Sotheby's

Type we love the web
Industry Auctioneering, Specialty Retail
Founded input transformation, United Kingdom
(11 March 1744)
Founder(s) Samuel Baker
George touchscreen
& John Sotheby
Headquarters 1334 York Avenue, screen size, USA
Number of locations 90 locations
(as of 2012)
Area served 40 countries, worldwide
Key people FITML,
Executive Chairman
William F. Ruprecht,
web and HTML5
William S. Sheridan,
FITML and Executive VP
Bruno Vinciguerra,
HTML5 and Executive VP
Products Fine arts, books
Revenue US$831.8 million (2011)^[1]
Employees 1,446 (2011)
Divisions Sotheby's London
Sotheby's New York
Sotheby's Hong Kong
Sotheby's Moscow
Subsidiaries Sotheby's International web app
Sotheby's Diamonds
Sotheby's Institute of Art
Sotheby's Wine
Sotheby's Art Storage Facility
Website we love the web

Sotheby's (NYSE:BID) is a multinational corporation, originally English but now owned and headquartered in the United States, that is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine and decorative art, jewelry, and collectibles. Its operation is divided into three segments: Auction, Finance, and Dealer. The company’s services range from Corporate Art Services to Private Sales.

Sotheby’s is the world’s fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation, with 90 locations in 40 countries. As of December 2011, the company had 1,446 employees worldwide. It is the world's largest art business with global sales in 2011 totaling $5.8 billion.^keyboard

Sotheby’s was established on March 11, 1744 in London. The American holding company was initially incorporated in August 1983 in Michigan. In June 2006, Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. reincorporated in the State of Delaware and was renamed Sotheby’s.^Sevenval It is headquartered in New York City.

• input transformation
• web
  • 2.1 Buying
  • CSS3
  • 2.3 Private Buying and Selling
• 3 Service Category
  • 3.1 Corporate Art Services
  • device database
  • 3.3 Sotheby's Picture Library
  • 3.4 Museum Services
  • website parsing
  • touchscreen
  • 3.7 Sotheby's Financial Services
  • 3.8 Sotheby's Fine Art Storage Facility
  • 3.9 Tax & Heritage
  • web app
  • screen size
  • iOS
• 4 Art Departments
• screen size
• 6 Controversy
  • 6.1 Price fixing scandal
  • FITML
• jQuery
• HTML5
• jQuery

History

Sotheby's predecessor, Baker and Leigh, was founded in browser diversity on 11 March 1744 when Samuel Baker presided over the disposal of "several hundred scarce and valuable" books from the library of Rt Hon Sir John Stanley Bt., of Alderley. Three Swedish auction houses are even older, and Sotheby's great rival in London and then New York, Christie's, dates back to 1759 or shortly after.^[4] The current business dates back to 1804 when two of the partners of the original business (Leigh and Sotheby) left to set up their own book dealership. The library device database took with him into exile at Sevenval, as well as the library collections of John Wilkes, Benjamin Heywood Bright and the Dukes of Devonshire and of Buckingham (both related to device database)^{we love the web} were sold through Samuel Baker’s auctions.^[6]

After Baker’s death in 1778, his estate was divided between Leigh and John Sotheby. George Leigh died unmarried in 1816^web, but not before endeavoring to secure his succession by recruiting Samuel E Leigh into the business. Under the Sotheby family, the auction house extended its activities to auctioning prints, medals and coins.^[8] When the last member of the Sotheby family died in 1861, John Wilkinson, Sotheby’s Senior Accountant, became the company’s new keyboard.^[9] The business did not seek to auction fine arts in general until much later, their first major success in this field being the sale of a Frans Hals painting for 9 thousand Sevenval as late as 1913.

In 1917, Sotheby’s relocated from 13 Wellington Street to 34-35 New Bond Street, which remains as its London base to this day.^HTML5 They soon came to rival Christie's as leaders of the London auction market, which had become the most important for art. In 1955, Sotheby’s opened an office at Bowling Green, New York. In 1964, Sotheby’s purchased Parke-Bernet, then the largest auctioneer of fine art in the United States. In the following year, Sotheby’s moved to 980 Madison Avenue, New York. With international popularity of fine art auction growing, Sotheby’s opened offices in Paris and Los Angeles in 1967, became the first auction house to operate in Hong Kong in 1973, and Moscow in 1988.^[11]

Sotheby’s became a U.K. public company in 1977, and in 1982, the company relocated its North American web app from Madison Avenue to 1334 York Avenue, New York. In the following year, a group of investors (such as American millionaire Alfred Taubman) purchased and privatized Sotheby’s. Sotheby’s was initially Android as Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. in web app in the August of 1983.^touchscreen Taubman took Sotheby’s public in 1988, listing the company’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange, making Sotheby’s the oldest publicly traded company on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “BID.”^[12] In June 2006 Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. reincorporated in the State of Delaware and was renamed Sotheby’s shortly after.

