Episode 2 Sold! Inside the World's Biggest Auction House

This is a 1962 Andy Warhol.

called Two Dollar Bills (Fronts).

In a way, he predicts the art market that we're in today.

And now it's just a question of converting interest into...

-Dollars.

-..dollars.

THEY LAUGH

With billions of dollars of sales

going under this man's gavel last year,

Christie's is the world's largest auction house.

At the crossroads of art, taste and money,

it brings together great works of art...

So, you get, in a way, a lot of Monet for your money.

..fervent collectors...

Is it addiction? Passion? Compulsion? Obsession?

Or have you just got to have it?

..world-beating prices...

-50 million.

-Whoa!

..and the fine art of the sell.

Price range is between 25-35 million,

and it's a good way to start.

This year, this great British brand celebrates its 250th anniversary.

To mark it, Christie's have taken the unprecedented step

of allowing our cameras into the back rooms,

boardrooms and private parties.

Over the course of a year, we have access to a company

which is at the epicentre of a secretive and private world.

There are only, I think, three people in Christie's

who know who bought that painting.

We watch them use every weapon in their arsenal

to entice the rich around the world.

-You've been looking for a Monir for some time.

-Yes.

And, actually, one that would go well with your collection.

But auctioneering is a precarious business.

In its time, Christie's has weathered slumps.

And, in 2016, there are signs of a downturn in the art market.

We have turmoil in financial markets.

It's difficult to predict how the art market will perform.

You don't have to buy a picture.

Unsold at 1,350.

And to stay at the top of their £5 billion-a-year game

Christie's need to succeed here in Asia.

Last chance.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

China will be a force for the future.

We'll be here in 250 years' time, without question.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

A world record for a handbag tonight, here in Hong Kong.

GAVEL BANGS

2016 has already been a turbulent year for the company.

We want our country back!

Christie's are worried that politics will spook the art world.

Tonight's major Impressionist and Modern sale

is being overshadowed by the European referendum tomorrow.

Global president, and tonight's auctioneer,

Jussi Pylkkanen discovers at the very last minute

that some important sellers, worried at the uncertainty,

are withdrawing their paintings.

Can I just check - are the two Picassos in or out?

-Out.

-What lots are they?

-13 and 14.

I would have said that the art market

is quite terrified at the notion of Leave.

There's a lot of uncertainty in the air.

So a lot of people have actually held off selling.

They are going to wait and see.

The market is quite ruthless and something that, for example,

people have seen before, or it's not a prime example,

or it's overpriced, the market won't take them.

1,750,000. I can take 1.8.

Against you. At 1,750,000...

Ronnie, all done?

Last chance, both of you. All done?

Well, things are unsold.

You go for pass, straightaway, No worries, pass.

It's a pass at £1.75 million.

There's an element of disappointment,

but it's clear that the market doesn't believe

that the work is worth that.

Fair warning, then. At 2,600,000.

It's a pass at £2.6 million.

There may be some objects

that don't sell for any particular reason,

because then the market adjusts to that.

Unsold at £1.35 million.

The failure of a work of art

not to sell at a certain price

allows us to reset.

There's no shame in pass. None at all.

Last chance, Olivier.

It's a pass at 3.9.

Well, it wasn't brilliant.

I mean, we can't beat around the bush.

They didn't do terribly well.

People weren't putting the attractive lots in

because of the referendum,

because everyone is nervous about what is going to happen.

That's life, you know?

Certain things don't reach their minimum price and you move on.

-Wow, what a scale.

-Isn't it?

Long before Brexit,

Jussi decided the centrepiece of Christie's anniversary year

would be a very special sale

that reflected their importance in the art world,

calling it, ambitiously, "Defining British Art."

I think when I threw down the gauntlet to them

and said this was something I wanted us to do,

many of them were slightly taken aback.

They were concerned they might not be able to find

the quality of works of art that we aspired to find,

in our dreams, if you like.

But I said that it should be no more than 30 lots

and it should be tight, well curated and the very, very best in class.

We've proactively gone to clients owning British works of art.

This is a very British sale.

So the ask was a big one.

These are the ones they've persuaded collectors to consign so far.

-I think we are looking at the main salerooms.

-Yeah.

But with only a week to go before the catalogue goes to press,

they're still missing some fundamental British names.

We don't have a Hockney, we don't have a Nicholson,

we don't have a Henry Moore drawing yet.

-Hirst.

-Hirst.

-Doig.

-Doig.

It is quite a lot in your area, Francis.

-Yes.

-I don't want to put the spotlight on you here.

There are a lot of plates in the air

and they're spinning and we're hoping to get them.

-Yeah.

-But we are working on three or four Hockneys,

three or four Hirsts.

We did look at Turner.

Four or five Turners.

And what about Gainsborough?

We've got an oil that we're gunning for,

which isn't in the grouping on the floor.

A male portrait.

See, I think a great male portrait, in amongst all these fabulous muses,

is interesting and adds a different contrast.

I would like to find a Gainsborough.

I really feel that Turner's

the thing that I'm most worried about.

It really worries me that...

I think so. I think...

As head of their most profitable area,

Post-War and Contemporary,

Francis Outred has, over the years, managed to hook Christie's

some of their biggest names.

'If you don't have the artworks to sell,

'the buyers won't come to you.'

Take the glass off, no?

Cos you can't really get close to the surface of the painting.

I almost personally prefer the hunt,

trying to find the objects,

trying to track them down and then trying to convince the clients

to put them into my possession and see what we can do with them.

James Christie used to throw private parties

that were THE place to be in London 250 years ago.

