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Dorotheum Dorotheum, the famous viennese auction house is considered the oldest still functioning auction house in the world, and the largest auction house in “German-speaking Europe”. The center of the institution is located in the Dorotheergasse in the neo-baroque style building called Palais Dorotheum. It holds approximately 700 online and live auctions per year, with the majority of them taking place here. Although the auctions only take place in Austria, Dorotheum is also present on an international level and has representative offices in a lot of big European cities such as London, Milan, Rome, Prague, Hamburg or Munich. The main categories of items offered for auction are Old Master and 19th Century Paintings, Modern and Contemporary Art, Antiques, Silver, Art Nouveau, Jewellery, and Watches. Other parts of the Dorotheum institution also include its Pfand services and Jewellery sale. History The history and longevity of the institution are really important in order to understand its identity and unique position in the Viennese cultural landscape. It is to be understood as an important historical heritage that carries and cultivates the long tradition of art auctions, but also integrates modern approaches of the present. It is a living example of how the old Viennese tradition of collecting art can be continued in the 21st century. The original name of Dorotheum was “Wiener Versatz- und Fragamt”, and it was founded on 14 March 1707 by Emperor Joseph I. The main function of this institution was to grant loans against a pawn, but the “Fragamt” also brokered goods and real estate, and offered job placement, especially for servants. (Stadt Wien, 2013) Originally, it was located in Annagasse 20 / Seilerstätte 30 in 1st Viennese district. In 1788 the institution moved into a new building, which remains its main location until today - the Dorotheerkloster convent at Dorotheergasse 18. Separate auctions were held here, with the oldest preserved multi-volume auction catalog being published in 1792. During the 17th and 18th century a number of other offices were established in Vienna. The first was founded in 1880 in Josefstadt, and soon others established for example in Baden, Klagenfurt, Villach or Mödling followed. Over the years, the building at Dorotheergasse has been rebuilt and reconstructed, with the main part of the reconstruction taking place under the direction of architect Emil Föster, which was completed in 1901. The building was renamed to Dorotheum Palace and after the first world war, “Dorotheum” also became part of the official name of the institution. (Thurn-Valsassina, 2022) During the second world war, the members of the NSDAP took over the management, and the auctions included the sale of items confiscated from the persecuted. These objects were treated the same way as voluntary submitted items, and they appeared in the catalogs next to each other without special labeling, so the buyers could not tell the difference. In 1964, the NSDAP member Anton Jennewein, who served as the managing director of the Dorotheum during the war, was sentenced to two years in prison for high treason. As a result of further denazification measures, another 170 people were dismissed from the Dorotheum. In the coming years, Dorotheum played an active and important role in the restitutions after the end of the war, and provided precise information about the items confiscated by the National Socialist authorities. After its privatization sale in 2001, 32 million dollars went to the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism. (Thurn-Valsassina, 2022) In 1979 the “Dorotheum Act” redefined the legal status of the institution and closed down some of its offices. In 2001 the company was taken private and sold to an Austrian consortium, ending its almost 300 year old history of state administration. In addition, during 2018, Dorotheum bought the pawn credit business UniCredit, and as a result became the largest pawn credit provider in Europe. Analysis of the Ludic Space Through the lens of Johan Huizinga's Homo Ludens, the auction process is to be understood as a cultural phenomenon involving ludic elements and representations. It has its own time and space ("magic circle") and involves tension, rules and repeatability. Because this process takes place in a dedicated symbolic space with clear rules, the auction house can be seen as a ludic space in which the event of the auction - play - unfolds. (Huizinga, 1980) When looking at the luxurious environment of the auction house, the rituals and social actions performed, and the codes of communication used, one can see that these are clearly aimed at the upper middle and upper class. Historically, it is these people who have had the resources to engage in art collecting and to participate in auctions. In order to ensure that the right people take part in the auction game and the game proceeds without disruptions, there is a registration process that everyone interested must go through to secure a place in the auctions. People unfamiliar with the appropriate performance and behavior corresponding to their social class could very well spoil the whole process. As J. Huizinga points out, a game creates and shapes closed social groups. (Huizinga, 1980) Most of the auctions nowadays take place online, but the main auctions with high price items are still held live. It is especially in the live auctions in which the play elements can be observed. A lot of research is done before the auction in order to put together the list of works. Experts and specialists examine the various works and evaluate them based on a complex system of criteria. After the evaluation, a curation process follows, which determines the order in which the works are displayed, how they are communicated and advertised to potential buyers and also the order in which they will be auctioned off. During this period, the employees also try to contact the people for whom the items to be auctioned could be of great interest. To physically create the auction, staging techniques are heavily used to project value and wealth. Usually, the buyers have multiple options as to how to partake in the auction - they can either be present physically themselves, send someone to bid for them, or bid on the telephone or online. In every live auction there is a well thought out plan, or even a choreography of how the different events will unfold. As our interviewee mentioned, the auctioneer is a kind of conductor who pays a lot of attention to the dramaturgy of the whole auction. This is important to ensure that there is enough tension and release in the auction event, so that the players are well motivated and immersed in the game. During the auction itself, the bidding is sometimes a kind of game of patience, bearing similarities to poker. Buyers usually prefer not to show too much, their motives are not transparent and they try to hide their intentions. They can bid anonymously over the phone or, if they are present, by raising the paddle. The auctioneer knows a lot of the bidders, so some bidders have their own small gestures they use to communicate their intentions. This also reveals the inner codes of this closed social group. They usually bid 10% more per bid, but there are special cases when they can use unusual strategies and bid a higher amount. Auctioneering is usually an investment for the buyer, so to be a winner you must not only be able to buy the artwork you want, but often also make a long-term profit on your purchase. In both of these regards, the auction is a game of chance, offering its players a unique process combining elements of high culture, upper class environments, theatrical strategies and pure adrenaline rush risk taking. References Huizinga, J. (1980). Homo ludens: A study of the play-element in culture. Routledge and Kegan Paul. Stadt Wien. (2013, September 19). Fragamt. Wien Geschichte Wiki. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Fragamt#tab=Organisationsdaten Thurn-Valsassina, F. (2022, June 14). Dorotheum. Lexikon der österreichischen Provenienzforschung. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://www.lexikon-provenienzforschung.org/dorotheum
