Sotheby's aims to sell more than $300 million worth of art in a series of auctions on Monday and Tuesday.
Many potential bidders haven't been able to view the works in person, given visitor restrictions at Sotheby's New York headquarters, and bidders won't be able to physically attend the auction. Still, the recovery in the art market in the coming months is likely to be highly uneven, especially for nonmasterpiece works that aren't already well known. Bank of America said in a new report that sellers are likely to stay on the sidelines over the summer, constraining the supply of works for sale. It said supply could "spike sharply" in the fall, leading to lower prices, and then stabilize, with prices 10% to 15% lower, depending on the course of the virus.
Sotheby's and Christie's are taking different approaches to the new auction landscape. Sotheby's' main auction on Monday evening will be "live" in the sense that it will be run by an auctioneer in London, but there won't be any other people in the room. Instead, the auctioneer will be surrounded by video screens, showing Sotheby's colleagues in New York and Hong Kong who will be bidding for clients on the phone. The auctioneer will also be taking bids online.
A fool and his money are soon parted.