It was a way of softening up potential clients

and it's a tradition that continues, mixing business with pleasure.

It's the big night, when we celebrate the art world

and we bring curators, museum people, galleries, dealers.

Hopefully, through that, we can build some new relationships,

find some new collectors.

What qualities do you need to be able to persuade people

to sell through you?

I think you need, clearly,

an understanding of the artwork you're working with.

You need to have a very good, what I call, bedside manner.

You know, doctors have it.

'I think it's very important to be able to nurse a client.'

And, obviously, I think you also need a certain aspect of deal-making.

It's important to be able to understand

where the works are, go after them,

what is good to buy and what is not.

You can have rich people,

but rich people don't turn into art collectors.

You have to actually encourage that.

And it's socially acceptable

to be an art collector.

Maybe it's not socially acceptable to be a rich person,

but it's certainly acceptable

to be a rich person with an art collection.

One person they've invited tonight

owns a work of art by one of the great British artists

that Christie's really want for their Defining British Art sale.

That's actually me and Lucian Freud.

Me on my morning run.

I used to call in and see Lucian quite often.

This friend of Lucian Freud is Ivor Braka,

a Chelsea collector and dealer for over 40 years.

In this room, we've got a wall of Damien Hirsts.

I think they are really fabulous, the way they're so different.

And, because of the colour,

I've decided to hang Lucian Freud etchings

to just take the room down a bit,

otherwise it would be too eclatant.

It's sometimes sad that you've got to sell things,

in order to buy other things.

But, by and large, of course,

it's incredibly stimulating and wonderful to do it.

But, yeah, it does have a flipside.

Christie's has persuaded Ivor

to consign the Lucian Freud drawing that he acquired from the artist

and that been hanging ever since on the walls of his eccentric home.

The Freud was deliberately in this very self-contained area here.

And it was in this position.

I obviously have got clients that I could have placed that with.

But I, rightly or wrongly, thought it was better,

in this instance, to sell at auction.

With the Freud drawing confirmed,

the million-dollar question Jussi, Francis and the team

are grappling with is in what order to sell the works.

I feel the rhythm of the sale, if you do it chronologically,

yes, everyone will be here for the whole thing,

but I think you have different energies in different markets.

-I think it's...

-You'd like to split them all up?

-Well, I'm intrigued by that.

-How are we doing price-wise, here?

At the beginning? Are these...?

-It's quite heavy.

-Is it commercial sales...?

2-3 million. 200-300.

200-300. 3-5 million.

10-15 million.

-Yeah.

-300-500. 700,000-1 million.

3-5 million.

Part of the discussion, when we are doing a layout,

is to work out where are the things that we think are going to sell

extremely well against estimate

and create this kind of extra drive in the room,

to drive the following things.

Now, for example, we have a Bacon at £20-30 million,

which I think can actually make a lot more on the price.

So, if that sells for 30 million, for example,

that sets the whole sale up.

-Which of the two Freuds should lead, do you think?

-That one.

-Yep.

I think you can even wait a bit for that.

I think you wait a bit for that.

Where you've got, you know, works by the same artists,

you've got to make sure that the significant work sells first,

cos it will establish a new benchmark for the artist,

which allows you then to sell the second picture

for considerably more than most people might expect.

So, for example, the Leighton here is absolutely sublime.

Not that they're not both fantastic pictures.

But the likelihood is that that will challenge

the world record for the artist and this will then follow,

in terms of it will benefit from that.

Suddenly, an important painting has arrived in the building for the sale

and Jussi eagerly takes the Christie's team to appraise it.

It's by one of THE great British artists - Constable.

Looks completely different.

-That is...

-That is some serious scumbling.

-Yes, it is.

-LAUGHTER

It's an amazing painting, isn't it?

For a moment, Christie's experts put commerce to one side.

If you stand from a distance, you look at that head,

you can see the full expression of the head.

You get close, it's just a brushstroke.

-It's gone, it's gone.

-It's amazing.

These figures are defined with some pushes of the brushstroke.

Here, he's just used his thumb to push some paint flat,

to enunciate the, sort, of shoulder of this young man, who...

Look at the weight of this figure,

as he is pushing along the river bank with a pole.

It's fantastic.

Then, this light effect. He's taken, I don't know,

five strokes of white paint here

to create the sense of all of this sky

producing the sunlight on that water.

It's quick. Quick painting.

He was an artist before his time.

He should have been born 100 years later.

When this painting first passed through Christie's hands,

140 years ago, they sold it for the princely sum of 54 guineas.

What might it go for on sale night in six weeks' time?

We'll probably either put "estimate on request" in the catalogue,

or 12 to 16.

We are going to have to debate that.

The record price, currently, for a Constable

was set by us here at Christie's, called The Lock,

which made, I think, £22 million, with premium.

In comparison, this is unlikely to make that,

because it's less iconic.

Where do you pluck the figures from?

It's not that you're plucking figures.

You're trying to put estimates on objects

which are based upon what other objects

by the artists have made before.

Nothing beats standing in front of the painting.

So, we have to carry in our heads, as experts,

as many works that we've seen around the world

and have them banked and stored,

so we can remember how good they were.

I have to try and remember this experience right now

to then price the next one.

Whilst The Lock was very polished, this is a spontaneous painting.

And that's the magic of this picture.

You can put almost any collector in the world in front of this

and they will appreciate its qualities immediately.

What they then will pay for it...is up to them.

And that's what we've been doing for 250 years.

Christie's love to find new money to sell to.

In the 19th century, it was American millionaires.

