After a turbulent year, Christie’s said Tuesday that millennials in Asia and cryptocurrency collectors are splurging on blue-chip art, bidding up everything from jewelry to Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Christie’s sold $3.5 billion of art during the first half of the year, up 75% from the first seven months last year when the pandemic upended its entire calendar and compelled the London-based house to delay its marquee May series to midsummer.
“We’re seeing a very strong rebound,” said Chief Executive Guillaume Cerutti, adding that 87% of its offerings found buyers during the first half of the year.
The total includes $2.7 billion in art sold online and during live-streamed auctions as well as $850 million in privately brokered art sales. The house also appears close to recapturing its pre-pandemic momentum, with its latest auction total falling just shy of the $2.8 billion in art it auctioned off during the first half of 2019. Private sales have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels, the house said.
Rival Sotheby’s declined to comment on its sales, but a recent report from auction research firm ArtTactic said it found the house had auctioned roughly $2.8 billion in art during the first half. Phillips said it would release its sales figures later this month. The same ArtTactic report estimated the boutique auctioneer auctioned off around $425 million in art.
