For two months this summer, I had the chance to complete my internship with the team of the Post-War & Contemporary Art Department at Christie's Paris. This internship proved to be a decisive step in my professional project and a pivotal moment in my university years. I discovered how an auction house and, more generally, the art market work, as an insider. Before talking more concretely about my internship, I would like to take this opportunity to thank听Mr. Brown, for his generosity and听trust.
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Passionate about contemporary art for the past few years, I always thought that an internship at Christie's would be a steppingstone for the continuation of my studies and for my personal experience. Thanks to this internship I was able to orient myself regarding my future master鈥檚 degree and get a clear idea of the professional path I want to take. I also had the chance to live my passion in the place that surely symbolizes it the most.听
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The first thing that struck me during my internship at Christie's was that each idea, each project is thought out strategically and subject to the laws of a very specific market. As an assistant in the Contemporary Art Department, my internship was organized around the auction calendar and I was able to participate in the organization of four summer and fall Photography and Contemporary Art sales. Through these sales, it is the whole cycle of a work of art and the functioning of the art market in general that I was able to approach.
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The first week, I participated in the world's largest relay auction this year: 鈥淥NE鈥�. The sale was a logistical, technological and human challenge. It had to synchronize all the Christie's teams around the world for a common event and a common goal. I helped with the physical set-up of the auction in Paris and the exhibition of the artworks.
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The month of July was punctuated by the preparation of the sales for the fall semester. I was in charge of the inventory for each of the works presented in October and November. It was a very strong moment, as close as possible to the works, which required a lot of rigor and precautions. Each work became an adventure in itself, because I had to come up with texts and characteristics to transcribe a story and a value. After cataloguing each work and listing all their characteristics, I prepared all the documentary research (literature and exhibition information on the artwork) necessary for the preparation of the sale. The catalogue is the basis of the sale: it exists to explain everything about the work, to illustrate it, to inform the customers, to give an account of the work of the specialists as to the estimation. Researching the works and collections offered for sale through the catalogue was a real discovery for me. I learned a very particular methodology, common to all auction houses.
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In August, I was in charge of customer relations and research of works in the archives and 鈥榗atalogs raisonn茅s鈥�. I assisted the specialists in the elaboration of the 'Avant-garde' sale for autumn 2020. I took care of the reception of certain works and the client's deposit report. Each work entering at Christie's is subject to a meticulous examination and the creation of a condition report. Concretely, every angle, every trace of paint, every splinter in the canvas, every crack and break are examined, sometimes even under a UV lamp. This internship made me read a lot and learn about the life of artists in the smallest details. To understand each work, I had to bathe in it, to go beyond the canvas. It is this immersion in contemporary art that I liked and that taught me a lot about the profession of the specialists. I lived in intimacy with art for a few weeks that were like no other.
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Finally, August was also an opportunity for me to realize the place of commercial strategy and business in the setting up of a sale. Beyond the estimation of the works, each decision is taken according to the market situation and competitiveness. Christie's is mainly in competition with Sotheby's in contemporary art. My internship took place in a very particular context for the art market. COVID-19 was a pivotal moment for these two auction houses. A moment of transformation in the commercial philosophy and in the way of working. The 鈥極NE鈥� sale in July was a real test to take the pulse of the contemporary art market. Living this moment and seeing the strategic decisions made in this context was very instructive and exciting.
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This internship is an experience that has guided me for the future, that has given me confidence in myself and that allows me to be proud of my work and my choices.
I want to thank the entire Christie鈥檚 Contemporary Art and Photographs teams for welcoming me. I also want to thank the Art Internship Office and听Mr. Garvin Brown, for without the Susan Casey Brown Fund for 鲍鱼直播, 鲍鱼直播 International Experience Awards, this internship could not have taken place.
