Sotheby's facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Fine arts, rare objects |
| Founded | 11 March 1744 |
| Headquarters | 1334 York Avenue,
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US
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Number of locations
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80 locations in 40 countries (as of 2021) |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Charles F. Stewart (CEO), Patrick Drahi (Owner) |
| Services | Auctions, financial services |
| Subsidiaries | Sotheby's Institute of Art, Sotheby's International Realty, RM Sotheby's |
Sotheby's is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK.
Sotheby's was established on 11 March 1744 in London by Samuel Baker, a bookseller. In 1767 the firm became Baker & Leigh, after George Leigh became a partner, and was renamed to Leigh and Sotheby in 1778 after Baker's death when Leigh's nephew, John Sotheby, inherited Leigh's share. Other former names include: Leigh, Sotheby and Wilkinson; Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge (1864–1924); Sotheby and Company (1924–83); Mssrs Sotheby; Sotheby & Wilkinson; Sotheby Mak van Waay; and Sotheby's & Co.
The American holding company was initially incorporated in August 1983 in Michigan as Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. In June 2006, it was reincorporated in the State of Delaware and was renamed Sotheby's. In June 2019, Sotheby's was acquired by French-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi at a 61% market premium.
Sotheby's Institute of Art (an educational facility), Sotheby's International Realty (real estate dealers), and RM Sotheby's (classic car dealers) are subsidiaries or partner organisations.
History
Beginnings (18th & 19th century)
Sotheby's was established on 11 March 1744 in London by Samuel Baker, a bookseller. In 1767 the firm became Baker & Leigh, after Samuel Baker auctioned several hundred valuable books from the library of The Rt Hon Sir John Stanley, 1st Baronet, of Grangegorman and became business partners with George Leigh. The library Napoleon took with him into exile at St Helena, as well as the library collections of John Wilkes, Benjamin Heywood Bright and the Dukes of Devonshire and of Buckingham (both related to George Leigh), were sold through Samuel Baker's auctions.
After Baker's death in 1778, the business was left to Leigh and his nephew John Sotheby, where it became a prominent book auction house and was renamed Leigh and Sotheby.
George Leigh died in 1816, but not before recruiting Samuel E Leigh into the business. Under the Sotheby family, the auction house extended its activities to auctioning prints, medals, and coins. John Wilkinson, Sotheby's Senior Accountant, became a partner and eventually the company's new head of the company when the last member of the Sotheby family died in 1861.
20th century
The business did not seek to auction fine arts initially. Their first major success in this field was the sale of a Frans Hals painting for nine thousand guineas in 1913. Other former names include: Leigh, Sotheby and Wilkinson; Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge (1864–1924); Sotheby and Company (1924–83); Mssrs Sotheby; Sotheby & Wilkinson; Sotheby Mak van Waay; and Sotheby's & Co. In 1917, Sotheby's relocated from 13 Wellington Street to 34–35 New Bond Street, which remains as its London base to this day. They soon came to rival Christie's as leaders of the London auction market, which capitalised on the arts. In 1964, Sotheby's purchased Parke-Bernet, the largest auctioneer of fine art in the United States at the time. In the following year, Sotheby's moved to 980 Madison Avenue, New York. With the international fine art auction industry growing, Sotheby's opened offices in Paris and Los Angeles in 1967, and became the first auction house to operate in Hong Kong in 1973, and Moscow in 1988.
As well as numerous high-profile real life auctions being held at Sotheby's, the firm's auctioneers have also been used in various films, including the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy.
With private transactions constituting an essential and increasingly profitable business segment, through the years Sotheby's has bought art galleries and helped dealers finance purchases. It has also gone into partnership with dealers on private sales.
21st century
The company eventually bought its York Avenue building for $11 million in 2000 and completed a $140 million expansion and renovation in 2001, adding six floors and 240,000 square feet. The renovation added the capability to store works on the same premises as the specialist departments, galleries, and auction spaces.
In February 2019, Sotheby's announced a redesign and expansion of its New York headquarters on the Upper East Side that is being led by the designer Shohei Shigematsu of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). The exhibition space there will grow to over 90,000 square feet from 67,000, and the project will include the addition of several new galleries.
In 2019, Sotheby's introduced an online valuations platform to their website to facilitate the provision of estimates.
In June 2019, Sotheby's was acquired by French-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi at a 61% market premium. In October 2019, he brought in Charles F. Stewart as Sotheby's new CEO, and former CEO Tad Smith transitioned to an advisory role.
In 2020, Sotheby's overtook Christie's as the world's top auction house for the first time since 2011, with over $5 billion in aggregate sales compared to its rival's $4.4 billion.
In June 2023, Sotheby's agreed to purchase 945 Madison Avenue, a former museum building designed by Marcel Breuer, to house the company's headquarters, including its galleries, exhibition space, and auction room. The company plans to open its new space in 2025.
See also
In Spanish: Sotheby's para niños