Now, it's the billionaires of the East.

30 years ago, Christie's opened in Hong Kong

and now do a whopping third of their business in Asia.

But with the economic downturn affecting even China,

Christie's management spare no expense

to boost this week of sales.

Over 200 Christie's employees have gathered here,

many flying in from London, New York, Geneva, Paris, Dubai,

and ten other Asian countries.

We started with one office, Hong Kong.

Founded with two people, one telephone.

And today, we are now carrying 11 markets in Asia.

This is the management consultant Christie's hired

to build their business here.

Rebecca Wei has the grand title President Asia,

and she really believes in firing up the troops.

Now, business, you are all here for the sell.

So I think I'd like each department to tell you

what's selling and what's new, what's special.

We have the world's largest vivid green diamond.

This dragon jar actually comes from a Swiss collection.

And it's going to make, hopefully, it's going to make a record.

That piece will break the world record that we set last year.

It's the most important, most valuable bag in the world.

84 of the finest wine growers from around the world,

we have them.

Not only do you get wines when you are a successful bidder,

you get a lunch, you get a visit, you may even get a foot massage.

So, the show starts.

The Asian market is now such a money-spinner for Christie's

that they need a place big enough to reflect that.

So, this year, they've taken over an entire exhibition centre.

Rebecca, like any good market analyst,

knows her target customers

and they are the new, young rich.

In London, at an auction for Christie's,

you see more grey hairs than you will see in Hong Kong.

The average age of our collectors here in Asia is younger -

I think, on average, five to eight years younger

than our European, American collectors.

Their average spending per Asian buyer is higher.

Their pocket is deeper. And, also, you see more new buyers.

You know, people who have no knowledge of arts,

but have loads of cash coming in and want to buy arts.

They are very curious

and they are learning very, very fast.

Lots of cash and an appetite to be told what to buy -

the perfect clients for Rebecca's team to work with.

I bought a Vietnam painting.

How much did it cost you?

Half a million, Hong Kong.

How much is that in US dollars?

60,000.

It's about 50% above estimate.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Why did you go so high?

Vietnamese paintings are very undervalued,

compared with the Chinese paintings.

-Because Vietnamese is really...

-PHONE RINGS

Oh, my God. I have a bid coming in, you know?

-A bid coming in?

-Yes. I need to pick up this phone.

-I'm sorry.

-No, take it, do.

Hi, hi, hi.

SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Mm-hm. Bye-bye.

-OK, I need to...

-Is that to do with the auction?

Yes. Cos the next one is ours.

Christie's have put services, you know,

that actually, they follow you, they understand your interests.

And they do have a specialist and tell you,

"Oh, this one is good on the silk.

"Better than the paper, better than the canvas."

It helps me, because I'm an outsider.

I am not a professional collector.

I really appreciate that somebody tells me this kind of thing

and I don't buy the wrong thing.

260... 280,000.

I just bought a painting.

40,000, US.

It's a very long piece. It's a wide piece.

And just right above my bed.

Home-grown Asian art is what Christie's are focusing on

and political change in China over the last 40 years

has transformed both the aesthetic and the price.

It also means opening up to the lure of desire, of all sorts.

Desire of the flesh, desire of material goods,

and desire for changing to a new life.

This picture is really a caricature of important political figures

and also a caricature of the self,

of people in general in China at the time.

He exaggerates the faces. He exaggerates everything.

It's like the exaggeration of the market of desire

that was coming into China.

13 million.

For Hong Kong week, Christie's have persuaded Johnson Chang

that now is the time to cash in

on the surge in demand for Chinese art.

Sold, 14 million, thank you.

That's over 100 times

what Johnson Chang paid for it 30 years ago.

So, Asian art is selling well.

But Christie's now have a strategy

to bring in prime pieces of Western art, too.

They hope to attract the interest of major clients, like Pierre Chen,

here with his daughter, Jasmine.

He's an electronics billionaire from Taiwan

and one of the top collectors in the world.

Lucian Freud is always our focus.

One of our focused artists.

That's great, that painting.

We did try to bid for another Lucian Freud last year,

but, unfortunately, we didn't get it.

-We under-bid.

-Oh, really?

It went up to, I think, 55 million.

Like the super-rich of the West,

Mr Chen has a fondness for the big names of the art world.

Francis Bacon is always my favourite artist.

We have a triptych of his self portrait,

that's the smaller version.

A few of the Pope series.

Yeah, I think, right now, we're just looking at other artists,

because we do have enough Bacons.

Christie's hope this exceptional Rubens

will be one of the stars of their anniversary year.

It is here as part of a global tour

ahead of its sale in London in the late summer.

It's already been to New York

and now Christie's want to woo the Asian market.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

Mm, Rubens.

The cheaper one.

I imagine it'd be a little bit difficult to wake up

and walk by this every day.

If it's the first thing you see when you get out of bed,

it's a little dark and serious.

My father likes to, ideally,

have all of his artworks exhibited in the house.

When you are as rich as Jasmine's dad,

Christie's management are only too happy to come to you.

Ah, so this is the de Kooning?

Having sold paintings to him before, Brett Gorvy,

the chairman of Post-war and Contemporary Art

at Christie's New York,

always visits Mr Chen's apartment when he's in Hong Kong.

I remember when you bought this. You bought this very well.

This painting came up for sale at the exact same time

as another painting from the same period.

One at Sotheby's and one at Christie's.

Because this was on the first night,

Pierre was able to buy it for 5-7 million lower

than the other painting.

So, he, frankly, stole the painting.

So, this is an extraordinary painting.