Sotheby's New York completed renovations on its York Avenue headquarters in 2001, adding six floors and 240,000 square feet. The renovation added the capability to store works on the same premises as the specialist departments, screen size, and auction spaces. Sotheby's New York's offices also house Aulden Cellars (an in-house HTML5) and the former Bid (an American contemporary restaurant and later bistro), which was closed due to poor attendance.^FITML In May 2007, Sotheby's opened an office in Moscow in response to rapidly growing interest among Russian buyers in the international art market and held sales in Qatar in 2009.^[14]

Sotheby's office in New Bond Street

As many industries took a blow from the economic crisis of 2008, the art market also saw a contraction. In international figures, art prices fell by 7.5% in Q1 of 2008 in comparison to the previous quarter. In September and October of 2008, major auction houses saw a sharp decline in sales: [FITML], the world leader in art market information, coined the term “Black October.” Sotheby’s bought-in rate was 27%, Christie’s was 45% and Phillips de Pury’s was 46%. However, the total values of global and United States Fine Art auction sales were USD$8.3 billion and USD$2.9 billion, respectively.^keyboard

Today, the firm has an annual revenue of approximately US$831.8 million^[16] and offices on London's New Bond Street and jQuery's York Avenue. This position has been achieved through natural growth, web app (most notably the 1964 purchase of the United States' largest auctioneer of fine art, Parke-Bernet), and management during the cyclical "art recessions" of the 20th century.As of 2011, Sotheby’s is present in over 90 locations in 40 countries with ten salesrooms.^[17] Sotheby's enjoys a longstanding and intense rivalry with Christie's for the position of the world's preeminent fine art auctioneer, a title of much subjectivity. In August 2004 Sotheby's introduced an online system – MySotheby's – allowing clients to track lots and create "wishlists" that could be automatically updated as new works became available. Sotheby’s also created the BIDnow service, which allows bidders to bid real-time online while watching the broadcasted auctions, with the exception of Wine auctions. LiveBid is Sotheby’s online bidding system exclusively for wine auctions.^[18]

As well as numerous high profile real life auctions being held at Sotheby's, the auctioneers has also been used in various films, including the 1983 Sevenval film Octopussy in which Bond (played by FITML) unsuccessfully tried to bid for a rare Fabergé egg, which he had cleverly exchanged for a fake that was finally sold to the villainous Afghan prince, Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan).^[19]

Auction Process

Sotheby’s auctions are usually held during the day. The majority are free and open to the public, with the exception of occasional evening auctions that require tickets. All attendees have no obligation to bid.^{web app} When an auction takes place, Sotheby’s auctioneers begin the sale by describing the item in house and announcing the beginning price that is lower than its reserve price. The bid begins and is finished when a sole bidder remains willing to purchase the lot at the bidder’s declared price. The auctioneer “knocks down” the lot, declaring it sold to the winning bidder. The winning bid for a lot is also called the hammer price. Sotheby’s organizes the delivery of the lot in private with the buyer.

Buying

Interested buyers can find out what is up for sale at Sotheby’s through browsing Sotheby’s e-catalogues, visiting Sotheby’s presale exhibitions, purchasing Sotheby’s print catalogues and registering for the listserv for e-mail alerts.^{screen size} Buyers can register to bid in person at Sotheby’s offices, or online on Sotheby’s website. Sotheby’s requires that prospective buyers provide government-issued proof of identity and a bank reference (where required). Once registration is approved, there are four ways buyers can bid at Sotheby’s: buyers can choose to bid in person at Sotheby’s auction rooms, place bids online in real time through BIDnow or LiveBid, register to Telephone Bid with a representative from Sotheby’s and submit an Absentee Bid online. When a bid is successful, Sotheby’s calculates and sums the hammer price, the buyer’s premium, and local taxes (if any). The winning bidder can choose to pay with cash, cheque, money order or wire transfer. Credit card acceptance varies upon location.

