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Christie's International, the world's leading art business,announced worldwide sales for 2010 of £3.3 billion/$5.0 billion, up 53% by £ on last year's figure of£2.1 billion (Figures include buyer's premium).

The highest sales total in the 245 year history of the firm,the figure is also the highest annual sales total ever recorded in the industry in £. It must be noted that totals include private sales of £369.3 million/$572.4 million, an increase of 39% by £ on 2009 figures. In a year of blockbuster sales and record-breaking results, Christie's thus maintained its market leader status and sold 66% of the works over $50 million against its main competitor.

Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust made art market history establishing a new world record for any work of art sold at auction when it sold for $106.5 million/£70.3 million. Christie's sold 3 of the top 5 works of art sold during the year and a total of 606 works of art at auction for more than $1 million.

High sell-through rates at all price levels continued to demonstrate the strength and stability of the art market. In 2010, average auction sold rates (by lot) were 79.4%, on a par with 2009 (79.7%). Christie's ability to secure successful results at the higher end of the market was demonstrated by sell-through rates by lot and value in excess of 90% for works priced between £500,000 and £10 million.

In 2010, the number of new clients who registered for a sale rose by 22.7% on 2009 and the number
who went on to buy in Christie's sales increased by 13%. The total spend by new clients in Christie's sales rose 19% and now represents 11% of total sales.

A breakdown of key categories is as follows: Impressionist & Modern Art £766.6 million/$1.2 billion
Post-War & Contemporary Art £602.6 million/$934.1 million Asian Art £569.6 million/$882.9 million
Jewellery, Jadeite, Watches £334.2 million/$518.0 million Old Masters & 19th Century Art £150.9 million/$233.8 million European Furniture £117.3 million/$181.7 million American Paintings £41.5 million/$64.3 million 20th Century Decorative Arts £33.1 million/$51.3 million Books & Manuscripts £29.0 million/$45.0 million Russian Paintings & Works of Art £28.9 million/$44.8 million Latin American Art £28.5 million/$44.2 million; Prints £23.2 million/$36.0 million; British & Irish Art £19.1 million/$29.6 million

Christie's London: The company's headquarters in St. James's hosted a series of landmark sales in 2010. The auctions of Islamic Art in April were led by a rare, mid-17th century Kirman ‘vase' carpet from South-East Persia which sold for £6.2 million/$9.6 million/€7 million - a world record price for any Islamic work of art sold at auction. The evening sale of Impressionist & Modern Art on 23 June became the most valuable various-owner sale in Europe, and the first auction to break the £150 million barrier, when it totalled £152.6 million / $226.5 million / €184 million. Pablo Picasso's Blue Period portrait of
Angel Fernández de Soto realised £34.8 million/$51.6 million/€41.9 million – the second highest price
for a work of art sold at Christie's in London. In July, Christie's were entrusted to offer a selection

Christie's South Kensington reported record results in 2010, achieving the highest sales total ever for the site of £104.1 million ($161.3 million), surpassing the previous highest total of £99.0 million in 2000. The second half saw consistently strong interest and results both in Interiors and Collection sales, and in specialist category auctions. Notable highlights included the auction of the Lehman Brothers Collection in September which lasted  over 6 hours, attracted over 1,100 registered bidders from around the world and totaled £1.6million. In October the Crosby Garrett helmet, a Roman survival discovered by a metal detectorist, sold for £2.3 million, and in November the gun held by Sean Connery and used to promote the film From Russia with Love sold for £277,250.

2010 was an exceptional year in many ways. Not only did Christie's Paris achieve record sales of €176.5 million (£150.7 million/$233.9 million), securing its ongoing position as the leading auction house in France in multiple categories of art, but a number of significant records were set including the highest price ever achieved for a work of art at auction in France with €43.2 million/£35.9 million/$52.6 million paid for the Tête by Amedeo Modigliani, a rare and highly sought-after sculpted stone work.

