In the March 9-10 Global Edition of The New York Times my all time favourite art writer, Souren Melikian, wrote: 'Until World War II, dealers dominated the market. Then, by the early 1950s, galleries began to lose ground to auction houses, and within 20 years, these became the locomotive pulling...

'Sotheby’s Canada is getting out of what it calls the “theatre” of auctions as a way to sell important Canadian art after an often tumultuous run of more than 45 years.' Read the whole article by James Adams from the Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/sothebys-citing-weak-margins-quits-live-auctions/article8285168/

As many of our readers will now know, Sotheby's Canada yesterday announced its withdrawal from the 'theatre' of Canadian art auctions. While this is being hailed in some corners as a victory for competing Canadian auction houses, in our opinion it is an affirmation of the growing popularity of no-risk...