The International Art MarketThe International Art Market
Reflections on auction houses’ responses to the global pandemic.
The art market wasn’t immune to the widespread, transformative changes caused by COVID-19, which started abruptly with a quarantine shutting down the world in mid-March. The auction market pivoted quickly—from Asia to London, New York and Los Angeles—to respond to the realities of a global pandemic halting the spring art fairs and auction season. The widespread major changes described below stemmed from necessity and would have seemed unthinkable just a few months earlier.
Technological Leaps and Bounds
Before 2020, online sales were a blip in the bottom line.1 A pre-COVID online-only sale involved property listed on the auction house’s website for a set period (often seven-to-10 days), with buyers placing their bids via the online platfor...
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