Year-to-date sale results for London and New York released by the two rivals show Christie’s edging ahead for the first half of 2007, with $2.51bn of sales between the UK and US compared to $2.45bn for Sotheby’s.
Christie’s took $1.25bn in UK sales until June, Sotheby’s $1.1bn. In the US, however, the positions were reversed, with Sotheby’s taking $1.35bn to Christie’s $1.26bn.
Sales figures are not a direct reflection of profit and as a wholly privately owned firm, Christie’s do not publish such figures, while Sotheby’s have yet to release these details to shareholders.
The main battleground between the two auction houses has been paintings, especially contemporary art, and Christie’s have been keen to highlight their successes here: 59 of the world’s top 100 paintings sold at auction for the period. They also sold 358 $1m-plus lots across the board at the New York and London evening sales.
Post-War and Contemporary Art brought them $914m in sales, with Impressionist and Modern art adding a further $865m. At just under $1.8bn, together they account for 55 per cent of all Christie’s sales worldwide.
Increasingly important to auction house revenues are private sales away from the rostrum spotlight, with Christie’s announcing $163m worth brokered between January and June. Sotheby’s have not yet released their private sales total.
Sotheby’s have yet to publish official totals for post-War, Contemporary, Impressionist and Modern art, but available departmental sale breakdowns indicate a global figure of around $1.2bn, which includes the currently vibrant collecting areas of contemporary Russian, Asian and Chinese art, as well as Modern Indian works.
London draws close to New York in total sales
LONDON has gained ground in the global art market during 2007 with over $2.35bn in sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s for the first six months of the year. In their US rooms the two leading auctioneers took $2.6bn over the same period.
