Phillips de Pury & Company
Encyclopedia
Phillips de Pury & Company is an auction house and art dealership, with offices in London
, New York, Geneva
, Berlin
, Brussels
, Los Angeles
, Milan
, Munich
and Paris
. Phillips conducts auctions in New York, London and Geneva in the areas of Contemporary Art, Photography, 20-21st Century Design, Art and Jewellery. Phillips also handles private treaty sales and art advisory services including building private collections.
James Chrisite must have regretted bitterly having refused the young Phillips a raise as he went on to snatch many prestigious sales from his ex-employer. To win clients Phillips combined business acumen with a flair for showmanship, introducing new ways to promote his sales such as elaborate evening receptions before important auctions - an essential part of the auction business today. Phillips quickly gained the confidence of the British aristocracy.
When he died in 1840, Harry Phillips passed on a strong and successful business to his son, William Augustus. In 1879, William changed the firm's name to "Messrs Phillips & Son." In 1882 this in turn became "Phillips, Son & Neale" when he brought his son-in-law, Frederick, into the business, and that name continued until the 1970s when the firm returned to "Phillips" under the ownership of Christopher Weston and Christopher Hawkings. During the next three decades the company earned a reputation as the training ground for aspiring specialists and antiques dealers, many employees seeing it as a stepping stone to either Christie's or Sotheby's, where turnover and salaries were much higher. Weston and Hawkings expanded the operation country-wide and business increased several-fold but Phillips turnover still only amounted to around one tenth of either Sotheby's or Christie's. This was largely because it was commonly known within the fine art market that few good specialists remained with Phillips long because of the higher rewards and prestige to be had elsewhere so clients with 7-figure items invariably sold at Christie's or Sotheby's. Their main achievement was in popularising the antiques auction scene generally, being much more approachable and accessible than the (for many people) daunting Sotheby's and Christie's. In 1999 Christopher Weston sold his majority stake in the company to venture capitalists 3i who spruced the operation up and resold it shortly after for a considerable profit.
From 1999 to 2003 Phillips was owned by LVMH
Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. After a series of disastrous sales and extremely heavy losses Bonhams bought the UK operations of Phillips in 2001 and rebranded them under the Bonhams name. Most of the rump of the business was closed with smaller departments acquired by the international art dealers Simon de Pury
and Daniella Luxembourg, and continued under the name Phillips de Pury & Company. In March 2004, the Chairman, Simon de Pury, acquired majority control of the firm.
In 1999, Phillips Auctioneers was bought by the French luxury goods brand LVMH and Simon de Pury & Daniela Luxembourg, private dealers of Impressionist, Modern and Post-War art, were appointed to run the company which was renamed Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg. In 2004, Simon de Pury took majority share of the business and focussed the specialist fields to works of the modern and contemporary eras. The new company, Phillips de Pury & Company, has continued to grow and successful introduce the best of new art talent to the secondary market as well as hosting a significant range of selling shows for contemporary artists and designers. The company opened its European headquarters in Howick Place London in early 2008.
On 6 October 2008, the company was purchased by the Russia-based Mercury Group. In order to acquire a majority share in the company, Mercury paid approximately $60 million, though the actual transaction was private. "Around 50 percent" of the money was used to cover Phillips’s debt. Mercury is run by Leonid Friedland and his associate, Leonid Strunin.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, New York, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Phillips conducts auctions in New York, London and Geneva in the areas of Contemporary Art, Photography, 20-21st Century Design, Art and Jewellery. Phillips also handles private treaty sales and art advisory services including building private collections.
History
The company originated as the London auction house of Phillips, founded in London by Harry Phillips, a young entrepreneur. In 1796 he opened his own auction house after resigning as the senior clerk to James Christie. During his first year of business, Phillips conducted 12 auctions. Success came quickly. Soon, the business was conducting sales for all the famous and distinguished people of the day including Beau Brummel and Napoleon. Very little is known about the origins of Harry Phillips and why he was so well-connected to the aristocracy; in 1789 whilst working for Christie he married a Sarah Mitchell at St Martin in the Fields and they had at least three children, of whom the youngest, William Augustus, was destined to take control of the company on his father's death.James Chrisite must have regretted bitterly having refused the young Phillips a raise as he went on to snatch many prestigious sales from his ex-employer. To win clients Phillips combined business acumen with a flair for showmanship, introducing new ways to promote his sales such as elaborate evening receptions before important auctions - an essential part of the auction business today. Phillips quickly gained the confidence of the British aristocracy.
When he died in 1840, Harry Phillips passed on a strong and successful business to his son, William Augustus. In 1879, William changed the firm's name to "Messrs Phillips & Son." In 1882 this in turn became "Phillips, Son & Neale" when he brought his son-in-law, Frederick, into the business, and that name continued until the 1970s when the firm returned to "Phillips" under the ownership of Christopher Weston and Christopher Hawkings. During the next three decades the company earned a reputation as the training ground for aspiring specialists and antiques dealers, many employees seeing it as a stepping stone to either Christie's or Sotheby's, where turnover and salaries were much higher. Weston and Hawkings expanded the operation country-wide and business increased several-fold but Phillips turnover still only amounted to around one tenth of either Sotheby's or Christie's. This was largely because it was commonly known within the fine art market that few good specialists remained with Phillips long because of the higher rewards and prestige to be had elsewhere so clients with 7-figure items invariably sold at Christie's or Sotheby's. Their main achievement was in popularising the antiques auction scene generally, being much more approachable and accessible than the (for many people) daunting Sotheby's and Christie's. In 1999 Christopher Weston sold his majority stake in the company to venture capitalists 3i who spruced the operation up and resold it shortly after for a considerable profit.
From 1999 to 2003 Phillips was owned by LVMH
LVMH
LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A., better known as LVMH, is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France, France. The company was formed after the 1987 merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, a company formed after the 1971 merger...
Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. After a series of disastrous sales and extremely heavy losses Bonhams bought the UK operations of Phillips in 2001 and rebranded them under the Bonhams name. Most of the rump of the business was closed with smaller departments acquired by the international art dealers Simon de Pury
Simon de Pury
Simon de Pury is a Swiss art auctioneer and collector. He is chairman and co-founder of the art auction house Phillips de Pury & Company, one of the largest art auction houses in the world. Mr. de Pury is often called "the Mick Jagger of art auctions" for his masterful, exciting style of...
and Daniella Luxembourg, and continued under the name Phillips de Pury & Company. In March 2004, the Chairman, Simon de Pury, acquired majority control of the firm.
In 1999, Phillips Auctioneers was bought by the French luxury goods brand LVMH and Simon de Pury & Daniela Luxembourg, private dealers of Impressionist, Modern and Post-War art, were appointed to run the company which was renamed Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg. In 2004, Simon de Pury took majority share of the business and focussed the specialist fields to works of the modern and contemporary eras. The new company, Phillips de Pury & Company, has continued to grow and successful introduce the best of new art talent to the secondary market as well as hosting a significant range of selling shows for contemporary artists and designers. The company opened its European headquarters in Howick Place London in early 2008.
On 6 October 2008, the company was purchased by the Russia-based Mercury Group. In order to acquire a majority share in the company, Mercury paid approximately $60 million, though the actual transaction was private. "Around 50 percent" of the money was used to cover Phillips’s debt. Mercury is run by Leonid Friedland and his associate, Leonid Strunin.