Ethical Issues at Christie's

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"Those charged were engaged in classic cartel behavior price fixing, pure and simple. These are serious crimes, and the Antitrust Division will prosecute them wherever they occur." ¹

- A. Douglas Melamed, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division in 2000.

"When you have folks who have had excellent reputations suddenly brought down and charged with some serious things, it's always sad." ²

- Milton Esterow, Editor and Publisher, ArtNews in 2001.

"I think the ethics of Christie's are fouled up. They seem to want to act only in the interests of their clients and their potential clients rather than the true owners of the picture." ³

- Stephen Tauber⁴ in 2005.

Introduction

In the early 2000s, Christie's Inc. (Christie's), a famous auction house based in London, was mired in one controversy after another. In 2000, Christie's, and its rival, Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. (Sotheby's) (Refer Exhibit I for a brief note on Sotheby's) also based in London, were charged with price-fixing under the Anti-trust laws in the US, and later in Europe too.

The firm had to pay millions in compensation. Though the price-fixing scandal was the most prominent legal hassle that the auction house faced, there were smaller controversies that also caused substantial embarrassment to the company. In December 2004, Christie's was accused of selling a painting which was allegedly stolen from an art shop in Rome. The painting - "The Mocking of Christ" was believed to have been stolen from a shop in Via Margutta - a street famous for studios and galleries. The owner traced his painting when he happened to see Christie's catalog for its auction in New York for January 26, 2005. He notified the local police, who launched an Interpol investigation into the matter...

Again in April 2005, the Iranian Government filed a complaint in a London court against Christie's for trying to auction an artifact which it claimed was a national treasure, which had been stolen sometime between 1933 and 1974.

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1] "Sotheby's and former top executive agree to plead guilty to price-fixing on commissions charged to sellers at auctions," www.usdoj.gov, October 5, 2000.

2] Margaret Mannix, "Integrity on the block," www.usnews.com, May 14, 2001.

3] Nils Pratley, "Christie's hides behind confidentiality over painting stolen by Gestapo," www.guardian.co.uk, October 25, 2003.

4] Stephen Tauber was the husband of a Holocaust victim whose paintings were stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War.