Editing Christie's (section)

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 006 - Auction Room, Christie's.jpg|thumb|right|''The Microcosm of London'' (1808), an engraving of Christie's auction room]]
Christie's was a public company, listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]], from 1973 to 1999. In 1974, Jo Floyd was appointed chairman of Christie's. He served as chairman of Christie's International plc from 1976 to 1988, until handing over to [[Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington|Lord Carrington]], and later was a non-executive director until 1992.<ref>Sarah Lyall (27 February 1998), [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/27/arts/jo-floyd-74-led-growth-and-change-at-christie-s.html Jo Floyd, 74; Led Growth and Change at Christie's] ''The New York Times''.</ref> Christie's International Inc. held its first sale in the United States in 1977. Christie's growth was slow but steady since 1989, when it had 42% of the auction market.<ref name="nytimes.com">Carol Vogel (11 February 1997), [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/11/arts/at-the-wire-auction-fans-it-s-it-s-christie-s.html At the Wire, Auction Fans, It's, It's . . . Christie's!] ''The New York Times''.</ref>

[[File:Clay tablet, record of barley and emmer. Late Uruk period, 3300-3100 BCE. Purchased via Christie's, no provenance.jpg|thumb|Clay tablet, a record of barley and emmer. Late Uruk period, 3300–3100 BCE. Purchased via Christie's in 1989, no provenance. British Museum]]
In 1990, the company reversed a long-standing policy and guaranteed a minimum price for a collection of artworks in its May auctions.<ref>Rita Reif (12 March 1990), [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/12/arts/christie-s-reverses-stand-on-price-guarantees.html Christie's Reverses Stand on Price Guarantees] ''The New York Times''.</ref> In 1996, sales exceeded those of [[Sotheby's]] for the first time since 1954.<ref>Carol Vogel (6 May 1998), [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/06/business/international-business-frenchman-gets-big-stake-in-christie-s.html Frenchman Gets Big Stake In Christie's] ''The New York Times''.</ref> However, profits did not grow at the same pace;<ref name="Carol Vogel 1998">Carol Vogel (19 May 1998), [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/19/business/international-business-frenchman-seeks-the-rest-of-christie-s.html Frenchman Seeks the Rest Of Christie's] ''The New York Times''.</ref> from 1993 through 1997, Christie's annual pretax profits were about $60M , whereas Sotheby's annual pretax profits were about $265M for those years.<ref name="ReferenceA">Carol Vogel (19 February 1998), [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/19/arts/christie-s-ends-talks-on-takeover-by-swiss.html Christie's Ends Talks On Takeover By Swiss] ''The New York Times''.</ref>

In 1993, Christie's paid $10.9M for the London gallery [[Spink & Son]], which specialised in Oriental art and British paintings; the gallery was run as a separate entity. The company bought Leger Gallery for $3.3M in 1996, and merged it with Spink to become Spink-Leger.<ref>Carol Vogel (22 June 2001), [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/22/arts/inside-art-manager-and-collector.html Re: Real Estate] ''The New York Times''.</ref> Spink-Leger closed in 2002. To make itself competitive with Sotheby's in the property market, Christie's bought Great Estates in 1995, then the largest network of independent estate agents in North America, changing its name to Christie's Great Estates Inc.<ref name="nytimes.com" />

In December 1997, under the chairmanship of [[Charles Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip|Lord Hindlip]], Christie's put itself on the auction block, but after two months of negotiations with the consortium-led investment firm [[Warburg Dillon Read|SBC Warburg Dillon Read]] it did not attract a bid high enough to accept.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> In May 1998, [[François Pinault]]'s holding company, Groupe Artémis S.A., first bought 29.1 per cent of the company for $243.2M, and subsequently purchased the rest of it in a deal that valued the entire company at $1.2bn.<ref name="Carol Vogel 1998" /> The company has since not been reporting profits, though it gives sale totals twice a year. Its policy, in line with UK accounting standards, is to convert non-UK results using an average exchange rate weighted daily by sales throughout the year.<ref name="bloomberg.com">Scott Reyburn (17 July 2012), [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-17/rothko-private-sales-help-boost-christie-s-revenue-13-.html Rothko, Private Sales Help Boost Christie's Revenue 13%] ''[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]''.</ref>