The following Q&A appeared in Art+Auction’s August issue, which profiles the world’s top auction houses of 2016. ARTINFO will be publishing the articles from this issue over the next few days. Click here to see related stories from the issue. To find all our coverage of the 250 Best Auction Houses Worldwide, as well as ARTINFO’s top picks for the best in visual arts, architecture and design, performing arts, lifestyle, and culture and travel, visit our Top Lists page at blouinartinfo.com/toplists.Christie’sHeadquarters: London & New YorkSusan KlomanInternational Head of African and Oceanic ArtThe specialist, who oversees sales in Paris and New York, has played a key role in bringing some high-profile collections and individual pieces to auction in recent years, including a Kota from Gabon previously owned by none other than William Rubin, the legendary Museum of Modern Art curator. Prior to joining Christie’s in 2008, the New York–based Kloman served as head of the department of African and Oceanic art at Sotheby’s and worked as an independent consultant in the field.How does the market for tribal art—African and Oceanic art in particular—compare with those of other categories?Even though African and Oceanic art may seem a bit of an exotic category to some, the market for such works is not exotic in any way. Over the years, the market for tribal art has been very much in line with what we have observed in the other categories—for fine art, for paintings. We continue to see high demand for top-quality works of art, particularly rare and exquisite pieces with excellent provenance.Is there a difference in the market and the clientele for tribal works between New York and Paris?Paris is our primary market, based on the historical nature of the market. We hold twice-yearly sales there—in June and December—in the category. In Paris there is a high level of connoisseurship and far greater depth of interest in African art particularly, and as a consequence, more volume in all price ranges. In New York, the market is a bit more focused on the high end. Whereas years ago we would have sales with 200 lots, today we rarely have more than 100 as it becomes a bit too much for the market to digest. Such adjustments have been happening across categories as people seem to have a lot less time.Christie’s has been a leading proponent of cross-marketing in recent years. How has that influenced your sales?Our auctions have become far more collaborative efforts at the house. This past May, for instance, we held a tightly curated sale in New York titled Evolution of Form: African & Oceanic Art at the Genesis of Modernism, with 11 works that covered the canon and were chosen for their influence on artists from Pablo Picasso to Jean-Michel Basquiat and even to Georg Baselitz. We wanted to highlight the fact that this conversation is still very relevant today. I worked with my colleagues Sara Friedlander, Brett Gorvy, and Jessica Fertig to assemble a sale that would fit within the context of the more contemporary works they were offering at around the same time. Seven of the lots sold, including an important Baule female figure from Ivory Coast that has been attributed to the “Rockefeller Master,” a carver responsible for a marvelous piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It sold for $2.4 million. If we were measuring success by who was in the audience, I can easily say that every single buyer was a crossover client with strong interests in other categories. And two of those buyers were new to the category.
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