It was my consignment. We put it in the catalogue.

Unfortunately, it was put upside down in the catalogue.

Now, that might seem very strange.

As a firm, we should actually know that.

But this painting, actually, can be seen both ways.

It's a reflection painting.

Pierre, I mean, you are showing it the right way round, at least.

I think maybe this is a kind of marketing strategy.

THEY LAUGH

I was first aware of Pierre in the mid-'90s,

because he was such a powerful force.

Pierre, before every sale, would look at the catalogues

and come forward with quite a range of artists.

He wasn't located to one particular period, or one particular area.

Whether it's your Mao painting, which is the best of the best.

Tansey is also top, top quality.

Your Gerhard Richters, your Doigs.

I mean, they are really of a very high quality.

This is Chairman Mao.

Quite an iconic person.

-INTERVIEWER:

-Forgive my crudeness, but can you just tell me

how much you paid for this one?

-Do you remember?

-We paid 48 million.

-US?

-US, yes.

And if one apartment gets too full with art,

Mr Chen can always use one of his many other residences.

For examples, his Hong Kong beach-side apartment,

where, again, East meets West.

So, this is where I sit and I look at the ocean

and then there are these, yeah.

So, I have breakfast with Warhols and Lichtensteins every day.

This is the walk-in closet.

And he's tastefully placed a Warhol at the end.

So, this is one of six colours he made.

He's just recently acquired the green version as a pair.

He likes having pairs of artworks.

Well, cos I'm a twin sister

and he likes to say that it's one for each of us.

But I don't know. I think they should go together.

There's nothing in my room. All right.

Do you have any art?

It's very minimal.

These are drawings by Picasso.

A collection needs to have a focus.

And I think that's what my dad does very well.

He sets a number in his head and then he gives a bid

to whoever he works with at the auction house.

And then he actually goes to bed. He doesn't even stay on the phone.

-Really?

-Yes. And then he wakes up with the answer,

whether he gets it or not.

I think that's his way of trying to control.

Cos, yeah, otherwise, so many people just go crazy.

And then the next day, they have buyer's remorse.

And it's like, "Oh, my God, I overspent".

Overspending is precisely what Christie's would like

for the top lot they are selling here.

More than anything in this year's sale,

it's been drawing the crowds.

The dragon jar has an amazing history.

Not just because it's survived for 500 years,

but for the way Christie's discovered its value.

Marco Almeida is their Chinese ceramics expert

based in London.

So he was the one who Christie's Swiss office contacted

in what turned out to be a classic fantasy story.

And I had a very inconspicuous-looking envelope

from our Geneva office, with a note saying,

"Some images from a client."

And when I opened it and I saw the photographs,

I just couldn't believe it. I thought...

My immediate reaction was, "This is too good to be true."

And then we contacted the owner.

And she basically said that she inherited

a house from her uncle in 1997

and the jar formed part of the contents of the house.

And she thought, "No, this is just something

"we've had around the house and it's a utilitarian piece.

-"We use it."

-What was it used for?

She kept her umbrellas in it.

So, this was right by the entrance hall.

It had a metal liner inside

and she just kept her umbrellas in it.

The dragon is very typical of the Xuande period.

It has these incredibly powerful bulging eyes.

Very, kind of, muscular body.

Five claws, which are very symbolic of the Emperor, the Emperor himself.

So we told her that, yes,

this is a very important 15th-century

blue and white Ming vase.

Porcelain is an incredibly

resilient material, so it will not get affected

by the sweat in your hands.

And all you need to do is not drop it.

This is likely to go to mainland China.

They feel a great sense of pride in buying something that is Chinese

and left China a long time ago and they are bringing that back.

And, with just hours to go,

the dragon jar is removed for a private viewing

with someone more than rich enough to buy it back for China.

Rebecca Wei has invited Mr Liu, a former taxi owner,

who last year paid Christie's 170 million US

for a Modigliani painting, to have a look.

Mr Liu, can I ask you why you are interested in this?

INTERPRETER REPEATS QUESTION

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

There's no particular reason why, but it just...

It catches the eye. And...

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

It is beautiful.

Beautiful.

He's feeling it, as if it's a woman. Is that a silly thing to say?

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

It's like a man, like you, that is very strong.

Rebecca is still not sure if Mr Liu's interest is serious

and sale time is close.

In London, perhaps, it's a little bit more discreet.

People are a little bit more retiring.

350,000...

'In Hong Kong, once the starter gun goes,

'then it becomes really, incredibly competitive.

'The Asian clients love to compete one with the other.

'And the majority of the bidding actually happens in the sale room.'

550, the gentleman's bid there.

I saw you further back. Come back to me.

600,000 is here.

650,000 on the telephone.

700,000 upfront.

750, I have. Thank you, sir. 750.

800,000 already.

So they like to be in the room, monitoring who's bidding

and bidding against each other.

Selling it, then, the Birkin bag, at 1,900,000.

Sold. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

A world record for a handbag tonight here in Hong Kong.

That's 280,000 US just for one handbag.

Despite breaking world records,

this night was perhaps always about one lot -

the jar that was an umbrella stand.

It has an estimate of 60 to 80 million Hong Kong dollars,

which is 8-10 million US.

Hi, hi, how are you?

Marco has been with the Swiss owner every step of the way.

She and her family have remained in Switzerland,

so he now talks her through the exciting process

that might just transform the family fortunes tonight.

Well, it's a good... It's a good occasion.

So, basically, we have a lot of collectors and buyers

from different categories here tonight.

At 49 and selling.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Sold at 49.

OK, we are about to start.

