Industry data

The global online art market recorded sales up 9.8% to $4.64bn (£3.5bn) in 2018, according to the seventh annual Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2019.

Sixty-four percent of Chinese art collectors bought Western European modern and contemporary art in the past five years according to a survey conducted for the TEFAF Art Market Report which was presented at the fair as the doors opened for the second preview day.

Sotheby’s held its very first auction on March 11, 1744, and today it is celebrating this 275-year milestone with the opening of an exhibition detailing its history in pictures.

The UK’s art market reclaimed its second position in the global league table as China’s rapid growth slowed during 2018.

Sotheby’s reported a 16% jump in sales last year to $6.4bn (£4.8bn).

A thousand of the UK’s public sculptures have been digitally catalogued with 150,000 to follow by the end of next year.

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.