Simon de Pury Launches Digital Auction Platform, de PURY

Who needs Art Basel when you live in the digital world? No one these days…not even Swiss auction icon Simon de Pury.

This year was the first he skipped Art Basel in his hometown in more than 52 years, focusing on his private auctioneering and the building of his new company from his home in Monaco.

The legendary auctioneer has been party to the history of the business model over two centuries. He met Audrey Hepburn at the first AIDS auction. He was at Sotheby’s in the 1990s when they launched the private sales division, and acquired a majority stake in the contemporary auction house Phillips de Pury in 2002 before The Mercury Group gained control in 2008. He auctioned $1.3 million during the Venice Biennale on behalf of Ukraine in 2022.

But more than a fly on the wall, Simon de Pury has also capitalized on his larger than life personality. He was the subject of a BBC documentary in 2010 called ‘The Man with the Golden Gavel,’ and had a role on Bravo TV during the reality show, ‘Work of Art: The Next Great Artist’, from 2011 to 2012. He has cameoed in a number of films and documentaries—most recently, ‘Emily in Paris.’

Today, de Pury has focused mainly on charity auctions (conducting 36 singlehandedly in person in 2019 alone before the pandemic halted the gala circuit), but his unique set of experiences, both in his own life and through seismic shifts such as COVID-19, has allowed him to think critically about auction models. When the pandemic forced catchup of technological progress, he reflected on his truest art world passion: innovation.

For example, Sotheby’s conducts private sales, but private art galleries do not conduct auctions. This puts galleries at a disadvantage, as the auction format often allows works to spike exponentially in price during the hammer process.

The auction model also prioritizes independent collectors and third-party representatives rather than artists and galleries directly. And high buyer’s premiums at the traditional auction houses include added costs.

“In some cases it’s preferable to sell something at auction, and in some cases it’s preferable to do a very targeted approach in a private transaction,” he explained from Monaco.

With all these factors in mind, de Pury has developed a new auction platform, simply called de PURY. Instead of the traditional 25 percent buyer’s premium, de PURY will offer a competitive 18 percent, with a supplemental three percent going to either an artistic, medical, or environmental charity that aligns with the vision of the sale.

Citing “generous” artists Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, who have donated works into the millions, de Pury seeks to challenge that model.

“It’s not exactly fair that it should always be the artist who donates the totality of their works for very good causes,” he clarified, “By having a charitable component in every commercial auction, I feel that that is a different way of dealing with the charitable angle.”

This eponymous enterprise began with de PURY Presents in 2020, which includes artists and galleries, digitally and in person, merging emerging and established artists. Exhibited among them was Ron Arad, who recently included work in the climate change charity show in London for Just Stop Oil.

The auctions will be launching on the website, de-Pury.com on a monthly basis through October. The first showcase will tentatively be in July, called CREATE, a selection of 21^st century contemporary design, furniture, and collectible objects, with 3 percent of the proceeds going to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“Technology offers you so many possibilities which make it more fun,” de Pury continued enthusiastically. “Online auctions used to be very, very boring because you just saw the prices going up, whereas the excitement of a live auction is that you have the whole drama and atmosphere and humor. But technologically, you can of course recreate that. And that’s the world we’re entering.”

Simon de Pury plans to conduct auctions by avatar, wearing a special suit to project his likeness across screens while the artwork only makes one journey: from the buyer to the seller, rather than to the block and viewing rooms of the former world. After all, the viewers may not need to see the work in person, instead reviewing a condition report.

He imagines eventually developing five or six auctioneer avatars, wherein a buyer could choose by gender or preference. Somewhat unrelatedly, de Pury is not alone in questioning the existing model after a long career: in New York, Lydia Fenet is also reinventing the auctioneer persona by hiring new blood.

Eventually, de Pury’s avatar may be able to automate, providing him with a certain longevity.

“I always say the true immortality is actors,” he added with a laugh. “Not only do actors live forever, but avatars do also.”

2023 de PURY auctions plan to include:

August 22^nd: FIRE: Contemporary glass and ceramics. 3 percent will go to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

September 20^th: PARADISE LOST, a selection of artists exploring the natural world and our emotional connection to nature in its many facets and forms, amidst the climate crisis. 3 percent will go to Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation for the global ocean.

October 4^th: KAWAII, the Japanese word used to describe a culture of cuteness. This theme will explore the concept of ‘cuteness’ in contemporary art.