Huge expectation. Here it is.

This exceptional, very rare, large blue and white dragon jar.

-Did you hear what he said?

-Xuande.

-He said "huge expectation".

Magnificent object. Here it is to my left.

An honour to sell it. 85 million is here.

-85 million.

-At 85 million with Reuben on the telephone.

-90 million is bid.

-90 million.

At 90 million, it's here. 95 million is bid.

-95 million.

-100 million, ladies and gentlemen.

-100 million.

-100 million is bid here.

-APPLAUSE

-Centre-right. Thank you.

100 million. At 100 million!

100 million, which is just over 11 million euros.

It's yours at the moment, madam. 110 million is here.

-110 million.

-110 million on the left.

-120 in a new place.

-120 million.

At 120 in the new place in the fifth row.

130 million is bid.

-130 million.

-At 130 million for the dragon jar.

Xifan, new place.

Oh, we are just taking it a little bit easier now.

He's just absorbing the atmosphere in the room

and just kind of seeing...

He's taking his time.

I think when they sell it...

-Let's see.

-Are you sure you're out, sir?

Fair warning. Selling here.

The dragon jar, ladies and gentlemen,

at 140 million.

Sold.

-APPLAUSE

-OK, congratulations.

It's sold for 140 million, which is just over 16 million euros.

Thank you. I'm so happy for you. Thank you.

And we'll speak again tomorrow with more time,

when this is all over.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Bye-bye. Bye.

At 5.2 million for the...

At 5,200,000.

-She was so happy.

-What did she say?

She was just... She was crying.

-She was crying?

-Yes. Yeah, she was in tears.

200 years ago, Christie's made money

selling Chinese porcelain to the West.

Now they make money selling it back to them.

A month later, the global beauty parade

has finally brought the great Rubens to London.

Christie's now know of interest from at least one potential Asian buyer.

It has an "estimate on request" price tag.

So, how many other serious collectors might be seduced

by Lot and his daughters?

When I request the estimate, what am I told?

You will be told that we're expecting it

to make in excess of £20 million.

Most people understand that the reserves are around

the low end of the estimate.

If someone was prepared,

or wanting to pay £18 million for it, they would be...

We'd very much encourage them to bid.

You know, we're not going to stop them bidding,

cos they'd have a very good chance of getting it.

These things are full of horrible financial secrets,

which I don't really approve of. You know...

Why is the art world so secretive?

Because there's a huge amount of money.

You know, you can't buy Pride and Prejudice.

You can't buy a play by Shakespeare.

You can't buy Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

But you can buy its equivalent in a unique work of art.

I was just passing on my way to the ICA

from the Royal Academy, via my bank.

And I'd suddenly thought -

I knew this painting was coming up - I thought I'll check it out.

I'm so thrilled to have seen it.

I think it's one of the most amazing paintings

I've ever seen in an auction room.

I think it is spectacular, transformative.

And, you know, that's why you buy a painting

is in order to transform your collection.

I mean...

You're dropping precious things...

-I mean, most people...

-That will have trade secrets.

No, it doesn't. It's just a little cheque that I got...

A tiny cheque for doing a talk in New York.

Right. It was a big cheque.

No, no, it wasn't. That wouldn't be enough to buy this, I'm afraid.

No, no. We understand that.

-It reads so well from here.

-The condition looks good from here.

It's astonishing.

And it's partly because, as it were,

there's been benign neglect.

Nobody's interfered with it.

I mean, tampering does...

-Love does more damage to great pictures.

-It has done.

Where has it been in the last hundred years, or...?

Well, it was bought by a family who, sensibly, hung onto it.

What, in England?

A...civilised European family, who I don't know.

-An English family?

-A family with English interests, but, I mean...

Oh, stop it! Leaving the country, is all I would say.

We are all for saving things which can be saved

and Christie's has quite a good record for that.

I can't believe how beautiful it is. It's so wonderful!

Well, it's quite noisy.

It really is a noisy thing.

This is, really, the last chance to get what is, I think,

you can happily say,

the greatest Rubens left in private hands

that could ever, really, be likely to come up for auction.

Rubens was a prolific painter,

but you are not going to get better than this, basically.

And I think people know that

and they sense the real rarity of it

and, sort of, the exceptionality of it.

This superb Rubens.

A gift to the first Duke of Marlborough

from the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I.

I had a meeting with the head of department

in the afternoon of the sale

to understand where he thought it was going to go.

And, based on that, I advised my client to be a bit more...

..aggressive.

But he didn't tell me how aggressive until we got to the night.

23, sir.

23 million is bid, with Francis, sir.

It really came down to three people.

It was me, Rebecca Wei, representing our Asian clients...

25,500,000.

..and a dealer in the audience.

-26, sir.

-26 million with Francis Outred.

When I noticed that it actually,

it had active interest from the different phone lines, I thought,

"It's going to take more to buy this picture."

I got on the phone with one of my friends

and I asked, "Are you with me?" And he was.

He said, you know, "We had enough interest

"in the past few months.

"I think we can place this after we clean it. Let's try it."

30 million.

At £30 million, the gentleman's bid on the aisle at 30 million.

It was fascinating, because it was a three-way fight.

There are still three of you in the game.

At 30,500,000.

30,750,000.

Give me 31, sir.

31 million is bid.

Give me 31.5.

-Bidding.

-31,500,000.

I was making it up as it came along. I...

You know, I didn't know where I would end up.

Certainly hadn't expected it to go this far.

Reluctantly, yes.

"Reluctantly, yes"? 32 million.

They were really all very committed.

