Christie's has announced on March 2nd 1999 that it was creating a private sales department due to be headed by Swiss-born Dominique Astrid Lévy.
The auction house, now controlled by French businessman François Pinault, will soon open its private sales dept. devoted to contemporary art on New York's 59 th Street. Dominique Astrid Lévy, 31, started her career in the contemporary art dept. Of Christie's in 1987 before joining Sotheby's in Geneva where she was in charge of modern and Impressionist paintings. She then headed the Daniel Malingue Gallery in Geneva before starting her own advisory business with Simon Struder.
She organized the exhibition of British film director Peter Greenaway in Geneva in 1994 and other exhibitions in Italy, Norway and Singapore. She was working last year with the Anthony d'Offay gallery of London where she was supervising relations between American artists and important collectors.
Dominique Astrid Lévy is above all a specialist in contemporary art who has a marked taste for photography, video events and happenings.
Christie's announcement has caused some concern among dealers who feared that the auction house might distract many of their clients.
D.A Lévy explained that Christie's wanted to offer a new service to their customers and that there was no question of challenging dealers. «We are not in the same category as we do not intend to sell the works of artists directly. We do not want to take the place of dealers. On the contrary, if they understand our motives they will find some great interest in working with us», she said.
In fact Christie's tried to counterbalance Sotheby's influence after the U.S owned auction house bought the André Emmerich gallery from New York in 1996 and recruited contemporary art specialist Jeffrey Deitch a year later.
D.A Lévy stressed that Christie's wanted to offer new openings to their customers, notably to satisfy those who wanted to sell works rapidly.
«We can find buyers for them or buy for ourselves. In the case of important works we can envisage to take a share in their acquisitions and we can help (American) museums to sell some pieces from their collections», she said.
New York seems to be an ideal choice for Christie's because of its leadership on the market and of tax advantages. In addition, many European collectors, tired of dissuasive measures in Europe such as rights (a 3% tax is being levied on all works produced by artists who deceased after 1929), are increasingly tempted to sell paintings in the U.S.
Adrian Darmon
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