|
News
FINE RESULTS FOR CHRISTIE'S IN 2017
02 February 2018
Category : MARKET
|
|
Christie's announced
total global sales increased 26% in 2017 to £5.1 billion ($6.6 billion, up
21%), led by the record breaking sale of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi,
selling for $450.3 million (£342.2 million) in November in New York.
Increased supply at
masterpiece level met continued demand as global auction sales increased 38% to
£4.6 billion ($5.9 billion, up 33%).
Sales in the Americas increased to £2.5 billion, up 68% ($3.2 billion,
up 62%), sales in Asia totaled £582.9 million, up 11% ($754.9 million, up 7%),
and sales in Europe and the Middle East totaled £1.5 billion, up 16% ($2
billion, up 11%).
Auction sales led the
growth, totaling £4.6 billion, up 38% ($5.9 billion, up 33%), with online sales
reaching £55.9 million, up 12% ($72.4 million, up 8%) reflecting clients
increasing interest in this platform during 2017. New buyers over £1 million
increased by 40%, with the number of works sold over £10 million rising from 26
in 2016 to 65 in 2017. Private sales realized £472.4 million, down 32% ($611.8
million, down 35%). Continued focus on
quality and fair estimates ensured sell-through rates increased to 81% from 78%
in 2016. New buyers accounted for 31% of
all buyers with spend by those new to the company increasing by 26%. Online
sales remained the top entry point for new buyers (37%). In the traditional and
online auctions the top two categories for attracting new buyers were Luxury
(28%) and Decorative Arts (18%).
Christie's recorded
strong results, notably for Jean-Michel Basquiat's Red Skull (1982, sold for:
£16,546,250, London); Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi (circa 1500, sold for:
$450,312,500, New York); Alberto Giacometti's Grande Femme II (conceived in
1960 and cast in 1980-81, sold for: €24,907,500, Paris); Pablo Picasso's Jeune
fille endormie (The Loaded Brush private selling exhibition, Hong Kong) while the
Personal Collection of Audrey Hepburn (London) totaled £6,053,875, a pair of
famille rose ‘butterfly' vases
(1736-1795, sold for £14,725,000, London); Tyeb Mehta's Untitled (Woman on
Rickshaw) achieves a new world auction record for the artist (sold for
£2,741,000, London); Le Grand Mazarin diamond sold for CHF 14,375,000,
Geneva); Rolex “Big Crown” Tropical Submariner
Ref. 6538 (circa 1957, sold for: $324,500, online sale); and one of the
highlights of Einstein: Letters to a Friend Part II, sold online for
$106,250.
The continued growth in
the Asian client base underpinned an increase in buying from the region (up
39%) to represent 31% of global spend. Asian client spend increased at the
higher price levels (works over £1 million), rising 63%. 52% of the spend of
the Asian client base was outside the Asian Art sales category, both in online
and traditional auction sales. Buyers
from Asia in online sales rose by 23%, driven by purchases of Asian Art and
Luxury goods. There were 15 Asian art sales held online last year, including
the ‘Art of China' series, which averaged a 92% sell-through rate by lot and
the value of Asian Art sold online increased by 32%.
Christie's opened a new
flagship space in Los Angeles hosting multiple exhibitions during the year. In
New York, an increase of 68% in auction sales (62% in $), reflected the world
record sale of Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci. Additional successes
included the record-breaking sale of the Fujita Museum Collection in March
which totaled $262.8 million (£215.3 million), the highest single owner
collection result of the year. Other major highlights were Constantin
Brancusi's La muse endormie
($57,367,500, a world auction record for the artist), Vincent van Gogh's Laboureur dans un champ ($81,312,500),
Fernand Léger's Contraste de formes
($70,062,500, a world auction record for the artist) and Cy Twombly's Leda and the Swan ($52,887,500).
American buyers accounted for 32% of global spend, having spent 22% more at
auction at Christie's than in 2016.
