{"id":54438,"date":"2026-10-19T15:02:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T15:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/?p=54438"},"modified":"2026-10-19T15:02:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T15:02:45","slug":"the-craft-of-looking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/en\/the-craft-of-looking\/","title":{"rendered":"The Craft of Looking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-tpgb-tp-heading tp-core-heading tpgb-block-0238_54438\"><em>Across archives, specialists, and nearly three centuries of collecting, Christie\u2019s reveals the knowledge that travels with a work of art.<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Will Strafford, Deputy Chairman and Senior International Specialist in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christies.com\/en\">Christie\u2019s<\/a> European Furniture and Decorative Arts department, spends part of his working life lying on warehouse floors, looking beneath furniture, pulling out drawers, and taking apart ornaments to understand how a piece was made. Far from the auctioneer\u2019s rostrum and the crowded saleroom, this is where much of what the public recognizes as expertise begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cOur expertise is our strongest asset\u201d<\/em>, he says, a remark that goes to the heart of an institution whose history spans nearly 260 years of changing ideas about how objects are viewed, classified, and collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"571\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"54745\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823-571x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"wp-image-54745\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823-571x1024.jpg 571w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823-167x300.jpg 167w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823-768x1378.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823-856x1536.jpg 856w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823-1141x2048.jpg 1141w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823-7x12.jpg 7w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1st-sale-at-King-Street-18-Dec-1823.jpg 1181w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"698\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"54744\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale-698x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"wp-image-54744\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale-698x1024.jpg 698w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale-204x300.jpg 204w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale-768x1127.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale-1046x1536.jpg 1046w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale-1395x2048.jpg 1395w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale-8x12.jpg 8w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5-December-1766-first-sale.jpg 1417w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When James Christie held his first sale in Pall Mall in December 1766, the catalog included bedsheets, pillowcases, and other household goods. Only a few months later, in March 1767, he conducted a sale devoted entirely to paintings, including works attributed to Titian, Rembrandt, and Poussin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christie brought the art trade into the social life of St. James\u2019s, turning his salerooms into gathering places for artists and collectors. What had once been concentrated among aristocratic circles eventually developed into an international market. Today, Christie\u2019s has a physical presence in 46 countries and operates across more than 80 categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Christie\u2019s has preserved sales records dating back to 1766, and those archives trace shifts not only in taste, but also in attribution. In 1892, for example, the house sold Degas\u2019s L\u2019Absinthe for \u00a3189. According to Strafford, Christie\u2019s also helped systematize, during the 1970s, a cataloging vocabulary that would become familiar across the art world, including terms such as \u201ccircle of\u201d and \u201cschool of,\u201d which signal different degrees of proximity between a work and a particular artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-tpgb-tp-image tpgb-image tpgb-block-d8a3_54438\"><figure class=\"tpgb-figure\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"tpgb-img-inner wp-image-54746\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Auctioneer-Adrien-Meyer-sells-Jackson-Pollocks-Number-7A-1948-the-top-lot-of-Masterpieces-The-One-of-top-five-sales-of-all-time-Newhouse-Private-Collection-of-S.I.-Newhouse-for-181.2-million-18x12.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"tpgb-image-caption\">CHRISTIE&#8217;S IMAGES LTD. 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Long before a conclusion appears in a catalog, a work passes through a sequence of checks. Once an object reaches a specialist, it is examined, described, and discussed collectively in a process known as \u201chilling,\u201d a term inherited from Christie\u2019s King Street premises, where works were once brought up a ramp in the warehouse to be assessed. Photographs and documentation may be sent to outside scholars, paintings can be examined under ultraviolet light, and metal alloys may undergo XRF analysis to determine their composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Strafford does not see science and sensitivity as opposing forces. For him, expertise is built from research and technology, but also from the personal response developed through years of close looking. \u201cTechnology cannot replace the human experience of looking at works of art time and time again, filtered through the human brain and human emotion. There is no replacement for that instinctive connoisseur\u2019s eye,\u201d he says. That accumulated visual memory is what allows a specialist to recognize materials, techniques, and subtle deviations that a casual observer might never notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"54749\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"wp-image-54749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-8x12.jpg 8w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-its-passionate-expertise-116-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHRISTIE&#8217;S IMAGES LTD. 