Customer Reviews

Sotheby's: Bidding for Class

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The title of the review is from the prologue, which is worth the cost of the book on its own, unless you happened to attend or actually buy at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis auction. The Author's scathing commentary on those who bought virtually anything at that event are quick witted, very funny, and pathetic. How else do you describe those who would spend $211,500 for a $100 set of fake pearls, or how about a small cigar humidor for $574,500, or perhaps the most ridiculous of all, which requires it's own explanation.

One of Sotheby's staff found 11 tiny diamonds that had fallen from a piece of jewelry; a fair price would have been about $550. As you will learn, auction houses are nothing if not adept at being creative, whether with their accounting, or what something actually sells for, presuming it even has been sold to someone with a heartbeat. Well they took these bits of nothing, arranged them in a letter "J" and someone who I hope will never have any decision making power over my life, or anyone at Amazon, paid $17,250 for something that Sotheby's could not even claim Mrs. Onassis ever saw, touched, or knew they were hidden in the lining of a jewelry box.

The Auctioneer could not keep a straight face when just the irons from JFK'S golf clubs sold for $387,500 and the woods for $772,500. As the Author noted it takes two bidders "to make a crazy price" and the winning gentlemen in this case was Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger. I would have thought an extended family discount would have been in order.

The book is a great read for the history of the auction business, and of Sotheby's and Christie's in particular. The business they engage in has been for 250 years, "cultivating the paradox that rich people, at heart, are the neediest people of all". While the owners of these houses take the money seriously, even they speak of the contradiction that is at the heart of their business, they go to person "A" and explain you must sell now, as the market is at its peak for your object, and then pick up the other phone line and explain to person "B" that the opportunity of a lifetime is at hand.

Deception is a key to the process, no bids? pretend there are, this is called taking bids from the "Chandelier". This of course is done until the reserve is met, and some victim, i.e. client, thinks the bidding is real, and starts offering his or her own money.

You may perhaps remember those astronomical prices paid for impressionist paintings up until 1990. They have become the symbol, along with Rockefeller Center and other purchases, as examples of the Japanese economic bubble that exploded so famously. There were 20 Japanese buyers that spent from $22 million to over $100 million during the art boom of 1984-1992. Seventeen of the same twenty were to find themselves either in jail, bankrupt, or under "serious investigation".

As to the "record" prices that were paid, Mr. Saito Ryoei paid the "record" for van Gogh's "Portrait Of Dr. Gachet" at $82,500,000.00. A few nights later, possibly feeling the pinch from such extravagance, he paid the second highest number ever of $78,100,000.00 for Renoir's "Au Moulin de la Galette". But can these be considered records when both paintings were taken back in repossession?

Not to dwell, let's skip to the third "highest" price ever paid. Mr. Alan Bond paid $53,900,000.00 for van Gogh's "Irises", in 1989. Oops sorry, Sotheby's actually financed half the purchase, giving Mr. Bond the incentive to bid ever higher, which gave Sotheby's and even bigger commission as they take their piece from the selling price, so the higher the better. And like the paintings of his Japanese counterpart, this painting too was repossessed.

One has to wonder how these people ever managed to make or keep a dime. For how else does one explain a couple who paid (please sit down) $29,900.00 for a small box that was alleged to hold a piece of wedding cake of The Duke And Duchess of Windsor. How many decades before the cake would vanish, perhaps it fossilized? The couple claimed they were never going to open the box. The real question is, what difference would it make?

The book is a great read, and for those who appeared foolish, they have only themselves to blame together with the fact that the Auction business is not one known for honesty, as Sotheby's found out when they were recorded smuggling a painting, but that's another book.

There is no question that if a person has the means they can spend as they like. At some point I would suggest it would be rather difficult to look in the mirror without feeling the fool. Much of the money spent at auctions is thrown away not invested. And as far as utility, the inflating of an ego is not much of an accomplishment, legacy, or a deed well done.

Lacey's book is a beautifully written, elegant history of Sotheby's, its competition w Christies, the faddish and often silly and overpriced art and collectibles markets. The warts are there, and so is a great cast of characters, some of whom are so well portrayed as to be almost alive. A great book, on a fascinating firm.

Who would have thought that the upright, high class and very proper world of high class auctions was really a swamp of scams and cheats. I actually thought that the dust jacket with it's Kitty Kelly type tabloid write up was just a way to get the average reader to pick the book up - - who would have thought that the lead up was only the tip of the iceberg. This book had just a ton of super rich people getting scammed, cheated and fighting over the artwork that these auction houses are selling. I think everybody of normal means takes a guilty pleasure in watching a super rich person take it in the shorts and this book details a few of them plus a nice history of the high class auction world.

The book provides a detailed account of the start and rise of the Sotheby's auction house. The author has also through in a good amount of detail of the art objects that are being sold - at times this made the book drag a bit for me, but it was required given that was the underling currency of the business. He does a good job of teaching the reader how the process works and what went into the history of creating the process. We even get a good amount of gossip that is written in a way that makes you feel ok about reading tabloid filler.

