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Christies art sales up 9 percent
01/02/2012
Even in the current recession, art still sells. Christie’s have announced sales of £3.6 billion in 201(up 9%) compared with 2010 (figures include buyer’s premium). This includes private sales of £502 million, an increase of 44% on 2010, and the online market is on the up.
The website welcomed 77% more unique visitors than the previous year. Christie’s LIVE™, the interactive online bidding platform, drew 25% more bids than the previous year and with two works of art selling for over $1 million.
The company held its first online-only sale as part of the series dedicated to the collection of Elizabeth Taylor. This ran in parallel to the live auctions at Christie’s New York. The two-week time-based auction made more than $9.5 million in sales. In total 29% of Christie’s bidders transacted online (not including the Elizabeth Taylor Collection).
Steven P. Murphy, Chief Executive Officer, Christie’s, said: "While we are seeing more investors collecting, there are many more collectors who are increasing their investment in their collections as the explosion of interest in art – fuelled by globalization, facilitated by the technology that increases access to information and images – meets the art that is coming to the market.
"The crescendo of the year was the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor which was seen by 58,000 people in an eight-city tour before being sold at auction in New York in December. With bidders from 36 countries, every one of the 1,778 lots found a buyer contributing to total sales of $157 million.
"As we approach the sales over the next fortnight in London, we are optimistic about the market in 2012. We also remain committed to our role as cultural stewards through our auctions, private sales and exhibitions. Christie’s is a unique place where commerce and connoisseurship is the hallmark of the Christie’s team and we look forward to an exciting series of upcoming sales, exhibitions and partnerships.”
Post-war and contemporary art had auction sales of £735.7 million – an increase of 22%. The second strongest category was Asian art which increased 13% with record annual sales of £552.9 million. The highest price was $43,202,500 for Roy Lichtenstein’s (1923-1997), I Can See the Whole Room!...and There's Nobody in it!, 1961, in November in New York. This was a world record for the artist at auction.
In 2011, Christie’s sold at auction 719 works for more than $1 million (607 in 2010). Results also illustrate solid demand at every price level, with the highest selling rate for works sold between £250,000 and £1 million at 87%. At the lower levels Christie’s in South Kensington offered works of art from £1,000, and recorded its highest annual total for the second successive year (£115.9 million).
In increased buyer activity in 2011, US and European clients accounted for 77% of sale registrations, with 13% from Greater China, an increase of 2% on 2010. Registered clients from Russia and the CIS increased 15% over the year. New clients represented 12% of the value of global sales.
| Double portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence. |
| Photo: CHRISTIE'S IMAGES LTD. 2011 |
