New York City Deregulates the Art Market
August 9, 2022 — Last summer, the New York City Council voted to deregulate the city’s art market, purportedly as part of a broader attempt to revive its flagging businesses after the coronavirus pandemic. Those new rules, contained in a larger package known as Local Law 80, came into effect June 15th, 2022. They could have significant and far-reaching implications for the international art market.
Under the new rules, auction houses:
- No longer require a license;
- No longer need to disclose “irrevocable bids;”
- No longer need to disclose their own financial interest in a lot nor that of a third-party;
- May engage in “chandelier bidding,” taking fictitious bids until the demand for a work reaches the reserve price.
According to the New York Times, Christie’s and Philips auction houses have said that they will continue to operate with the old rules in mind, while Sotheby’s declined to comment. Tamara Bell, a lawyer at Charles Russell Speechlys, notes that these changes to the legal requirements imposed on New York City’s auction houses “came out of the blue and without consultation.”
To read more about New York City’s changes to art market regulations, click here, here, and here.
To read more about how Castaybert PLLC can help you navigate art law, click here.