And I think, in a way, the commitment of each bidder

created a confidence

and pushed the price to where it went to.

37, sir?

Yes. 37 million.

-INTERVIEWER:

-And where, in your head, was your maximum?

25!

-38 million.

-38 million.

Who'd like 39? 38 against you both.

Yep? 500,000.

-39.

-39 million.

-39, I have.

-39.5.

-39...

-40 million.

-40 million.

Would anybody else like to come in?

LAUGHTER

And you're out? Oh, I'm sorry, sir.

INTERVIEWER: What's it like to be a man

who just has not spent £39 million?

I feel very rich.

And, in that respect, relieved.

But I also feel a little bit empty-handed

when I get on the Eurostar tomorrow morning to go back to Europe.

All done?

Sold at 40 million.

APPLAUSE

This is the biggest single purchase that person has ever made.

When they bought it,

it was an extraordinary outburst of emotion.

A sort of "Yes, we've done it!"

Obviously, I've never bought a painting for myself at that price,

but I feel it.

You are taking possession of art history.

-INTERVIEWER:

-Tell me about the individual. What nationality?

-I can't say anything, I'm afraid.

-Nothing at all?

-Nothing at all.

-Why is that?

-Erm...

Because it is extremely confidential.

We can play this game, if you'd like.

But I can't say anything at all.

No, but I'm asking a wider question -

why is this such a secretive business?

Discretion is an extremely important part

of the mechanics of the art business.

There are only, I think, three people in Christie's

who know who bought that painting.

That's how confidential it had to be kept.

It was bought under an anonymous account,

so nobody knows who bought that painting.

Yes, yes.

This kind of secrecy might be the norm of the auction business,

but just occasionally, a rich buyer emerges from the shadows.

This was painted in 1977.

-'77?

-Yeah.

-And '77 was...

-When I was two years old.

-You were only two years old?

-Yeah, yeah.

-You're a very young man.

This casually dressed Japanese man being shown a de Kooning painting,

estimated at 50 million, has bought from Christie's before.

What makes the painting so special...

-50 million!

-Whoo!

-51.

-51 million.

You have it at 51 million. Congratulations.

..earlier in the year in New York,

this online fashion business billionaire

was the mystery buyer who paid a world record price

for this Basquiat.

-Hello. Jussi.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Congratulations on the purchase of the Basquiat.

Thank you very much.

We are honoured that you bought the piece.

-Are you the auctioneer at that time?

-I was the auctioneer at that time.

Oh! I know you! I know you! I know you!

-You suffered me.

-Yeah.

-THEY LAUGH

-I made you work.

It was exciting. And he was on the other side.

-I was on the other telephone.

-Yeah, yeah.

You have the chief protagonist.

Your team against his team.

Well done. It was exciting, wasn't it?

-Thank you very much.

-Yeah. Amazing, amazing.

We'll see each other later on. Enjoy seeing the picture.

-I'll leave you...

-You will be the next auctioneer at New York?

I will, unfortunately, again.

-So, it will be the same story.

-Oh, wow!

-So, if you...

-For this?

THEY LAUGH

Yeah. Come to the sale.

Come to the sale room. Be in the sale room yourself.

-Hopefully, hopefully.

-And I'll take your bids - good.

-Hopefully.

-Really good to meet you.

-Thank you.

-All the best, see you again.

-Thank you.

Wow.

The value of the global art market has nearly doubled in a decade.

So are the people who buy the most expensive works

in it for the art or the investment?

Christie's client Christian Levitt

was a City commodities trader,

but now devotes much of his time to collecting art.

In the kitchen here, we have a number of pieces.

We have a Grayson Perry Map of Days.

One street of which is called Bullshit Detector,

which I find pretty funny.

-INTERVIEWER:

-Are you a good bullshit detector?

Yes, I am. Having traded the markets for 25 years,

and having 50 phone calls a day,

with people trying to sell me rubbish at times,

yeah, I'm really got it.

I'm really good at it in the art world as well.

Do you think of art as an investment or a passion?

Well, number one, it is a passion.

I started collecting art for passion reasons,

because I have interests in history and I'm interested in art.

But then, when you get into the realms

of buying hundreds of things, and even in the thousands now,

over the last 20 years or so,

there's just no point in buying things

of all different periods and just stacking them up in storage.

And I need to keep feeding

this addiction that I have to buying artworks.

I think to myself, if you're paying £10,000 or more for something,

then you're starting to compete with the cost of a car, for example.

And my working-class background

still brings me back to those numbers.

So, when I'm paying £10,000 or more for something,

I like to think that it's going to hold its value.

Who knows what it will end up going for at auction?

The estimate on it right now is 1.2-1.8 million.

So, Christie's New York sales in May

are all about finding a serious investment for Christian.

Yeah, I want to try and find blue-chip artworks,

great provenance by blue-chip artists.

1.8 to 2.9.

When you're spending that amount of money,

you want to feel comfortable that you own an asset

that's going up in value in the future.

And he believes he's found that in Alexander Calder,

the celebrated mid-20th century American artist.

That one, I think, is just fantastic.

Really beautiful, yeah.

That really is one of the most wonderful displays of Calder

-that you could see...

-It's incredible.

..anywhere in the world, even comparing it to museums.

It's absolutely spectacular.

There was two major Calders at auction in Christie's.

'I bid on the second one and got that.

'It was a little bit under 5 million.'

Have you seen that little one before?

I mean, if there is an artist that, one day, might be trading

30, 40, 50 million for one of his most important pieces,

then I would like to think that it's Alexander Calder.