The prices secured for works of art demonstrated the strength, vibrancy and international status of Paris in the global art market. The Richard Avedon sale from the Richard Avedon Foundation set a new auction record for a Photographs sale in France with €5.5 million/£4.7 million/$7.5 million, a record in France for a photograph and a world record for the artist with Dovima with elephant selling for €841,000/£719,055/$1.2 million. Overall during the year, 31 world auction records were set and 6 lots were pre-empted.

2010 proved to be another very positive year for Christie's in Switzerland. With annual sales of SFr.141.5 million (£87.9 million/$136.2 million), Christie's achieved solid results in all its sales and set world record prices for vintage wristwatches, fine wines and jewels. The November sales totaled SFr. 67.7 million/US$68.5 million, an increase of 29% on the autumn sales in 2009. Switzerland continues to act as a key centre for jewellery, watches and Swiss art and a leading auction site in the world, alongside London, New York and Hong Kong.

Christie's Amsterdam enjoyed a robust year of sales, in terms of sales percentages as well as record prices. Not only did each of its four wine auctions achieve extraordinary results, but other sales saw
records set for Gustave de Smet (€349,000), Carel Willink (€241,000), Matthijs Maris (€205,000) and many others. In 2010, a year that ranks among the most fruitful ever in its history, Christie's continued to be the market leader and assist illustrious institutions such as The Rijksmuseum, Museum Speelklok and the Amsterdam City Archive in enriching their collections. The highlight of the season was undoubtedly a wooded landscape by Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, which tripled its estimate to sell for a startling €673,000/$915,212.

In the Americas, sales in 2010 totaled £1.3 billion/$2.0 billion, up 111% in £ from the same period.
2010 was a particularly vibrant year for Estates and Single Owner Sales across multiple categories. Christie's New York won virtually all of the major private estate collections available each season, which included a number of rare and significant works that had not been seen on the market in 30, 40 or even 50 years in some cases. Such examples included: Fernand Léger's La Tasse de thé, 1921, which sold for $8.1 million/£5 million/€5.7 million as part of the Collection of Max Palevsky; Andy Warhol's, Campbell's Soup Can (Tomato), from the Collection of Robert Shapazian which realised $9.0 million/£5.6 million/€6.6 million; and Gustave Caillebotte's 1882 Impressionist masterpiece, Seine á
Argentueil which sold for $5.1 million/£3.2 million/€3.6 million. This was the top lot in the Walter and Phyllis Shorenstein Collection which was 100% sold by lot and value. The Dennis Hopper Collection has thus far realised $14.7 million/£9.2 million/€10.8 million. The top lot was Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled, 1987, which realised $5.8 million/£3.6 million/€ 4.2 million.

Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary art sales totaled HK$56.7million (£4.7 million/US$7.3
million) in the autumn, nearly 70% more than the equivalent sale last year. In Modern art, Walter Spies' masterpiece Balinesishe Legende (Balinese Legend) set a new record for the artist at HK$16.9 million (£1.4 million/US$2.2 million). The contemporary section saw global collectors responding in earnest not only to works from the established rock stars of the category including I Nyoman Masriadi and Handiwirman Saputra, but to works by newer artists too. Chinese Modern and Classical Paintings sales continued to perform extremely well with 11 lots selling over HK$10 million in the Autumn sale. Competition was keen, resulting in many lots selling well over the high estimate. The top lot of the Classical Painting session, Ba Da Shanren's Mynah, poem in running script calligraphy sold for HK$11.3 million (£935,640 /US$1.5 million), nearly 9 times over estimate. In Modern Paintings, Fu Baoshi's The Song of the Pipa Player sold for HK$70.1 million £5.8 million/US$9 million, creating a new world auction record for the artist.