European and Middle
Eastern clients spent 52% more at auction at Christie's than in 2016,
representing 37% of client spend globally. London King Street auction sales
were up 23% (18% in $), with a significant increase in new buyers, up 33% on
2016. Highlights of the year included the record breaking sale of Max
Beckmann's Hölle der Vögel (Birds'
Hell), which sold for £36,005,000 in June. The October sales held during Frieze
week were highlighted by Jean-Michel Basquiat's Red Skull (1982), which sold for
£16,546,250. The Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale achieved
£134,076,500, the highest figure for an evening sale in the category in Europe.
The fashion crowd gathered for the September presale exhibition of the
Collection of Audrey Hepburn, and launching the new Christie's Lates access
program, a public after-hours events initiative in London and New York.
The Paris saleroom
increased auction sales by 49% (44% in $), having embraced a diversity of
categories, led by a series of significant private collections. The first was
held in March when works by Giacometti from the Hubert de Givenchy collection
were 100% sold. In September, the two-day sale of the Alberto Pinto collection
of almost 1,000 lots across categories, yielded more than treble its pre-sale
estimate. During FIAC week in October Alberto Giacometti's Grand Femme II fetched €24,907,500 in the Avant-Garde sale, the
most expensive work of art sold in France in 2017. The Prat collection closed
FIAC week, with Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting Jim Crow realizing €15,007,500. Sales in Geneva in November totaled
CHF144,007,100, attracting over 4,600 visitors to view lots including the Art
of de Grisogono, the largest flawless D-colour diamond ever to come to auction,
which set a new world auction record when it sold for CHF33,500,000, and the
7th edition of Only Watch charity sale, which was 100% sold and raised
CHF10,776,500.
Digital Innovation and
Engagement Total sales of art online reached £165.6 million ($214.5 million)
against £161 million ($217 million) in 2016. £109.7 million ($144.5 million)
was via Christie's LIVETM (online bidding in auction sales) and online absentee
bidding. Increased focus and curation of online sales meant that while there
were fewer sales – 85 in 2017, compared to 118 in 2016 – online sales were up
to £55.9 million, an increase of 12% ($72.5 million, up 8%).
Sell through rates by
lot online averaged 82%, up from 77% in 2016. This platform continues to be the
largest entry point for new buyers to Christie's (37%), with the value of lots
in online sales averaging $7,305 (up from $6,047 in 2016). The ratio of buyers
and bidders to lots offered for online sales is double that of offline
auctions.
The top online lot for
2017 was a Rolex Submariner 6538 which sold for $324,500 in October and the top
lot sold via Christie's LIVETM (online bidding in auction sales) was Alexander
Calder's Sans Titre, which sold for
$1,568,972 during the Paris Avant-Garde sale in October. The highest grossing
sale online this year was the First Open Picture sale in July in New York which
yielded $3,833,375.
12 million unique
visitors came to Christies.com in 2017, and those who visited the website and
the app came from over 190 countries. New innovations included the launch of
augmented reality allowing enhanced viewing of leading lots. Compelling content
and social media programs have increased visitors to the website, with the
editorial team generating over 800 stories. Continued investment in Instagram
led to a 200% rise in engagement with Facebook Likes up 29%, encouraged by more
regular Facebook Lives of our ‘Lates',
Sales and Specialist Tours around the saleroom.
Our live-stream direct from our sale of Leonardo's Salvator Mundi from
New York, in November, reached over 470,000 people.
Christie's Lead All Key Categories
The Impressionist and Modern Art category (including Modern British Art,
American Paintings, and Latin American Paintings) increased 60% to £1.2bn ($1.6bn, up 53%). During New
York's November Impressionist and Modern evening sale six world auction records
were made, with Vincent van Gogh's Laboureur
dans un champ selling for $81,312,500 and Fernand Leger's Contraste de
forms realizing $70,062,500. The sale totaled $479,320,250, a 95% increase over the November 2016 evening sale.
