Christie's Marquee Week Auctions
- Jared Pietrzak
- Feb 16, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 19, 2024
For over 250 years, Christie’s has been a leader in the sale of fine art and luxury goods. This reign didn’t seize during the pandemic, it adapted by introducing a new era of auctions. A suite of broadcast cameras, plus the use of a large rear LED wall allowed their New York Rockefeller Sale Room to extend seamlessly into London, Hong Kong, and to viewers around the world at a Christie’s location or at home. These marquee week sales have now evolved into a high stakes broadcast spectacle; what was once a bidders-only closed door marvel now cultivates interest with enthusiasts around the globe.
These events have posed a series of unique technical challenges. Keeping real time broadcast feeds and crewmembers in sync across several continents was made possible by TV Tech’s unique broadcast packages and comms infrastructure. And it’s done while maintaining ultra-precise color reproduction, a factor made critical when capturing the world’s most renowned paintings. But the greatest challenge is the uncertainty factor. With hundreds of potential bidders in the New York Sale Room, our practically invisible camera team stays ready to pivot at a moment’s notice without disturbing the action. And with individual lots subject to change, our entire playback system can be re-programmed while the show is already in progress. The event is topped off with beautiful LED walls and lighting displays, populated by artwork inspired graphics, and a real time highlights edit that plays back during the stream.
Thank you to Christie’s and our client Chrome Productions for trusting us to support this unique production. These auctions can be viewed live by anyone at Christies.com, YouTube, instagram, or TikTok.
Shows:
2021: 20th Century, Cox Collection, and 21st Century Evening Sales (Fall)
2022: 20th Century and 21st Century Evening Sales (Spring and Fall), Ammann Collection, Bass Collection, Getty Collection, and The Paul Allen Visionary Sale.
2023: 20th Century and 21st Century Evening Sales (Spring and Fall), Newhouse Collection, and The Fineberg Collection,
More Information:
TV Tech Select Credits:
Tech Manager: Kevin Hartmann
Video Engineer in Charge: Greg Kanan
Video Engineer: Jake Hartmann