It’s been a banner year for the auction houses.
Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips have just released superlative-filled yearend reports.
Christie’s global sales hit $8.4 billion, the highest annual total in art-market history, the auction house claims.
Sotheby’s was close behind with $8 billion in sales, also its highest (though it comes with some major caveats)․ Sotheby’s total, for instance, includes only $6.8 billion of fine art and luxury sales, a decline of almost 7 per cent from last year’s $7.3 billion. The remaining $1.2 billion in Sotheby’s yearend report came from the car auctioneer RM Sotheby’s and the real estate auctioneer Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions.
The much smaller Phillips reported its best year ever too, with a final tally of $1.3 billion.