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We showed you the very strong numbers for the Paris Contemporary art sales. Here we have a broader look over the last 12 years of the Evening sales that shows the dramatic rise this season over previous years. From the chart below prepared by our friends at Pi-eX, you can see that sale totals for both Sotheby's and Christie's Paris Evening sales were fairly consistent over the previous five years. The hammer total oscillated between the low €20m range and the mid-€30m range. This year, the combined Evening sale hammer total was above €50m.

Both houses have benefitted from the growth of this market. Sotheby's much more so than Christie's despite the latter's ownership being based in France. Although these numbers combine both houses, Sotheby's—which has run these sales consistently over the last 12 years—tends to perform better in the market with sales at or above the high estimates (with a few exceptions.)