Auction seasON

Here we are again, suddenly autumn has arrived and with autumn the auction season started again. The Falk Miksa street in Budapest is basically the home of galleries, one can find the two leading Galleries here: the Kieselbach Gallery and the Virág Judit Gallery and Auction House. (However, look around carefully as contemporary art galleries are spread around the city.) These two galleries mainly work with Hungarian paintings from the 19^th and 20^th century but time to time they also sell pieces from living artists.

This week the biggest auctions from these two galleries will be held: the Virág Judit auction is on Friday and the Kieselbach auction on Sunday.

As my sister is coming to see me from the UK I told her that I will take her with me if she likes. Auctions are a little different here than let’s say in the UK. Here they are big shows with lot of free wine and champagne. Most of the people come for the show, for the drinks only and not to buy. Serious buyers bid over the phone or arrive just before their lots. I like this theatre. I like the sound of the turning pages of the catalogues in the room. I like the silence before the final bid of an expensive painting.

The Virág Judit Gallery and Auction House is celebrating its 20^th anniversary which means this auction will be even more special then usually. The bidders and buyers of this season can win expensive paintings, and they also created a game to estimate the hammer price of ten selected paintings. I like to play. I am in.