The book starts out with the Jackie Kennedy auction and who bought what. He really makes these people out to be less then inteligent, so much so you wonder how they made their money at all. We also get a good amount of detail on the massive amounts that were paid for artwork in the 90'' and what has happened to them, and a nice detailed account how Sotheby's "Makes the Market" on the items. If it were the securities industry they would be in jail. Overall this is an interesting and fun book to read that will take you no time at all to complete.

I am a person that has a first hand view of how Sotheby's works as a company and this book gives all of the inside stories that show how coruption and greed have corrupted a company that is listed as being over 250 years old. Read Bidding for Class and learn about the true dates of Sotheby's and their #1 rival, Christies. Who has had the better years? Who has come out on top? Once you pick this up, you won't put it down, it keeps you engaged from page one. Take it from someone who knows, Sotheby's isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Minions are as fascinating as millionaires in Sotheby's - Bidding For Class, an assiduously researched and intriguingly told history of what is arguably the world's premier auction house.
While the acquisitive monied folk who bid mega bucks on masterpiece paintings and jewelry that once graced royal bosoms surely have their stories to tell, so do the adroit auctioneers, principals, and other behind-the-scenes-players. Bringing characters to vivid life, master researcher Robert Lacey, author of Grace and Majesty relates all in this rapid-paced social and economic chronicle of celebrity sellathons. A Sotheby's director is heard cajoling a drugged Barbara Hutton into bids totaling $750,000, while the firm affably provides tax advantages, "Offering clients every possible routing of goods and money."
An opening chapter devoted to the much touted and breathlessly dissected Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sale - "5.914 items ranging from her cigarette lighter to her BMW," makes it clear how accomplished Sotheby's is at persuading "people who already possess more than their fair share of worldly goods that their happiness depends on acquiring even more."
Who could resist a mere $17,250 for eleven tiny diamonds artfully arranged on black velvet in the shape of a "J"? What matter that the diamonds were probably worth $50 and "nobody knew if the lady herself ever touched them or even knew of their existence"? Evidently, the 250 years the firm has devoted to "cultivating the paradox that rich people, at heart, are the neediest people of all" weren't wasted.
However, this paradox may well have been lost on Sotheby's founder, Samuel Baker, a young book dealer who plied his trade in 18th century London. His "first catalogue, dated February 1734, invited purchasers to the Angel and Crown in Russell Street, Covent Garden."
When Baker died in 1778 a nephew, John Sotheby, inherited his uncle's business. After enlarging its scope beyond books, Sotheby's took off despite jousts from arch rival, Christie's. While Christies's at one time enjoyed greater social cachet and profit, Sotheby's determinedly outdistanced its competitor.
Early Sotheby coups included a 1912 sale of the love letters between poet Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett of Wimpole Street, which brought in "L28,000 - over $3 million in modern prices." Attendant publicity covering this matchless auction bolstered the house's ascendence in London.
After establishing a permanent base in America, Sotheby's absorbed Manhattan's prestigious Parke-Bernet, further cementing its estimable position. To date, the house's largest American auction has been the possessions of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, which brought the attention of Woody Allen and his then bride, Soon-Yi Previn, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, plus 32,763 others all too eager to buy a bit of the romance of the century.
With source notes, bibliography, and index, this gossipy, intriguing tale is as carefully ascribed as a Sotheby's catalogue. Liberally sprinkled with predatory poachers, scandal, glamour, and notables, Sotheby's: Bidding for Class is an absorbing look at how the upper crust buys and sells.

- Gail Cooke

Well written, well researched, well told, great pictures, phenomenal vocabulary! This book came to me at a time when I was searching for a read that was a bit more academic, and this was it! It was difficult to put down, which is not what I was expecting, considering that it is the history of a family owned company turned corporation. I picked it up on a whim, and I consider myself lucky! If only for vocabulary acquisition, I recomend that you read it! I cannot say enough wonderful things about it!

Most readers will not have prior knowledge of the auction world. This book does a superb job of disclosing the multifaceted aspects of the great, and respected dealer in valuable collectibles. Like other venues, such as the movie industry, the commercial goals are in conflict with the artistry. And like Hollywood, Sotheby's had its share of charismatic leaders.

I feel that Lacey created an accessible universe for the uninitiated. I disagree with those critics who focus on details, and cavil over minutiae. This represents a fascinating and valuable introduction to the world of high level auctioneering.

Lacey has produced a well-written expose on the hidden world of auctioneering and art. However, the snobbery (and bigotry) that he goes out of his way to illustrate seems to leak into his prose. I almost fell out of my chair when he compared the appearance of one of the Sotheby's directors to that of a "Red Indian" and the numerous references to who was Jewish and who wasn't goes above and beyond pointing out the anti-semitism inherent in the WASP dominated art world. That said, I did find much of the restructuring of the company in the 80s and 90s to be very interesting from a business standpoint and Lacey does draw compelling characters (and he has plenty to draw from).