Auction house Christie’s marked its 250th anniversary by opening a new gallery at its London headquarters on Friday with an exhibition of British artwork it has sold throughout its existence.

Works include a portrait of Henry VIII by an associate of Hans Holbein the Younger, sold at Christie’s in 1788; two riverscapes of London by Canaletto; and Francis Bacon’s agonised “Three Studies for a Self-portrait”, sold in 2008. None of the works are being auctioned.

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Jussi Pylkkänen, global president, said he did not think James Christie could ever have imagined the cultural shift that has taken place across the world since he took his first sale in St James’s in London. Christie’s now has salerooms in Dubai, Hong Kong, China and Shanghai and will open offices in Beijing and Los Angeles.

James Christie’s first sale, on December 5 1766, at a room on Pall Mall was of “the genuine houshold [sic] furniture, jewels, plate, fire-arms, china ” of “a noble personage (deceas’d)”. The lots included “a large quantity of maderia [sic] and high flavour’d claret”, as well as “historical prints by Jocchi”, a mahogany dining table and two chamber pots. Christie’s has reproduced the catalogue for the sale, complete with handwritten results.

Mr Pylkkänen said it was “yet to be seen” how a potential economic downturn would affect the art market. However, the low estimate for this month’s Impressionist & Modern sale (£38.3m) is significantly down on last year’s total for the equivalent sale (£71.5m). Total sales last year fell from £5.1bn to £4.8bn.

The Defining British Art exhibition is on view to the public until July 15.

(Source: ft.com)