The Post-War & Contemporary department realized total sales of £1.2 billion, up 25% ($1.6 billion, up
20%). Highlights from the year included Francis Bacon's Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer ($51,767,500), Cy
Twombly's Leda and the Swan
($52,887,500) and Andy Warhol's Sixty
Last Suppers ($60,875,000). Sales of Asian Art increased 50% globally to £704.6 million ($912.4 million, up
44%), highlighted by a magnificent pair of famille rose 'butterfly' vases sold
for £14,725,000 in London in May, and the Hong Kong sale season in November,
which totaled HK$3.43 billion, during which a world auction record price for an
oil painting by any Asian Artist was set for Zao Wou-Ki's 29.01.64 (HK$202,600,000). Sales in Decorative Arts & Design
increased 20% to £191.4 million ($247.8 million, up 15%), including the Robert
de Balkany sale in London in March, which totaled £15,441,313, and the
Collector series across the London, New York and Paris salerooms, yielding
£13,249,836 / $17,504,746 / €14,828,992. Old Master Paintings, 19th Century and
Russian Art sales totaled £547.6 million,
up 137% ($709.2 million, up 127%), with one of the highlights of the year
including Francesco Guardi's The Rialto
Bridge with the Palazzo Dei Camerlenghi, which fteched £26,205,000 in
London's July Classic Week. Luxury (including Jewellery, Watches, Wine and
Handbags) sales totaled £530 million, down 5% ($686.3 million, down 9%). One of
the top lots for 2017 included Le Grand
Mazarin, a light pink diamond of 19.07 carats, and one of the most famous
and important Golconda diamonds in history, which sold for CHF14,375,000 in
Geneva in November. Overall sales in World Art and Science & Books were
£123.6m, up 3% ($160.1m, down 1%), with highlights including a world auction
record for an enigma cipher machine that sold for $547,500 to an online bidder
during New York's June Books and Manuscripts sale, and Albert Einstein's
telescope, which sold for $432,500 in New York in December, setting a world
auction record for any scientific object owned by Einstein offered at auction.
|
|
|
Christie's announced
total global sales increased 26% in 2017 to £5.1 billion ($6.6 billion, up
21%), led by the record breaking sale of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi,
selling for $450.3 million (£342.2 million) in November in New York.
Increased supply at
masterpiece level met continued demand as global auction sales increased 38% to
£4.6 billion ($5.9 billion, up 33%).
Sales in the Americas increased to £2.5 billion, up 68% ($3.2 billion,
up 62%), sales in Asia totaled £582.9 million, up 11% ($754.9 million, up 7%),
and sales in Europe and the Middle East totaled £1.5 billion, up 16% ($2
billion, up 11%).
Auction sales led the
growth, totaling £4.6 billion, up 38% ($5.9 billion, up 33%), with online sales
reaching £55.9 million, up 12% ($72.4 million, up 8%) reflecting clients
increasing interest in this platform during 2017. New buyers over £1 million
increased by 40%, with the number of works sold over £10 million rising from 26
in 2016 to 65 in 2017. Private sales realized £472.4 million, down 32% ($611.8
million, down 35%). Continued focus on
quality and fair estimates ensured sell-through rates increased to 81% from 78%
in 2016. New buyers accounted for 31% of
all buyers with spend by those new to the company increasing by 26%. Online
sales remained the top entry point for new buyers (37%). In the traditional and
online auctions the top two categories for attracting new buyers were Luxury
(28%) and Decorative Arts (18%).
