Sotheby’s provided these highlights from their 2013 results so far:
STRONG FIRST HALF OF 2013 FOR THE GLOBAL ART MARKET
Sotheby’s First Half 2013 Auction Total: $2.55 billion, up over 2012
For comparison, auction sales for the First Half of 2012 totaled: $2.4 billion*
Sotheby’s First Half 2013 Impressionist & Modern Art sales $740.6 million, up over 2012
Sotheby’s First Half 2013 Contemporary Art sales $757.7 million, up over 2012
Sotheby’s is a pioneer in broadening the art market
- In the first half of 2013, we have seen clients participating with us in a number of new ways and in a number of new categories
- 65% of clients who transacted with us privately, did so for the first time
- Nearly 40% of all bids executed in the first half of 2013 came from existing clients who were bidding in a new category for the first time
- More than 30% of all clients participating in our global salesrooms registered for their paddle on our website
The new markets are having a transformative effect on the art market and Sotheby’s is benefitting from having been the first to gain a foothold in locations including China, Russia and Brazil
- In the first half of 2013, we have had more buyers from Asia, the Middle East and Latin America than we have seen in recent seasons
- 22% of our first time buyers this season came from Asia
- Sotheby’s is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Asia this year
- Sotheby’s history in Beijing: we held our first sale in 1988, Sotheby’s China held its first auction last September and we are looking forward to another sale before the end of the year
SOTHEBY’S SOLD $1 BILLION IN IMPRESSIONIST, MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART IN OUR MAY AND JUNE AUCTIONS
May 2013 auctions of Impressionist, Modern & Contemporary Art in New York achieved a total of $665.7 million / £432.5 million
- Seven works were sold for more than $20 million
- Global bidding drove results across the two weeks, with participation from 35 countries in both the Impressionist & Modern and Contemporary evening sales
- The sales were led by a selection of 116 works from the Collection of Alex & Elisabeth Lewyt, which brought an impressive $104.2 million / £67.1 million
- Records were set for artists including: Gerhard Richter (and any living artist), Barnett Newman, Dan Colen, Georges Braque and Honoré Daumier
June 2013 auctions of Impressionist, Modern & Contemporary Art in London realized $350.5 million/ £225.7 million
- Record number of registered bidders from Asia in a London Impressionist & Modern Art sale.
- Participation from 38 countries in the Contemporary Evening sale
- One in ten registered bidders in the Contemporary Evening sale came from the new markets
- Monet’s Le Palais Contarini sold for £19.7m – highest price for any work sold in London during the summer season
*Note: First Half 2012 figures included $120 million paid for Edvard Munch’s The Scream
