Is Sotheby's following Christie's into the gallery game? Well, not exactly. This Saturday, Sotheby's will inaugurate a new gallery space called S2 at its York Avenue headquarters with a show of work by American abstract painter Sam Francis. But unlikeHaunch of Venison, the British gallery representing artists likeAdrian Ghenie and Tom Wesselman that Christie's bought in2007 and imported to New York's Rockefeller Center, S2 will be solely devoted to showcasing the auction house's private sales. 

Thenew space debuts at a time when auction houses are increasingly experimenting with "curated" sales and exhibition-like offerings — something that Lisa Dennison, a former Guggenheim director, hasbeen actively pursuing since becoming one of Sotheby's top executives.Private sales, too, have been on the rise. According to Alex Rotter,head of the contemporary art department at Sotheby's New York, the gallery is meant to "help us to meet this growingdemand," adding that "S2 can show works of art ranging from large-scale installationsto more intimate objects, and will offer a new and exciting dimensionto the Sotheby's experience."

Situated on the second floor the auction house — hence the name —S2 was designed by Richard Gluckman, a well-known architect of contemporary art galleries who has also created Gagosian's two Chelsea outposts, Mary Boone's galleries in Chelsea and Midtown, and Paula Cooper's space on 21st Street. (Gluckman also designed Sotheby's 10th-floor showroom for previewing auction wares.) Not all exhibitions at S2 will be opento the public (some will be by appointment only), but the gallery willopen its doors to the masses for the first Sam Francis show, which will coincide with the release of the artist's catalogue raisonné.

Aside from the fact that S2 has no stated plans to represent artists (at this point, at least), the parallels with Haunch of Venison are intriguing, considering how much criticism that gallery came under once it was purchased by Christie's. In the New Yorker, for instance, critic Peter Schjeldahlonceremarked that the relationship lent shows at Haunch "a supermarket air." Asked to explain how Sotheby's gallery will differ from Haunchof Venison (which has moved from Rockefeller Center — Christie's HQ — and is opening a new space in Chelsea next week), Rotter said, "S2 has its own identity, and is under the same roof as the auction house."