Christie’s Global Auction Channel Sales Total £3.9 Billion/US$5.0 Billion In 2019

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Christie’s announced auction channel sales of £3.9 billion (US$5 billion) for 2019.

Key highlights for the year included:

• A new top price for any living artist at auction, achieved with Jeff Koon’s Rabbit, which realized US$91,075,000 at Christie’s New York in May 2019.
• Numerous record prices in 2019, including top prices for artworks and objects sold in London (David Hockney, Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, for £37,661,248/US$49,521,696), Hong Kong (Sanyu, Five Nudes, for HK$303,984,992/US$38,848,420) and Geneva (Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime ref. 6300A for ONLY WATCH for CHF31,000,000/US$31,244,094). In Paris Nicolas de Staël’s Parc des Princes realized €20,000,000/US$22,254,368, and set a record for the artist and was the top price for any lot sold at Christie’s Paris this year.
• Christie’s remained the auction house of choice for major private and estate collections, achieving the top three results for named collections in 2019 with Masterpieces from the Collection of S.I. Newhouse, The Robert B. and Beatrice C. Mayer Family Collection, and Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence.
• Strong results were also achieved for the collections of notable collectors David Gilmour, Drue Heinz, the Irving Collection, James and Marilynn Alsdorf, Terry Allen Kramer, Eileen and I.M. Pei, Richard L. Weisman, George Michael, the Clarke Collection, Ron and Diane Disney Miller, the Matthys-Colle Collection, works from the UniCredit Group, Jeremy Lancaster, and masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection.

Guillaume Cerutti, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Amid a challenging global environment, demand for art remains strong and is reflected in our 2019 results, especially for Modern and Contemporary art. In the last month alone, we were particularly pleased by the results achieved in New York for Christie’s 20^th Century Art week, in Hong Kong for our Autumn sale series—despite a heightened political context—and in London during our Classic Week sales, including Old Masters. We are looking forward to continuing the momentum in 2020.”

For more on Christie’s top 2019 moments, please visit our online feature here.

Christie’s will publish full 2019 results, inclusive of private and e-commerce channel sales, in early 2020.