Christie’s CEO on Asia expansion and hopes for rebound in Europe

The usually smooth back and forth between auctioneer and bidder had an unexpected hitch during the sale of the top lot in Christie’s evening sale in Hong Kong on September 26.

Xin Li, deputy chairman at Christie’s, indicated to veteran auctioneer Adrien Meyer that her client on the phone wanted to place a bid for Vincent van Gogh’s Les Canots Amarrés (1887).

Instead of just adding a standard increment to the last bid, which was already at around HK$200 million (US$25.7 million), she hesitated and then blurted: “26 million!” Her client, it seemed, insisted on bidding in US dollars.

This was not much of a snag for a multinational company that is French-owned, London-based, has auctions in three continents and has just opened a new office in Saudi Arabia. Meyer calmly asked for a conversion and carried on.

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