The fluctuations of the world economy, which ordinary citizens suffer in their pockets, are not noticed in the world of auctions, judging by the data offered by Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The two large houses dedicated to this business have announced record figures for this 2022 who is already saying goodbye
Christie’swhose owner is the luxury magnate François-Henri Pinault through the Artémis holding, has reached 8,400 million dollars (7,900 million euros) in global sales, which represents the highest annual total in art market history. Of the total, 7,200 million correspond to auctions, while the rest, 1,200 million, comes from private sales. The executive director of the firm, Guillame Cerutti, points out, in a statement sent to the press, that among the factors that explain the good figures are “the resilience of the art and luxury markets”as well as “the remarkable success of several important art collections, including the unforgettable sale of Paul Allen”, in reference to the works that belonged to the Microsoft co-founder.
For his part, Sotheby’s, in the hands of Patrick Drahi, founder of the European telecommunications company Altice, expects to close the year with sales of 8,000 million dollars (7,500 million euros), compared to 7,300 million in 2021, and well above the figures pre-pandemic, since in 2019 sales amounted to 4,800 million. It is about of the best result of the house since its foundation in 1744. When it comes to public auctions of art and luxury, the company achieved sales of 6.4 billion dollars, 7% less than last year. Although he managed to ensure that said drop was not noticeable in his final results thanks to the results obtained in his areas of sale of real estate and high-priced cars.
Several auctions have contributed to achieving these record numbers, which have captured the interest of buyers and the media throughout the year due to the figures reached and the relevance of the works that were awarded. As Cerutti assures, one of the collections that aroused the most interest was that of Paul Allen, who wrote that, after his death, which occurred in 2018, the 150 works that made it up would be auctioned and the proceeds would go entirely to charitable works. . The pieces, spanning 500 years of art history, fetched $1.6 billion, setting the record for the largest sale in auction history.
A record that had been set only a few months earlier, when Sotheby’s auctioned off the collection of Harry and Linda Macklowe, whose divorce agreement stated that it had to be liquidated. In this case, 922.2 million dollars were raised during two sessions. In the first sale, in November 2021, 676 million were obtained, and the remaining 246.1 million in the second, which took place in May of this year.
Other milestones for which 2022 will be remembered, as far as art is concerned, was the auction of Shot Sage Blue Marilynby Andy Warholwhich was awarded for 195 million dollars, a figure that makes it the most expensive work of the 20th century.
But not only art moves millions. Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s auction jewelry, which have brought great joy to their coffers in recent months. The first sold a pink diamond known as The Fortune Pink for 28.4 million Swiss francs (about 26.7 million euros), in a November evening in Geneva that raised a total of 56.5 million. The second, for its part, awarded the Williamson Pink Star, one of the rarest pink diamonds known, for 57.8 million dollars at an auction held in Hong Kong last October. A figure well above the 21 million in which its sale was expected.