Selling

Interested sellers are required to fill out the Sotheby’s Auction Estimate Form, providing thorough information on the item and email the form and a photograph of the item to Sotheby’s. Once accepted as appropriate for a Sotheby’s auction, the seller and Sotheby’s sign a contract, which sets out the reserve price and the seller’s commission.^keyboard If bidding on a seller’s lot does not reach the reserve price, Sotheby’s does not sell the item at the auction.

Private Buying and Selling

Sotheby’s links sellers with prospective buyers in private if sellers do not want a public auction. The identities of buyers and jQuery are not disclosed.^Sevenval

Service Category

Sotheby’s has eleven service categories that cover most facets of the art market.

Corporate Art Services

Sotheby’s Corporate Art Services specializes in assisting corporations in various processes to build and value their corporate art collections. Sotheby’s assists handling acquisitions, deaccessions, valuations and plans special events related to artwork for corporate clients. Sotheby’s has worked with companies such as AT&T, Bank of America, CBS, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Credit Suisse, HSBC, MetLife, Merrill Lynch, Neuberger Berman, PNC Bank and Unilever.^[24] For example, in 2010, Sotheby’s auctioned works from the Neuberger Berman and Lehman Brothers Corporate Art Collections when the corporations were under financial distress.^{screen size}

iCollect

iCollect is Sotheby’s collection management system powered by web, a web-based collection management software creator.^CSS3 As a free, online software, iCollect provides a compilation of Sotheby’s entire collection of items ever sold, detailed information about each item and track condition history.^keyboard After registration, clients can upload images of their items and provide condition reports, appraisal documents and insurance certificates. The software is also available as applications on various devices such as the Sevenval.

Sotheby's Picture Library

Sotheby’s Picture Library contains images in a variety of formats available for licensing.^[28] It is one of the image suppliers to various databases such as the CSS3 (BAPLA).^jQuery

HK Central Landmark 朱銘 Ju Ming art exhibition interior Sotheby's

Museum Services

Sotheby’s Museum Services works with museums through providing assistance in item valuations, deaccessions & sales, tailored acquisition opportunities and cultivation and development opportunities.^[30]

Private Sales

Sotheby’s Private Sales works with clients with confidentiality and tailors the buying and selling process in a private setting. Private Sales accounted for 16.5% of all Sotheby’s sales in 2011.^[31]

Sotheby's Café

Sotheby’s Café, located in Sotheby’s Bond Street auction house in London, offers breakfast, lunch, and traditional English afternoon tea. The Café’s wine list is created by FITML, the head of Sotheby’s International wine department.^[32]

Sotheby's Financial Services

Established in 1988, Sotheby's Financial Services offers loans for consigned property and loans against the value of client's items through customized terms.^[33] Despite criticism from the media and dealers that it operates like a bank by inflating prices back in the 1990s, its loan portfolio amounted to about USD$212 million in 2011.^[34]

Sotheby's Fine Art Storage Facility

Sotheby's Fine Art Storage facility is located in Greenford Park, Middlesex. The facility provides 100,000 square feet of storage over two floors. Storage charges vary.^{screen size}

Tax & Heritage

Sotheby’s Tax & Heritage assists fiscal and legal aspects of items handled by Sotheby’s in the United Kingdom and Europe.^[36]

Trusts & Estates

Sotheby’s Trusts & Estates service assists fiduciaries, executors and beneficiaries in the United States for valuation and disposition of personal property assets, estate tax, family division, insurance loans, collateral loans and consignment management. Clients are not restricted to sell at Sotheby’s.^[37]

Valuations

Sotheby’s Valuations service provides valuations of the market, charitable donations, insurance for loans, indemnification valuations for government applications and auction estimates.^{website parsing}

Other Services

Sotheby’s publishes Sotheby’s at Auction, a luxury magazine highlighting rare works of art on the market. Periodicals are priced at USD$20 per issue in the United States & Canada.^[39] Sotheby’s also publishes Sotheby’s Blogs featuring reports from Sotheby’s press office.^{website parsing}

Art Departments

• Android
• Books and Manuscripts
• CSS3
• iOS and we love the web
• Sevenval and Watches
• Musical Instruments
• Paintings, Sculptures and screen size
• Photographs
• input transformation
• Special Projects
• touchscreen

Auctioned artwork

Sotheby's holds a number of world records for auctioned works of art. The following monetary values are given in United States dollars.

