Page:2020-07-29 PSI Staff Report - The Art Industry and U.S. Policies that Undermine Sanctions.pdf/50

 viewers could watch as he [fielded] collectors' phone bids placed via colleagues." The auctioneer also considered real-time bids placed on the Sotheby's website.

These online auctions were profitable for all three houses. Some 80,000 people joined Christie's July 10, 2020 auction, which sold 79 paintings and brought in $421 million in overall sales. This includes Roy Lichtenstein's Nude with Joyous Painting that sold for $46.2 million to an anonymous bidder, roughly $16 million more than its expected sale price. Sotheby's auction on June 29, 2020 brought in $234.9 million in total sales, including $85 million for a trio of Francis Bacon works, Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus. The three Bacon paintings also sold to an anonymous telephone bidder.

Phillips held their own hybrid in-person and online auction on July 2, 2020 bringing $41 million. Phillips CEO Ed Dolman remarked that the "sale was a resounding statement about the strength of our market, as there's a certain amount of huge pent-up demand if you think about the amount of money that would have been spent in the global art market." Dolman added further, "it's quite obvious to us there's a significant amount of money on the sidelines waiting to get a chance to get back in the art market."

D. Art Dealers, Art Galleries, and Art Fairs

Auction houses are not the exclusive means by which collectors purchase high-value works of art. Buyers also rely on art dealers to build their collections