LONDON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- It's an industry that has not only survived the pandemic, but undergone a positive revolution thanks to COVID-19.
When James Christie opened his London auction room in December 1776, he invited a room full of buyers gathered to outbid each other for treasures and works of art. Fast forward more than 250 years, especially after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, auctions have become a far cry from those that took place in the tradition.
"I think the new normal for us is more taking, or keeping what was really special about Christie's before, and expanding it into what is a sort of online internet revolution that the pandemic has pushed forward," auctioneer Olivia Ghosh told Xinhua in a recent interview.
It is something, added Ghosh, that the art industry has been waiting for almost for the last 20 years.
Ghosh, who joined the company four years ago, works at Christie's in London as a specialist in the Old Master's Paintings department. Her tasks also include to do background detective work, studying paintings, looking at the artist, the subject, even checking labels as pieces of evidence on the back of a painting.
"We take all of the clues and then we go and we fact-check. We look in libraries and archives to see to pull together the history of a painting," she explained.
All of that information goes into the auction catalogue to tell clients why a work is important and what is so special about it.
As coronavirus struck almost two years ago, there were fears, admitted Ghosh, about the possible impact the pandemic would have on the auctioneering business.
She and her colleagues had managed to continue their detailed research work, while following COVID-19 guidelines in Britain. But in the auction room, internet as a new element has been added.
"Pre-pandemic, our auctions were very much focused on being in the room, with all the clients coming in and sitting. We got rows and rows of people, and it was about you and those people being there together. But in the post pandemic world this has opened up much more to a global audience. What we've really pushed forward is the online experience," she said.
"We have screens in sale room at the back, so you're not just looking at those people present, you've got to pay attention to the screens to make sure you're taking bids from the internet as well," added Ghosh, who did live auction in Christie's latest Old Masters Evening Sale.
Knowing that she was being filmed the whole time when she was doing the auction, she had to smile at the camera. "As you smile into the camera you're talking, or projecting yourself onto that person's computer screen so that you try and keep the idea of relationship between the two of you. Even though I can't see the other person, I know they're out there somewhere in the world."
According to Ghosh, the new normal has a surprisingly positive impact on the art auction sector.
"For instance, it used to be we had about 800 people in the room, but in our auctions in May in New York, we had 1.4 million people who followed the auctions live through our streaming process. People from 62 different countries watch the auction live, rather than just it being a set of people in one room, in one country. So that's an amazing global expansion of the company," she said.
According to the Christie's, its art sales number kept increasing, rather than dropping, during the pandemic. With auction houses in across the world, from Asia to North America, Christie has found that the market is incredibly resilient.
"People still want to buy, collectors want to collect, people still have a continued desire and urge to keep everything going, which has been very, very positive," Ghosh said.
With the help of digital technology and digital tools working 24/7, Ghosh was very optimistic about the growth of the art auction industry, despite the lingering huge shadow of coronavirus.
"The pandemic has proved to be the catalyst that sent us into the digital stratosphere," she said. Enditem
