Written in collaboration with Marc Sands, Global CMO of Christie's

Image courtesy of Christie's Inc

Each of the world’s top four fine art auction houses has more than 220 years of service under their belt, and until a decade ago little had changed how they did business. Well, exactly how is new technology changing the auction world? Christie’s is the first major auction house that we’ll look at in order to answer this question.

“From top to bottom, inside and out,” said Marc Sands, Chief Marketing Officer at Christie’s. “I can’t think of an area in the company not impacted by new technology. This is a brick and mortar business coming to terms with the new world.”

While the 251-year-old auction house is looking at every aspect of its business, the main areas impacted so far by new technologies are: bidding, research, and relations with consignors and buyers.