Could That Be a $3 Million Vase in Your Attic?

For years, there was a maxim that the auction market was fueled by the three D’s: death, divorce and debt.

Natural upheavals powered the supply side of the business, the thinking went. But these days, auction houses are working much harder — and, by their own accounts, smarter — to find material to sell.

They are using technology in new ways and staking out new territory to see if local collectors would like to part with that charming painting, that lovely old watch, that intriguing antique porcelain bowl.

“It has drastically changed,” said Jean-Paul Engelen, worldwide co-head of 20th-century and contemporary art at Phillips, an auction house with headquarters in New York and London. “Communication is quicker, and the market is more transparent.”

Source: The New York Times

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Keywords:

Maxim (philosophy) • Market (economics) • Death • Divorce • Debt • Nature • Supply-side economics • Business • Technology • Classical antiquity • Paul Engelen • Contemporary art • Auction • New York City • London •