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"54747\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"wp-image-54747\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-8x12.jpg 8w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CHRISTIES-renowned-for-passionate-expertise-2-158-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHRISTIE&#8217;S IMAGES LTD. 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Technology can extend the investigation, but it cannot settle every question of authenticity, provenance, or authorship. \u201cAt the end of the day, works of art are in themselves mysterious and miraculous and it\u2019s that mystery that only humans can understand and technology will never appreciate\u201d, Strafford says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That knowledge extends well beyond the saleroom. Christie\u2019s Education was established in 1978 to teach art history, connoisseurship, and the art market, while catalogs, libraries, and archives continue to provide a body of reference material for specialists and researchers. Strafford compares the house to a theatrical production: the audience sees the final performance, but not the hours of examination, research, and debate that made it possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cWe deal in a mixture of science, scholarship, and personal reaction to works of art. Nothing can take the place of that emotional, subjective reaction. Sometimes that is enough to tell us if something is genuine. But it is a lot of hard work.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"623\" data-id=\"54742\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-Paris_France_\u00a9HuftonCrow_005_JPEG-large-1024x623.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"wp-image-54742\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-Paris_France_\u00a9HuftonCrow_005_JPEG-large-1024x623.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-Paris_France_\u00a9HuftonCrow_005_JPEG-large-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-Paris_France_\u00a9HuftonCrow_005_JPEG-large-768x467.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-Paris_France_\u00a9HuftonCrow_005_JPEG-large-1536x934.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-Paris_France_\u00a9HuftonCrow_005_JPEG-large-2048x1246.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-Paris_France_\u00a9HuftonCrow_005_JPEG-large-18x12.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHRISTIE&#8217;S IMAGES LTD. 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"54743\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Books-for-sale-at-CHRISTIES-039-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"wp-image-54743\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Books-for-sale-at-CHRISTIES-039-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Books-for-sale-at-CHRISTIES-039-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Books-for-sale-at-CHRISTIES-039-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Books-for-sale-at-CHRISTIES-039-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Books-for-sale-at-CHRISTIES-039-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Books-for-sale-at-CHRISTIES-039-18x12.jpg 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHRISTIE&#8217;S IMAGES LTD. 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"54748\" src=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-250th-Anniversary-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Christie's - @lifestylemag - lifestylemag.com\" class=\"wp-image-54748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-250th-Anniversary-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-250th-Anniversary-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-250th-Anniversary-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-250th-Anniversary-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-250th-Anniversary-9x12.jpg 9w, https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Christies-250th-Anniversary-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CHRISTIE&#8217;S IMAGES LTD. 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To preserve objects across centuries is also to preserve a connection to a shared history. This largely invisible work helps explain Christie\u2019s longevity: its archives record more than what each generation chose to buy; they reveal how ideas of importance, beauty, attribution, and authenticity have shifted over time. The auction is only one moment in that continuum. Before and after the sale come the research, documentation, and accumulated human judgment that allow an object to be understood in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-tpgb-tp-heading tp-core-heading tpgb-block-0a60_54438\">Photos: CHRISTIE&#8217;S IMAGES LTD. 2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will Strafford, Deputy Chairman and Senior International Specialist in Christie\u2019s European Furniture and Decorative Arts department, spends part of his working life lying on warehouse floors, looking beneath furniture, pulling out drawers, and taking apart ornaments to understand how a piece was made. Far from the auctioneer\u2019s rostrum and the crowded saleroom, this is where [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":54741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"tpgb_global_settings":"","_lifestyle_hero":false,"_lifestyle_hide_title":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[31,280,399,400],"edicao":[513],"class_list":["post-54438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-lifestyle-lovers","tag-lifestyle-mag","tag-arts","tag-christies","edicao-the-mark"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Craft of Looking | Lifestyle Mag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestylemag.com\/en\/the-craft-of-looking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Craft of Looking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will Strafford, Deputy Chairman and Senior International Specialist in Christie\u2019s European Furniture and Decorative Arts department, spends part of his working life lying on warehouse floors, looking beneath furniture, pulling out drawers, and taking apart ornaments to understand how a piece was made. 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