Lelang

The auction houses' calendars set the rhythm of the collector's year as surely as the fairs do. New York's marquee weeks in May and November are the largest concentrations of art sold anywhere; London's October week runs alongside Frieze; Hong Kong's spring and autumn sales anchor the Asian market; Geneva's May and November weeks do the same for watches and jewelry. The evening sales are ticketed for bidders and open to view; the previews are free and public, and they are among the best exhibitions any city stages. Reading an auction week takes only two habits. The catalogue goes online roughly a month ahead with estimates attached, and the exhibition of the lots opens several days before the sale, free, usually without an appointment. Anyone can walk into a New York or London preview and see works that will not be publicly visible again for a generation. The evening sale itself needs a paddle or a seat, but the results are published within the hour, which is why these weeks move prices and why the fairs schedule themselves around them.