CHRISTIE'S

officially Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd. auction house founded in London in 1766 and now represented by offices and sales centres worldwide. James Christie the Elder (1730-1803), a former navy officer, set up an auction house in Pall Mall, London, making his first sale on Dec. 5, 1766. On the same premises the Royal Academy of Arts held its exhibitions until 1779. Christie became the friend of such artists and craftsmen as Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Thomas Chippendale, and his premises became a gathering place for collectors, dealers, and fashionable society. After the elder Christie died, his son James Christie the Younger (1773-1831) carried on the business, becoming an expert on ancient Greek and Italian vases and sculpture. In 1823 he moved the business to its present headquarters at 8 King Street, St. James's Square (vacated only from 1941 to 1953 because of war damage). After his death, the younger Christie's two sons, James Stirling and George Henry, took William Manson in as a partner and, later, a brother, Edward Manson. When Thomas J. Woods joined in 1859, the firm took its current name, Christie, Manson & Woods. Christie's became a public company in 1973. From the 18th to the 20th century, Christie's handled many historic sales. Major events included negotiating the sale of Sir Horace Walpole's art collection to Catherine II the Great of Russia (1778), auctioning the contents of Sir Joshua Reynold's studio (1794), selling Madame du Barry's jewels (1795), managing the 40-day sale of the 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos' Stowe House collection (1848), handling the 17-day Hamilton Palace sale of pictures (1882), selling pictures from Sir George Drummond's collection (1919), and handling the sale of the Ford Collection of Impressionist paintings (1980). In one year, 1990, the firm set two records-the sale of Vincent van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" for $82.5 million, then the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, and the sale of the Badminton Cabinet for $15.2 million, then the most expensive piece of furniture ever sold at auction. Christie's publishes Christie's International Magazine, containing articles on collecting and news of upcoming sales. Subsidiary organizations are Christie's Appraisals; White Brothers, a major printing concern; Christie's Education, sponsor of the Fine Arts Course in London; and Phaidon/Christie's, publishers of art books.