'The downside to art world altruism that no one talks about'

Christie's James Bond charity auction raised £6m in October. Courtesy of Christie's.

Journalist Melanie Gerlis shares her art market insights on an an unprecedented year for charity auction sales and spoke with Megan Fox Kelly about recent auctions and opacity in market data.

In her article, ‘'The downside to art world altruism that no one talks about' (November 25, 2022) Gerlis reports on the recent philanthropic bent of the art market, reporting that “For the first half of this year, Christie’s reported that its charitable auctions had raised $440m, and confirms that 2022—taking into account November’s record-breaking $1.5bn auction of Paul G. Allen’s collection, whose proceeds are all earmarked for philanthropy—will be an unprecedented year for such sales.”

Quoted in Gerlis’ article, Megan Fox Kelly shares, “If a collector aligns with a particular charity then they can be willing to go a little beyond […] Buyers ultimately are still chasing the art more than the charitable cause and a philanthropic auction is an effective way to bring in donations from people who otherwise might not have supported their cause.”

Read the full article by Melanie Gerlis here.