2024-01-06 14:32:40
At the end of the auction year, Christie’s and Sotheby’s reported very different figures: Sotheby’s total sales amount to around eight billion dollars, which is roughly the same as the previous year. The decisive factor was the sale of the collection of the New York philanthropist Emily Fisher Landau, who was able to secure the house for the big auction season in New York in November. Christie’s, on the other hand, reported its highest ever sales of $8.4 billion in 2022 – thanks to the $1.6 billion brought in by the collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. The success was not repeatable. For 2023, Christie’s reported total sales of $6.2 billion; Auction sales fell by 30.5 percent to five billion dollars.
It’s worth taking a closer look here too. The trade in luxury goods at Christie’s contributed more than ever to total sales, and the Paris location became more important. Christie’s sold art and luxury objects worth $136.5 million there in October, parallel to the Paris+ par Art Basel trade fair – an increase of 54 percent compared to the previous season. However, London is still clearly ahead. In 2023, Christie’s sold art and luxury goods worth $826 million at auction on the Thames and $335 million on the Seine.
Private sales are increasing despite declining numbers
Overall, however, the numbers are declining. According to a report by industry analyst Art Tactic, which tracks art sales worldwide, combined auction sales from Phillips, Sotheby’s and Christie’s totaled $11.2 billion in 2023, a decline of 19 percent from 2022. That it will be a busy year and collectors are more conservative than What would happen in 2022 began to become apparent at the latest during the spring season in May in New York. Phillips, Christie’s and Sotheby’s delivered mediocre results across the board. In August, Phillips reported a 40 percent drop in first-half sales; The house has not yet announced its overall results for 2023.
In the area of privately brokered sales, however, Christie’s recorded an increase of five percent to around $1.2 billion. They make up around 20 percent of the company’s total sales. Its most expensive transaction of the year is also said to have been a private sale for “more than $100 million.” Although trade with China has cooled somewhat over the past two years, Christie’s was able to increase the proportion of new customers from mainland China by thirty percent. In North and South America, the growth rate of new customers was only slightly higher at 33 percent. Christie’s is hoping for even greater success in Asia in 2024 with the opening of its new headquarters in Hong Kong. In doing so, the company also wants to counteract the problem of extreme dependence on the major auction weeks of contemporary and modern art in May and November in New York.
Collectors from China in focus
Sotheby’s does not plan to present detailed figures for 2023 until the end of January. One of the company’s successes was bringing the most expensive lot of the year under the hammer: Pablo Picasso’s “Femme à la montre” from the Fisher Landau Collection achieved $139.4 million, the second highest price ever at auction for a work of the Spanish artist was achieved. The auction house also had reason to celebrate in London. At the beginning of the summer, Gustav Klimt’s “Lady with a Fan” became the most expensive painting ever auctioned in Europe with a hammer price of 85.3 million pounds. A Chinese collector secured it.
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