Christie's recorded
strong results, notably for Jean-Michel Basquiat's Red Skull (1982, sold for:
£16,546,250, London); Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi (circa 1500, sold for:
$450,312,500, New York); Alberto Giacometti's Grande Femme II (conceived in
1960 and cast in 1980-81, sold for: €24,907,500, Paris); Pablo Picasso's Jeune
fille endormie (The Loaded Brush private selling exhibition, Hong Kong) while the
Personal Collection of Audrey Hepburn (London) totaled £6,053,875, a pair of
famille rose ‘butterfly' vases
(1736-1795, sold for £14,725,000, London); Tyeb Mehta's Untitled (Woman on
Rickshaw) achieves a new world auction record for the artist (sold for
£2,741,000, London); Le Grand Mazarin diamond sold for CHF 14,375,000,
Geneva); Rolex “Big Crown” Tropical Submariner
Ref. 6538 (circa 1957, sold for: $324,500, online sale); and one of the
highlights of Einstein: Letters to a Friend Part II, sold online for
$106,250.
The continued growth in
the Asian client base underpinned an increase in buying from the region (up
39%) to represent 31% of global spend. Asian client spend increased at the
higher price levels (works over £1 million), rising 63%. 52% of the spend of
the Asian client base was outside the Asian Art sales category, both in online
and traditional auction sales. Buyers
from Asia in online sales rose by 23%, driven by purchases of Asian Art and
Luxury goods. There were 15 Asian art sales held online last year, including
the ‘Art of China' series, which averaged a 92% sell-through rate by lot and
the value of Asian Art sold online increased by 32%.
Christie's opened a new
flagship space in Los Angeles hosting multiple exhibitions during the year. In
New York, an increase of 68% in auction sales (62% in $), reflected the world
record sale of Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci. Additional successes
included the record-breaking sale of the Fujita Museum Collection in March
which totaled $262.8 million (£215.3 million), the highest single owner
collection result of the year. Other major highlights were Constantin
Brancusi's La muse endormie
($57,367,500, a world auction record for the artist), Vincent van Gogh's Laboureur dans un champ ($81,312,500),
Fernand Léger's Contraste de formes
($70,062,500, a world auction record for the artist) and Cy Twombly's Leda and the Swan ($52,887,500).
American buyers accounted for 32% of global spend, having spent 22% more at
auction at Christie's than in 2016.
European and Middle
Eastern clients spent 52% more at auction at Christie's than in 2016,
representing 37% of client spend globally. London King Street auction sales
were up 23% (18% in $), with a significant increase in new buyers, up 33% on
2016. Highlights of the year included the record breaking sale of Max
Beckmann's Hölle der Vögel (Birds'
Hell), which sold for £36,005,000 in June. The October sales held during Frieze
week were highlighted by Jean-Michel Basquiat's Red Skull (1982), which sold for
£16,546,250. The Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale achieved
£134,076,500, the highest figure for an evening sale in the category in Europe.
The fashion crowd gathered for the September presale exhibition of the
Collection of Audrey Hepburn, and launching the new Christie's Lates access
program, a public after-hours events initiative in London and New York.
The Paris saleroom
increased auction sales by 49% (44% in $), having embraced a diversity of
categories, led by a series of significant private collections. The first was
held in March when works by Giacometti from the Hubert de Givenchy collection
were 100% sold. In September, the two-day sale of the Alberto Pinto collection
of almost 1,000 lots across categories, yielded more than treble its pre-sale
estimate. During FIAC week in October Alberto Giacometti's Grand Femme II fetched €24,907,500 in the Avant-Garde sale, the
most expensive work of art sold in France in 2017. The Prat collection closed
FIAC week, with Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting Jim Crow realizing €15,007,500. Sales in Geneva in November totaled
CHF144,007,100, attracting over 4,600 visitors to view lots including the Art
of de Grisogono, the largest flawless D-colour diamond ever to come to auction,
which set a new world auction record when it sold for CHF33,500,000, and the
7th edition of Only Watch charity sale, which was 100% sold and raised
CHF10,776,500.
Digital Innovation and
Engagement Total sales of art online reached £165.6 million ($214.5 million)
against £161 million ($217 million) in 2016. £109.7 million ($144.5 million)
was via Christie's LIVETM (online bidding in auction sales) and online absentee
bidding. Increased focus and curation of online sales meant that while there
were fewer sales – 85 in 2017, compared to 118 in 2016 – online sales were up
to £55.9 million, an increase of 12% ($72.5 million, up 8%).
