«GOOD BUSINESS IS THE BEST ART»

This is hardly a word that has haunted De Pury's career. Rather, they call him the Mick Jagger of auctioneers, the man with a reputation for making sale rooms around the world fizz with wild bids. When I ask him how many millions of art he has sold in a 40-year career, De Pury says he isn't sure, but takes me through the big moments, including those giddy six-and-a-half minutes at Sotheby's in 1995 when he sold Picasso's blue period masterpiece The Absinthe Drinker, to Andrew Lloyd Webber – not for the $12m pre-sale estimate, but for an astounding $29.1m. "It was quite difficult to get bids. Then there was euphoria afterwards. It was a wonderful moment." Lloyd Webber is selling it in June, for an estimated £40m.

"These are not the most exciting moments," says De Pury, however. "What I get a kick out of is making the value of contemporary artists I love rise. Richard Prince [the American painter] used to sell for £30-70,000. Now his works sell for up to $10m, and he has had a big retrospective at the Guggenheim. I am especially proud of this." He prefers to be taste-maker rather than money-maker? "I prefer both." He doesn't baulk when I liken him to Saatchi. "The difference is Charles is faster that anyone else. He has deep pockets, too." True, but De Pury's are hardly shallow: the Saatchi Gallery has free admission because the baron's auction house bankrolls it.

The Guardian
April 18 2010