to take place in New York on June 24-25th. The house’s Hong Kong sales and preview which includes its leading 20th Century week auctions and design and luxury sales will take place from July 4-10th at the JW Marriott Hong Kong. The 20th Century & contemporary art evening and day sales—the latter of which will include design— will take place from July 8-9th, followed by the Hong Kong Watch Auction to be held on July 10th. The eleventh edition of the company’s Geneva watch auction will take place on June 27-28.
Sotheby’s plans going forward have not yet been revealed. “As previously announced, we plan to make final decisions about each auction event at least 30 days prior to the existing sale date, and will alert all relevant parties at that time,” a representative said. Its major Hong Kong impressionist and contemporary sales were relocated to New York earlier this year, and are currently scheduled to take place in mid-April.
The overhaul to the global art market’s spring schedule could present a new wave of challenges. Auction houses often schedule their programming around when collectors are traveling—and such schedules may be severely impacted by the economic uncertainty facing the world now. And summer is also typically a quiet period for the art industry, though this may not be the case this year.
Meanwhile, the fate at least one other highly anticipated auction, a sale of the $700 million Macklowe collection of major postwar holdings, remains in limbo. Following a court mandate established in the divorce proceedings of billionaire collectors Harry and Linda Macklowe, a prominent impressionist and modern art dealer and director of New York’s Acquavella Galleries, Michael Findlay, was appointed as the legal decision-maker for the collection. Findlay is believed to be taking the sale to an auction house, and in a statement obtained by Artnet News, a representative for the dealer said Findlay would “pause” such attempts while the coronavirus outbreak continues.