Back at Christie's HQ,

it's the day before the Defining British Art sale.

And there's some relief that Christie's specialists

have finally managed to pull in plenty of blue-chip British artists.

Stubbs, Constable, Lowry, Turner,

Moore, Freud, Bacon and others.

But now they are worrying whether they'll get the big buyers.

I mean, the Hepworth... Obviously Hepworth is...

The market's strong for Hepworth. A lot of international interest.

-Especially from Asia, actually.

-Yeah.

-Been quite a lot of Asian...interest at this stage.

-Yeah.

Especially this sale is very well promoted

in the Asian market and they like the fact

that it's 300 years of British artists,

which gives them a very good guide for the top.

The Freud and the Henry Moore, you know, the big lots,

as well as some of the horses lots, actually.

Munnings and Stubbs. Definitely.

They love horses.

In terms of Russian interest, at the moment,

we're not sure where we are with that.

Erm... Xenia and Alina are working on it also.

But it's quieter.

I think the Constable, interestingly,

has created huge excitement and reaction.

Now, we've just got to make sure we get that converted into sales.

Certainly, we're having interesting conversations

with one major collector.

And, also, with the museums.

The drawing is fabulous.

How are we doing there?

The challenge is whether we're going to get competitive bidding...

-Oh, we will.

-We should do.

There's some very serious interest in it.

Oh, good, cos that's picked up since yesterday.

Yeah, yeah, and...

I mean, I'm hoping it might break a new world record price.

That would certainly be what the owner of the drawing,

Chelsea collector Ivor Braka, is hoping, too.

It has to be one of Freud's masterworks on paper.

I would expect this to make £3 million, possibly more.

-INTERVIEWER:

-What if it doesn't sell and you get it back?

I won't.

It's got a guarantee on it.

Ah.

So, whatever happens in the sale, Ivor is protected.

A guarantee means that Christie's themselves will buy the work

for an agreed sum, if it fails to get higher bids.

It's one of the ways they entice owners to go through them,

rather than dealers, and why auction house transactions

now account for more than half of all art sales.

In the days when dealers reigned and had far more sway

than the auction houses,

a dealer would buy at auction and, generally,

double or even triple the price.

But the prices would remain relatively static

over a 10-year period, because an art dealer

just wouldn't pay more than a certain amount at auction.

He'd say, "That's ridiculous!"

Whereas, once you get private clients bidding against each other -

and often with very little knowledge of what they are buying -

it leads to grotesque distortions of the market,

in terms of price versus art historical importance.

Sold.

It is a direct competition and the auction houses are winning.

And I can see why they're winning.

Downstairs, the potential buyers arrive.

Up in his office, Jussi, despite knowing that this is

one of the most important nights of his career, appears calm.

A lot of people come through my space here and look at things.

Some of them are for sale. Others aren't.

So, you've got my son's drawing against Picasso at the age of eight.

Your son's picture stands up rather well.

It had a lot of admirers. Over the years,

a few people have mistaken that

for a picture that is worth a lot of money.

-What's it worth to you?

-A lot.

All of these things are. It's not about the money.

It's about the artists.

Good luck if you are bidding tonight.

You may have a chance to own a work

that has passed through our hands many times before.

Given the prominence and importance of this,

did you get a good night's sleep last night?

Never get a good night's sleep before a sale.

Neither do I have an easy time of it in the rostrum.

It might look different. But it's serious business.

There's a lot of money at stake.

Where shall we open? 2 million. 2,200,000. 2,400,000.

'You have to stay calm. It's very, very important.

'You have to have a little bit of ice running in your blood.'

The Viking blood in my system helps.

Being Finnish, it probably helps me sometimes.

It's fantastic, you know? It's what we are paid for.

It's showtime. It's like a soccer team

going to play in the European Championship final, you know?

This is the moment, we've all been working towards this all season.

This is a career-defining moment for me, certainly.

The Bridget Riley, showing here on the screen at 3,800,000.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Well done. Wonderful painting.

We're an art business.

But, actually, I've been in this business long enough to know that,

as soon as you put more emphasis on the business,

the commercial success comes down.

When you focus on the art, then the business goes up.

So we move to Lucian Freud. Where shall we open this?

1,600,000. 1,700,000.

At 1.7 now.

1,800,000 is here, with Francis.

These things can be very tricky to sell.

And there can be only one buyer, or maybe no buyers.

1.8 is here. 1,900,000.

£2 million, still going on here with Francis.

At 2 million. Here it is, with Francis, at £2 million.

It could have easily been £4 million, rather than £2 million.

It's just, you know, the way it is.

I didn't think, "Oh, my God!" You know?

I'd be a very spoilt person indeed,

wouldn't I, if I was disappointed, really?

-But...

-INTERVIEWER:

-Getting 2 million.

Exactly. It was...

Yes, better than a kick in the teeth, I suppose.

And now for one of the stars of the show...

The remarkable Constable showing here.

Painted in the 1820s.

First sold by Christie's on 12th June 1875

for 54 guineas, ladies and gentlemen.

I don't think there will ever be a time

when people don't want to have art - that's for sure.

Art will only grow as an asset class.

The question is, in which particular fields and which particular regions.

But I think people...

The idea of owning objects is very important to people.

Here it is at £12,500,000.

GAVEL BANGS

Jussi can breathe a sigh of relief.

85% of lots sell for a total of £100 million.

But, despite successes, the half-yearly figures are now in -

and they don't make good reading.

Recently published figures say you were down 27%

in the first six months of this year.

-Yep, absolutely.

-Worrying?

By volume, actually, even more than that.

