Industry data

Despite economic concerns such as Brexit and the possibility of global trade wars, the UK’s top contemporary art auction houses posted the highest growth for Modern and contemporary art sales in 2018.

Christie’s reported total sales for 2018 at £5.3bn, up 3% on the previous year – led by the Rockefeller collection which set a record for any private collection at auction.

Sotheby’s France was the top performer in the country last year, boosted by the sale of a Qianlong mark and period vase that became the most expensive lot sold in France in 2018.

The decline in independent bookshops in the UK appears to have been halted with growth recorded for the second year in a row.

A sample of vintage bottles of Scotch whisky tested in a Scottish laboratory has been found to be fake.

Auction house Sotheby’s reported its third-quarter results for the three months to September 30 revealing a net loss of $27.8m (£21.43bn) - down 19% on the $23.5m posted a year ago.

Confidence in the contemporary art market has dropped 24% in the first six months of 2018, amid fears of a potential bubble.

Sotheby’s made more sales but at lower margins in the first half of 2018 according to its latest financial results.

Global auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips jumped 21.6% in the first half of 2018, according to the latest report by ArtTactic.

Consignors tempted back by salerooms to sell at auction in 2017 has helped put art top of the league of investment assets, according to the latest report.

Only 13 of the top 100 artists at auction last year were women, according to a recent analysis by the art market site MutualArt.

Auction house Sotheby’s has reported a 70% jump in private sales in the first three months of 2018 to $247m (£182m).

Nearly 90% of art and antiques dealers want easier ways to borrow money to fund purchases and nearly a third believe the lack of available lending hampers growth, according to a recent report.

The growth of the global online art market slowed in 2017 as price transparency remains a key issue for new buyers.

Art and antiques exports from the UK continued to fall in 2017, recording a decline of 2.2% to £4.84bn, according to UK trade figures from HMRC. At the same time, there were areas of significant growth, including exports to China which rose by 350% to £115.9m in 2017.