European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Christie s auctioneer and his assistants face the bidders in a room lined with paintings. Joint bidding Christie s a potential bidder inspects the merchandise Story and photos by Dave Diehl . Bureau Rob Alexander of St. Alban s opened the bidding at $46. After others joined in he took the bid to $62. A woman two chairs away to his right bobbed her hand in the air raising the Price to $66. The auctioneer looked Back to the 24-year-old Alexander who nodded the Price to $70. The Young woman bid one More time on the two bottles of Moet it Chandon Vintage 1964 and 1966. But she dropped out when Alexander made it $78. My Mother will be quite pleased Alexander said after the Sale at Christie s of London the first such event he had Ever attended. They Are from the years my brother and i were  at a furniture Sale in an adjoining room a pair of ornate italian commode tables were fetching $92,500, in the same manner applied by Alexander albeit by a wealthier people More than Likely less interested in maternal influence. And two rooms away Art collectors were quietly bumping up the prices on 19th-Century Watercolours by the hundreds and even thousands of dollars. However All of that Day s bidding in the three upstairs rooms at Christie s of London was relative peanuts when compared to the Sale the following monday evening. That night Pablo Picasso s acrobat and Young harlequin sold for More than $37 million to a japanese department store. Although Christie s of London operates As an auction House in name and in practice it could just As Well be called Christie s brokerage for the Fine arts and collectables. Five Days a week commodities porcelains Watercolours and oils Silver clocks watches wine books manuscripts Are traded through the King Street House. If you can write your name and provide a Bank reference you re Welcome to bid on anything at Christie s. You can go into one of the auction rooms and Wink nod and wave with the rest of the Public which seems to have a penchant for pumping up prices on things exquisite. Buyers visit Christie s from All Over the world to bid on buy and sell such stuff. It s been going on for More than 200 years since James Christie began showing the portraits of wealthy landowners. The paintings were done by Christie s friends who were then unknown artists. Popularity came later and now those friends Are famous portrait painters Thomas Gainsborough for example. The Only things that have significantly changed since the 1700s Are the prices and the scope of the business itself. Christie s place which became one of the few showrooms for such works of Art Drew audiences that at first largely consisted of the subjects of those portraits. His business expanded and evolved and it now includes 1,200 employees and sales rooms or company representatives in almost every major country in the world. Christie a along with neighbourhood rival rotheby a has become is one of the most important Fine Art trading houses in the world. These Days however More than just the upper class and landed Gentry Are numbered among its clients. Sellers seek out Christie s and rotheby s because nowhere else in the world will their goods command such prices according to Peter Rose the company a press officer. And in All like Hood the prices brought today will be exceeded tomorrow. The objects to be sold first pass through the ground. Floor of Christie a where experts in 35 departments classify Price and Catalon every item Rose said. He said about 70 percent of the buyers at Christie s Are dealers adding we can t exist without  and the dealers in the big name big Money works of Art could t do without the likes of Christie s and rotheby a either Rose said. To sell the magnets and moneys at a Good Price they have to come to London. The tax Laws Here promote the sales which is important particularly to foreigners who can move the goods in and out of country with ease. The Only extras paid Are commissions of 10 percent paid by the buyers and  but a potential seller of Fine Art needs the Christie s or rotheby s name behind them Rose said. You be got to go to one of the big auction houses with these things so you get the  he said the works by Degas Renoir Klee and Ernst sold in the same Sale As the record setting Picasso paintings either sold for More than expected or set records thanks to the company they kept. Christie s saves such works in this Case impressionists works for its periodic special sales. The big impressionist Sale at Christie s is always the last monday in november. There is another in june. Alexander might not be Back for any of that event. He does t have that kind of Money he said. But hell probably still be cherishing his first Success. After buying his two bottles of Champagne Alexander pledged to hang on to them and one Day to hand them Over to his children. I d never sell them. It s like Gold he said. His Friend Adrian Webster the owner of a wine bar was not so sure. He bought 33 bottles of wine on two separate bids. Although he considers the buys bargains and investments he does not yet know in what form his profit reaping will take. If he can hell sell the wine across his bar he said if i Don t drink it  but even wine fanciers like Alexander know that the monetary gain of not drinking the Fine wines which sold for As much As $375 a bottle outweigh any pleasures borne of the pallet. Of it s an investment Webster said. Most of these people will keep the wine for a few years and sell it  8 stripes Magazine january 12, 1989