Auction houses hightail it out of Southampton

Christie’s, Phillips departing pandemic-era spaces

David and Simone Levinson with 1 Pond Lane in Southampton and 1 Hampton Road (inset) (Getty; LoopNet)
David and Simone Levinson with 1 Pond Lane in Southampton and 1 Hampton Road (inset) (Getty; LoopNet)

When the wealthy flocked to the Hamptons during the early months of the pandemic, auction houses followed. Those days are over and two of the companies are going once, going twice, gone.

Christie’s and Phillips are both departing spaces they leased in the past few years in Southampton Village, 27East reported. Their specific reasons for leaving haven’t been revealed.

Christie’s moved into 1 Pond Lane a year ago, grabbing space in a 5,600-square-foot building owned by David and Simone Levinson since 2019. The couple purchased the former home of B&N Automotive for $2.2 million and renovated it into a space where Christie’s could host private selling exhibitions.

Read more

Phillips came to Southampton slightly earlier, moving into a 2,000-square-foot property at 1 Hampton Road in August 2020. Phillips used the building, which formerly housed the original town hall in addition to a Pottery Barn and a Saks 5th Avenue, to display and sell art, jewelry and photography.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

A Phillips representative released a statement saying the company was looking to “diversify and expand” its audience. It is unclear if that means it is looking to replace the Hamptons location with one less exclusive. Its headquarters are at 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan.

Simone Levinson, the founding chair of the Southampton Arts Center, told the publication the departures were part of a “regionwide pattern” and not representative of the local arts scene. Hauser and Wirth remain in the area, as does the Peter Marino Foundation and other galleries.

While making clear she wasn’t speaking for the departing auction houses, Levinson did connect their actions to shifts undertaken during the pandemic.

“I think they were smart to pivot during Covid and in the post-Covid era. At that time, people were still sheltering in place, and now people are back to traveling a lot more,” Levinson told 27East. “[The auction houses] are very successful with what they do, and they don’t have to be in these locations where people were hunkering down.”

— Holden Walter-Warner