Much ink is spilled on the changes that roil businesses these days. Companies are created, then valued in the billions of dollars a couple of years later, only to be superseded shortly thereafter by a scrappy upstart.

But imagine a business model created in the 18th century. How would that work in the current daunting landscape?

The auction house is such a model. The twin giants of the genre, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, were founded in 1744 and 1766, and the somewhat smaller Phillips was established in 1796. In some ways it is remarkable that they are still around, given that the past decade has produced more upheavals for auctions than any of the previous ones.

“I don’t know many industries that have been through so many structural changes in such a short period of time,” said Guillaume Cerutti, the chief executive of Christie’s since the beginning of this year. Christie’s is privately owned by the French billionaire François Pinault, via his holding company Groupe Artémis.