Phillips: back to the basics - Front Page - Phillips de Pury and Luxembourg - Brief Article

In the wake of its dismal fall auction results in New York [see "Front Page," Jan. '03], Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg announced in January that it would drastically scale back its U.S. operations. While noting these changes, Phillips co-CEOs Simon de Pury and Daniella Luxembourg also revealed that they are now sole owners of the company, having recently acquired the 27.5-percent stake once held by the French firm LVMH. The purchase marks the end of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault's foray into the high-end auction business, which, for the past several years, provided serious competition to Sotheby's and Christie's. Like those auction giants, Phillips held evening sales of blue-chip works of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art. But the company's considerable profits were offset by the exorbitant guarantees that today are routinely offered to consigners of important lots.

In restructuring the company, de Pury and Luxembourg plan a more modest operation. Phillips has already vacated its 57th Street New York headquarters to refocus on its Swiss bases in Geneva and Zurich. Phillips will no longer conduct regular seasonal auctions of Impressionist and modern art in New York. And 50 of the auction house's 135 employees, most from its New York and London offices, have already received pink slips. Phillips will, however, retain its Chelsea offices and showrooms on West 15th Street. It will periodically hold public and private sales there, as well as in its other satellite showrooms in London, Paris and Munich.

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