Sell through rates by
lot online averaged 82%, up from 77% in 2016. This platform continues to be the
largest entry point for new buyers to Christie's (37%), with the value of lots
in online sales averaging $7,305 (up from $6,047 in 2016). The ratio of buyers
and bidders to lots offered for online sales is double that of offline
auctions.
The top online lot for
2017 was a Rolex Submariner 6538 which sold for $324,500 in October and the top
lot sold via Christie's LIVETM (online bidding in auction sales) was Alexander
Calder's Sans Titre, which sold for
$1,568,972 during the Paris Avant-Garde sale in October. The highest grossing
sale online this year was the First Open Picture sale in July in New York which
yielded $3,833,375.
12 million unique
visitors came to Christies.com in 2017, and those who visited the website and
the app came from over 190 countries. New innovations included the launch of
augmented reality allowing enhanced viewing of leading lots. Compelling content
and social media programs have increased visitors to the website, with the
editorial team generating over 800 stories. Continued investment in Instagram
led to a 200% rise in engagement with Facebook Likes up 29%, encouraged by more
regular Facebook Lives of our ‘Lates',
Sales and Specialist Tours around the saleroom.
Our live-stream direct from our sale of Leonardo's Salvator Mundi from
New York, in November, reached over 470,000 people.
Christie's Lead All Key Categories
The Impressionist and Modern Art category (including Modern British Art,
American Paintings, and Latin American Paintings) increased 60% to £1.2bn ($1.6bn, up 53%). During New
York's November Impressionist and Modern evening sale six world auction records
were made, with Vincent van Gogh's Laboureur
dans un champ selling for $81,312,500 and Fernand Leger's Contraste de
forms realizing $70,062,500. The sale totaled $479,320,250, a 95% increase over the November 2016 evening sale.
The Post-War & Contemporary department realized total sales of £1.2 billion, up 25% ($1.6 billion, up
20%). Highlights from the year included Francis Bacon's Three Studies for a Portrait of George Dyer ($51,767,500), Cy
Twombly's Leda and the Swan
($52,887,500) and Andy Warhol's Sixty
Last Suppers ($60,875,000). Sales of Asian Art increased 50% globally to £704.6 million ($912.4 million, up
44%), highlighted by a magnificent pair of famille rose 'butterfly' vases sold
for £14,725,000 in London in May, and the Hong Kong sale season in November,
which totaled HK$3.43 billion, during which a world auction record price for an
oil painting by any Asian Artist was set for Zao Wou-Ki's 29.01.64 (HK$202,600,000). Sales in Decorative Arts & Design
increased 20% to £191.4 million ($247.8 million, up 15%), including the Robert
de Balkany sale in London in March, which totaled £15,441,313, and the
Collector series across the London, New York and Paris salerooms, yielding
£13,249,836 / $17,504,746 / €14,828,992. Old Master Paintings, 19th Century and
Russian Art sales totaled £547.6 million,
up 137% ($709.2 million, up 127%), with one of the highlights of the year
including Francesco Guardi's The Rialto
Bridge with the Palazzo Dei Camerlenghi, which fteched £26,205,000 in
London's July Classic Week. Luxury (including Jewellery, Watches, Wine and
Handbags) sales totaled £530 million, down 5% ($686.3 million, down 9%). One of
the top lots for 2017 included Le Grand
Mazarin, a light pink diamond of 19.07 carats, and one of the most famous
and important Golconda diamonds in history, which sold for CHF14,375,000 in
Geneva in November. Overall sales in World Art and Science & Books were
£123.6m, up 3% ($160.1m, down 1%), with highlights including a world auction
record for an enigma cipher machine that sold for $547,500 to an online bidder
during New York's June Books and Manuscripts sale, and Albert Einstein's
telescope, which sold for $432,500 in New York in December, setting a world
auction record for any scientific object owned by Einstein offered at auction.
|
|
Home
News
