Are Auction Guarantees the New Private Sales? Yes, for Art Sellers Who Don’t Want to Get Ripped Off

Felix Salmon | artnet news | 24th May 2018

For art market buffs. Auctions are a great way to sell expensive art but have a drawback – price uncertainty. Arrangements similar to underwriting help manage this risk. The added complexity is such that it “defeats the purpose of hiring an auction house in the first place. In a sense, then, the real purpose of going to auction is increasingly just rip-off insurance.”