The surreal effects of 2020 on the art market hit home when, on June 29, Sotheby’s Europe chairman Oliver Barker stepped onto the podium in London to direct the marquee New York auction of impressionist, modern, and contemporary art to an audience of TV monitors. The on-screen specialists worked phone banks in New York, London, and Hong Kong over the five-hour session, which was broadcast like a sporting event; the auction house had even hired extreme-sports production company Chrome to design the salerooms and dress specialists for full impact.