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Sotheby's Rakes in $315M at Auction Amid Worker Protests

By Amy Zimmer | November 10, 2011 12:17pm

MANHATTAN —  As scores of protesters demonstrated against proposed wage and benefits cuts outside Sotheby's Wednesday night, another kind of noise was being made inside the elite auction house — the sound of the gavel raking in more than $315 million in art sales.

Well-heeled art patrons exiting their limos to attend Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Sale were greeted by a scrum of protesters, nine of whom were hauled away in handcuffs Wednesday night.

Police arrested eight men and one woman, ranging in age from 19 to 55, on charges including criminal trespass, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, NYPD officials said. The protesters were a mix of activists from the Occupy Wall Street movement joining the institution’s locked-out union art handlers.

But that didn’t disturb the flurry of art buying inside the famed auction house.  Sotheby's saw its third highest total for its annual Contemporary Art Evening event, and it was the highest total since May 2008 before the economic downturn hit, according to Sotheby’s officials.

The auction brought in $45 million more than Sotheby’s officials had banked on, with records set for works by several artists.

A painting called "1949-A-No. 1" by American abstract painter Clyfford Still hit a record price for the artist at auction when it reached $61.7 million — far exceeding the $25 million estimate.

In all, four of his works fetched $114.1 million. They were being sold by the city of Denver to raise money for its Clyfford Still Museum, set to open next week.

The German artist Gerhard Richter’s "Abstrakes Bild" also hit a record for an auction of the artist’s work, when a bidding war upped the $12 million estimate, resulting in a sale for $20.8 million.

"We had a fantastically successful sale of contemporary art at Sotheby’s," Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s Worldwide Director of Contemporary Art, said in a statement.

The protesters had attempted to blockade the door to Sotheby’s and several activists took U-locks, commonly used for bikes, to chain themselves together.

"We really wanted to ruin the auction — we're not going to hide that," labor activist Harrison Magee said after he was detained and released Thursday and was waiting in Central Booking for those arrested.

"But at the same time [the auction result] just goes to show what’s going on. The band plays on," he said.

The locked out art handlers have been protesting outside of Sotheby’s entrance on York Avenue, near East 72nd Street, since being locked out in August when contract negotiations reached an impasse.  

For more than a month, they have been joined by “the 99 percent movement,” which has infiltrated auctions and railed against Sotheby's for wanting to cut benefits amid rising profits. Four protesters were also arrested at an auction last week, police confirmed.

The art handlers union said that Sotheby’s wants the workers, who are responsible for the transportation, preparation and display of the pieces, to give up their 401K plan, work a reduced 36-hour week (translating to a 10 percent wage cut) and cap worker’s overtime, among other demands.

A Sotheby’s spokeswoman said the company was continuing to bargain "in good faith" with a federal mediator, in the hopes of reaching an agreement.

She added, "The union leadership insists on asking for increases in wages and benefits that would almost double the cost of their contract."

Sotheby's this week announced its third quarter results for 2011, saying its first nine months saw revenues of more than $547 million — a 20 percent increase over the year before — and a net income of nearly $100 million, representing a 55 percent increase from the same period last year.