The strength of the jewellery market was once again demonstrated in Jewels: The Hong Kong Sale with a record HK$623.2 million (£51.5 million/US$80.3 million) auction, making it the highest total ever for a jewellery auction in Asia and the largest at Christie's worldwide. At HK$180 million (£14.9 million/US$23.2 million), the Perfect Pink became the most expensive jewel ever sold at auction in Asia. Exceptional Burmese rubies and Kashmir sapphires also fetched top prices, as did jadeite which remains in great demand with Asian collectors. Sales of Important Watches broke the HK$100 million mark in the Autumn sale, totalled HK$103 million (£8.5 million/US$13.3 million). Collectors from around the world assembled for the sale and; there was a particularly large online audience; 185 online bidders and more than 20% of the lots offered were either being bought or directly underbid online. The top lot was a Patek Philippe, Ref. 3974 which sold for HK$5.5 million (£457,000/US$713,000). Contemporary maker Greubel Forsey has also clearly established itself as an elite collector's watch, with two rare timepieces appearing in the top ten results.

The Finest and Rarest Wine sales totaled HK$169 million (£13.8 million/US$21.8 million) in 2010 – Christie's highest annual total to date with over 96% of all lots sold by value. The Fall sales average lot value of US$141,000 was the highest ever, and an increase of 18.9% over the Spring auction. The top lot was the superlot from Krug which sold for HK$1.2 million (£99,120/US$154,560) representing the highest value ever consigned directly from the winery.

Since Christie's held its first sale in Dubai in 2006, the art market has transformed from a local to a regional and global force with significant diversity in terms of both consigning and buying. In 2010, Christie's sales totaled $51.0 million (£32.9 million), up 157% over 2009 in £ and 153% in $.

Asian Art sales realised £569.6 million (US$882.9 million) in 2010, an increase of 115% in £ over 2009. Hong Kong's Asian Art Autumn sales achieved a record HK$2.4 billion/£187 million/US$306 million, a 42% increase from the Spring. This followed London's 98% increase on the same period in 2009 and New York secured their second highest total for Asian Art week. The Chinese Works of Art sales alone totaled US$55.5 million, the highest ever achieved for this category in New York and a milestone for Chinese art sales in the West. In Hong Kong, record breaking prices included a highly important and exceedingly rare pair of imperial Cloisonné enamel double crane censers, Yongzheng period, sold for HK$129.5million (£10.7 million/US$16.7 million) in the category of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art whose series of 4 sales fetched the highest total ever for the category at Christie's worldwide: HK$1.13 billion/£94 million/US$146 million. In addition to a large number of new clients, participation from mainland Chinese buyers worldwide continues to increase substantially. 51% by value of the Asian Art sales in Hong Kong in the Autumn were purchased by the mainland Chinese buyers, representing a significant 248% increase on the equivalent sales in the Autumn of 2009.

Coloured diamonds were undoubtedly the highlight of the year, with The Perfect Pink, a 14.23ct intense pink gem achieving US$23.2 million in Hong Kong in November, becoming the most expensive jewel ever sold in Asia. Similarly, The BVLGARI Blue, a two-stone ring featuring a 10.95ct vivid blue and a 9.87ct G, VS1 diamond, fetched US$15.8 million or a world record US$1.4 million per carat for the blue gem. Based on current market demand, the focus in 2011 will undoubtedly be the search for gems of the highest quality, historic diamonds and colored stones, as well as rare signed jewels, which international collectors consider the most desirable today.

£ against the previous year. The top lot of the year was Vasya, by Kuzma Petrov Vodkin which sold in June for £1.9 million/$2.7 million and established a new world auction record for the artist. In November Russian art sales in London, a new world auction record was established for an Imperial presentation snuff-box with miniature, by Fabergé, which sold for £937,250, more than doubling its low estimate. The Russian Pictures section was 73% sold by lot and testified to the continued demand for privately-sourced paintings of exceptional quality and rarity. The majority of the picture lots in the top 10 had never been seen on the market before and justifiably incited international interest.

In 2010 online bidding via Christie's LIVETM continued to deliver a large number of winning bids and new registrants. Over a quarter (28%) of Christie's clients now bid online, a 5% increase on 2009 and the total value of lots sold online rose 69% to $114.4 million including premium.