An auction house is a firm that, for a commission, brokers the sale of a work by public auction, in the saleroom, by telephone or online. As a rule it does not buy works on its own account. It takes them on from sellers, assesses them, writes them up in a catalogue and puts them on view. The oldest names still in business go back to the eighteenth century: Sotheby's held its first sale in London in 1744, and Christie's followed twenty-two years later, in 1766. Vienna's Dorotheum was founded as early as 1707, originally as an imperial pawn office.
The auction house agrees a pre-sale estimate with the seller, often together with a hidden minimum price, compiles the catalogue and stages a pre-sale exhibition where you can see the works in person. The sale itself is then conducted by the auctioneer. The house earns on both sides: the seller pays a commission on the proceeds, and the buyer pays the buyer's premium, which in the Czech Republic is mostly between twenty and thirty per cent. A Czech connection? The domestic record is held by Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, which in April 2024 sold František Kupka's Conception, Danaë for 115 million crowns, or 126.5 million including the premium.
An auction house gives the market public prices, which is a rarity in art, because a large share of deals happen privately and leave no trace. According to the Art Basel and UBS report, art worth 20.7 billion dollars passed through public auctions in 2025, while dealers and galleries sold 34.8 billion. Auctions are therefore only part of the market, but the part that can be measured. For buyers a house offers a wide choice in one place and now and then the chance to acquire a work below its value; for sellers, many buyers at once.
Your emotions and the small print. Who could resist the tension of the last bid in the room? So set your bidding limit in advance and add the premium to it. Read the conditions of sale: the level of commission, shipping fees, payment deadlines and what exactly the house guarantees about the work. And compare houses with one another. The quality of the catalogue, the expertise of the specialists and the care taken over provenance vary more than you might think.
— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club
Related terms: Auctioneer · Buyer's premium · Auction vs private sale · Reserve price and buy-in · Pre-sale exhibitions