No, I think it's more a question of the supply of the market, you know?

People sell works of art when they feel the time is right.

And the oil price at the turn of last year,

the financial markets in January were difficult.

And, consequently, people making decisions for sales in May and June,

which are critical periods, were choosing to wait.

So, we know that our competitors are in a similar position, if not worse.

That gives us a chance to have a look at our business

and decide what our priorities are.

And China, for us, is one of our major priorities.

What's in Jussi's mind isn't Hong Kong.

It's mainland China.

Shanghai. This is Christie's future.

Thank you. Welcome to Christie's in China.

This is the Ampire Building.

This is our home in Shanghai.

It's very Christie's, isn't it? I mean, look at it.

It's a wonderful, wonderful piece of architecture.

It's been here for a couple of hundred years.

And here it is, it's been made into a Christie's space.

But currently, it's not a space Jussi can dominate.

China's rules prevent him

from working his auctioneering magic here.

His stand-in couldn't be more different.

For 150,000... Last chance.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

I always dress in red, because, you know,

a red colour symbolises Chinese red

and also Christie's red.

-Yes.

-But the hair has a red tinge as well.

That's my favourite colour.

We have to educate them about the art market.

They don't really know all the information

or the knowledge about the art piece.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

Maybe sometimes, you know,

just maybe one sentence, two sentences.

This is very important - our pieces and very popular artists.

You know, "Don't miss this chance". Yeah. "I can't persuade you?"

Something like that.

Maybe they are like, "OK, one more bid".

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

Last chance.

So, if we are thinking about the history

after the Cultural Revolution, they make the money.

And, starting in the late '80s, early '90s,

people can buy their apartments or houses.

And now they are just starting to realise the walls are empty.

So, they are accumulating their first collections

of paintings for their apartments.

75...

The Chinese economic boom

means that there are now over a million people in China

with more than 1 million of disposable income.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

Fancy anything here?

Yeah, there's some stuff.

You know, I...kind of like this.

Kind of like this. It looks pretty good.

David Chau is an art collector in Shanghai,

who made his first million by trading coins on eBay

when he was 21.

I think Christie's should invest more in this market.

There's so many people who have the potential

to become passionate collectors,

who can become really good

and valuable customers to Christie's.

The Chinese economy is booming and, of course,

a lot of people make a lot of money

and are used to buying a lot more luxurious products,

like all the bags, or all the clothes,

or all the housing and cars.

And now they are getting into more stuff

that they're more passionate about.

And I think art is certainly one of the things

that people can be really passionate about.

Christie's have been watching another phenomenon grow

in the Chinese art market.

Major Chinese collectors are now opening private museums

to display their art publicly.

This is the Long Museum, one of over 500 such institutions in China.

This one houses special exhibitions and the collections of Mr Liu,

the man who famously paid Christie's 170 million US dollars

for a Modigliani.

And this is his wife, Wang Wei,

the driving force behind this private collection

for a public audience.

Christie's chairwoman in China values a major client.

They had an agreement.

Her husband will decide on those that are classic collections.

And all the contemporary work, including all the work on canvas,

the Western artwork, she will decide.

THEY LAUGH

So, they have a very clear division.

And there's no fight.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

But sometimes, they get...into some arguments

about how to allocate the art.

Where is the Modigliani now?

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

It's still in the storage at Christie's.

Oh, really?

She really wanted to put it in her bedroom.

THEY LAUGH

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

The government is very supportive

and more and more of the public are very interested in art.

They wanted to see more art in museums and everywhere.

And so, her and her husband,

they really think this is a great moment to create a museum,

a space where they can share their private collection with the public.

All these years - they have been collecting for 27 years already.

You don't look old enough to have that experience.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

Yeah, when you are loving art, you actually look young.

These private museums, displaying art to the Chinese public,

are reminiscent of the private philanthropy

that emerged in Britain in the 19th century

and the Gettys and Guggenheims in the United States in the 20th.

And Christie's are right in there, meeting the demand.

This is a hangar. It used to be an aircraft hangar.

So, now we...we renovate.

The museum, although it is non-profit orientated,

it's helping a lot to so-called markets,

art markets, like auction houses,

like galleries, you know?

It's a showcase for them.

So, that's why they are also putting in a lot of effort to help us.

How many private museums are there now in China?

Plenty of them. I never calculate, but plenty of them.

-Hundreds?

-Thousands.

I think, eventually, China will be the biggest art market in the world.

If you want to see the future art scenes of Shanghai, Beijing,

you just see New York and London.

They will be the future.

So Christie's is very wise to get in there soon?

Well, they are always wise.

They are always wise.

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

It's in the room now for 1 million. At 1 million.

'I think, for the first year,

'there are more Chinese billionaires than American.'

The centre of gravity is shifting a bit.

Sold, 1.8 million. Thank you.

'We are today only in Shanghai and Beijing.'

And if you are thinking of how vast China is, it has nearly 700 cities,

with such a huge population.

So, for us, it's a thriving business.

And I start at 500,000.

I think it's as Warren Buffett says -

you know, 20th century is America.

and 21st century is China.

And, you know, 19th century is UK.

So, we hope we represent the future of this art market.

Thank you very much. Congratulations, everyone.

It's all about getting involved in the new collecting community,

which is properly global -

whether it's Middle Eastern, Russian,

or Asian or mainland Chinese collectors

involved in those mortal combats at auction, it's all the same.

It's very, very important that we can build

as many cultural bridges as possible.

And I'm sure that China will be a force for the future.

We'll be here in 250 years' time. Without question.