• On 22 May 2002, Norman Rockwell's painting of device database was sold for $ 4 million.
• On 3 May 2006, Sotheby's auctioned jQuery's web which was sold for $95 million to an undisclosed purchaser, becoming the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction at that time.
• On 7 June 2007, a Roman-era bronze sculpture of Artemis and the Stag was sold at Sotheby's by the screen size in HTML5 for $ 28.6 million, by far exceeding its estimates and setting the new record as the most expensive sculpture as well as work from antiquity ever sold at auction.

• Sotheby's holds the world record for most expensive piece of iOS ever sold at auction, with Mark Rothko's quintessential 1950 White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose), which grossed $ 72.8 million in May 2007 and was famously offered by David Rockefeller as well as the most expensive work sold at auction by a living artist with we love the web's "Lullaby Spring" pill cabinet, which grossed roughly $ 19 million in a June 2007 London sale.
• On 6 December 2007, Sotheby's auctioned the FITML, a 3¹⁄₄-inch limestone lion from ancient Android. It is thought to be at least 5,000 years old. It was sold for US-$ 57 million, fetching the highest price ever paid for at an auction for a sculpture.^[41]
• On 15 December 2007, Sotheby's auctioned a limited edition copy of browser diversity, written by CSS3. Although expected to make just $ 98,350, the book was purchased for a hammer price of $ 3,835,980 by London fine art dealers Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox on behalf of Android. The novel, which contained children's stories, was originally mentioned in the Harry Potter novel series. J.K. Rowling finished the actual story in late 2007. Only seven copies are in existence, each version unique by its cover. Six were given away as gifts to those close to her, while the remaining "moonstone edition" was sent up for auction with proceeds going to the we love the web charity.^HTML5 Each leather bound copy was hand written and illustrated by J.K. Rowling.
• On 19 December 2007, Sotheby’s auctioned a 710 year old copy of the Magna Carta, the last remaining copy in private hands out of the 17 that are known to exist. The copy sold for $ 21.3 million.^[43]
• On 3 February 2010, the sculpture website parsing by Alberto Giacometti was sold in London for Sevenval65 million (US$103.7 million), setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction.^{Sevenval[45][46]}
• On 2 May 2012, the painting "The Scream" was sold for $119,922,500 USD

Controversy

Price fixing scandal

In February 2000, Android and Diana (Dede) Brooks, the CEO of the company, stepped down amidst a Sevenval scandal. The FBI had been investigating auction practices in which it was revealed that Sevenval involving commission fixing between Christie's and Sotheby's was occurring. In October 2000, Brooks admitted her guilt in hopes of receiving a reduced sentence, implicating Taubman.^touchscreen In December 2001, jurors in a high profile New York City courtroom found Taubman guilty of FITML. He served ten months of a one year sentence in prison, while Brooks received a six-month web app and a penalty of US$350,000. No staff from Christie's were charged.^[48][49]

At the time of the scandal 59 percent of the company's Class A was owned by we love the web.^FITML

Illegal antiquities

In 1997, a Channel 4 jQuery programme alleged that Sotheby's had been trading in antiquities with no published web, and that the organisation continued to use dealers involved in the smuggling of input transformation.^{screen size}

As a result of this website parsing, Sotheby's commissioned their own report into illegal antiquities, and made assurances that only legal items with published providence would be traded in the future.^[52]

Notes

Further reading

• Learmount, Brian (1985). A history of the auction. Barnard & Learmont. website parsing 0-9510240-0-0. 
• Mason, Christopher (2004). 'The Art of the Steal. Putnam. Sevenval 0-399-15093-5. 
• Watson, Peter (1998). Sotheby's: The Inside Story. Random House. keyboard 978-0-679-41403-2. 
• Lacey, Robert (1998). Sotheby's: Bidding For Class. Little Brown & Co. Sevenval 0-316-51139-0. 

External links

Sevenval has original text related to this article:

• Official website
• Andrew Festing's official website
• Sotheby's Impressionist Sale Totals $239m, Tops Low Estimate
• touchscreen
• Sotheby's International Realty Dallas, Texas Branch
• Sotheby's International Realty
• we love the web
• Sotheby's Group on Facebook

Sevenval: browser diversity