What Happens to Art Treasures After Auction?
by: Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben
It's the Cinderella story of the art and antiquities world. A couple cleaning out a relative's attic discover a dusty Chinese vase. Upon consignment, Bainbridges auctions the Qianlong period vase for $68 Million. What happens to these works of art?
The pair who found the $68 million 18th century Qing Chinese vase (shown at LiveCitizen) wish to remain anonymous, ostensibly to avoid the public eye and prevent being beleaguered with requests for money. Anonymity for finders of rare objects is important for safety too. 43 million pounds, the equivalent of $68-$69 million, is a lot of money.
But where does the vase go after auction?According to CNN, "a private buyer from mainland China." Buyers with that kind of money wish to remain anonymous as well, it seems. For all intents and purposes, the celebrated ceramic vase, fetching what is believed to be the highest bid for a Chinese vase, has disappeared into a collector's private estate.
A similar fate has befallen many famous works of art. Of the works of art commanding the highest bids, most have been purchased by private collectors and disappeared from public view. In 1987, Van Gogh's painting "Irises" was sold on auction at Sotheby's in New York for $53.9 million, the highest price paid for a work of art at that time, according the the New York Times. Like the Quailong Vase, Van Gogh's Irises was purchased by Allen Bond, an Australian businessman and owner of the Bond Corporation. Irises became part of Bond's private collection.
In 1990, US News reports another Van Gogh, "Portrait of Dr. Gachet," sold to Ryoei Saito, a Japanese collector, for $82.5 million at Christies of New York. In that same year, Saito also purchased Pierre Auguste Renior's "Bal du Moulin de la Galette" from Sotheby's for $78.1 million (Auguste Renoir Gallery). At 2010 prices, given the bidding prices, the Van Gogh is valued at $139.5 million and the Renior at $132 million.
Most-Expensive.net reports that, in 2006, Gustave Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch- Bauer I sold to Ronald Lauder and Neue Galerie in a private sale for $135 million (adjusted to $143.5 million for 2010) and William de Kooning's "Woman III" was bought in a private sale by Steven A. Cohen for $137.5 million (adjusted to $149.1 million) (The Art Wolf). And, finally, in 2006, Jackson Pollock'sNo. 5, 1948 sold for $140 million (adjusted to $151.8 million) making "No. 5, 1948" the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction, according to NY Times. The buyer in the sale is only rumored, but not proved.
All of these art treasures remain in private collections. Will the dusty little $68 million Chinese vase share a similar fate? It is likely so.
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