Bonhams Magazine

Editor's Letter

This year has been one of the most eventful in Bonhams’ 229-year history. Since January, Bonhams has acquired four auction houses, which are now all part of the Bonhams’ family. In terms of geography, the locations range from the Nordic Countries – Bukowskis in Stockholm and Bruun Rasmussen in Copenhagen – to Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris to Skinner in Boston. But as Bruno Vinciguerra, the Global CEO of Bonhams, told ArtNet News, Bonhams is creating a network, not an empire. These houses dominate the landscape in their region – and it is important their brands remain intact. As we live in a globalised world, belonging to a larger platform takes the specialist strengths from one area and brings them to the world. In a recent sale, a watch from Bukowskis’ Fine Watch Sale sold to a client in Hong Kong; and it works the other way round: collectors from all parts of the world are consigning pieces to sales taking place at these regional giants.

Take the CoBrA Sale. As with the CoBrA group itself, this sale has become pan-European with consignments from all over the Continent and with previews of the paintings taking place in Paris, Belgium and Amsterdam, before the sale at Bruun Rasmussen in December. Although this artistic movement is associated with Denmark, the international spirit is embedded in the name, an acronym of its three prime centres: Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. As is the time-honoured custom, the artists unleashed their manifesto on an unsuspecting public from a café – in this case, the zinc bar of the Notre Dame Hotel in Paris. In reaction to the shattered post-war world, the group wanted to dismantle borders and barriers to broaden the definition of who was an artist – and of what was regarded as art. On page 22, Adrian Dannatt writes about the CoBrA insurgency and how it drew European art centres together by providing a platform for voices from other regions to be heard – much like the sale itself.

Terence Conran was a man who throughout his life provided a platform for other designers and who drew inspiration from all around the world. In December, Bonhams is offering the contents of his house, Barton Court. On page 30, Nicholas Foulkes, a friend of Sir Terence and Victoria, Lady Conran, looks at the astonishing Conran legacy, something conveyed by one of the most extraordinary house sales we have ever held.