Sotheby's to open 
saleroom on Everest

By our environment correspondent 
Sir Ranulph Gagosian

Sotheby’s, the international fine art auction house, is to open a saleroom on the summit of Mount Everest, it was announced today. The decision comes after one of its directors, Sherpa Hilary Capellazzo scaled the mountain last week wearing only a pair of Dolce and Gabbana kevlar underpants. 

price hike

Asked why she’d braved the sub-zero temperatures and gruelling weather conditions just to plant Sotheby’s flag on the summit, Ms Cappellazzo replied, “Ahhh, er, urrgh, water, water….”.

With prices still climbing (geddit?), art market professionals  hoping to thrive in the rarefied atmosphere of high-priced contemporary art are expected to have not only art history qualifications, but a PhD in particle physics too. 

Increasingly, auction houses are staking out territory in some of the most inhospitable terrain known to man. Christie’s recently sent a remote-controlled satellite probe into deep space to assess the possibilities of opening a saleroom on Mars, while Bonhams have opened a consultancy in Nantwich, Cheshire.

“The art market is now truly intergalactic,” said Christie’s Head of Interplanetary Modern and Contemporary art, Sir Jussi Gagarin, 81. “We even have designs on Uranus.”

Ranulph Gagosian

Put our mini-ad
on your website

home l archive l artists l critics l small ads l dating l links l letters l about