Christie’s Cuts Costs as Art Market Slows
By JULIA WERDIGIER | Published: January 12, 2009

Photo - Kirsty Wigglesworth (Associated Press)

LONDON — When works by the British artist Damien Hirst sold for a record $127 million on the same day in September that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, it seemed the art market might escape the economic crisis. Christie’s estimates that “Les Couturières” by Edouard Vuillard will fetch more than $8 million at an auction next month.
But a string of disappointing auctions over the last four months showed that the art market had no such immunity, prompting Christie’s International, the large auction house, to start a cost-reduction effort on Monday that will include job cuts.

“We have begun to implement a companywide reorganization, which includes significant staff reductions, not renewing many consultants’ contracts and the continuation of other cost-reduction initiatives, that will ensure we remain competitive and profitable in 2009,” Christie’s said in a statement on Monday, without saying how many positions might be cut or giving any further details.
In the last months, auction prices dropped together with financial markets, ending a decade-long boom in the art market that was buoyed by record bonuses paid to financial executives.

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