Christie’s reported total first half sales of $4.5bn for the first half of 2015, the same level as recorded for the equivalent 2014 period in dollar terms. The strong US dollar relative to other international currencies means that its numbers look better in pounds sterling (Christie’s official headquarters is in London) but growth is still less spectacular than the previous year: up 8% to £2.9bn for 2015 versus 12% for the first half of 2014.
Strong results for Impressionist and Modern, Post-War and Contemporary and Asian art reflected saleroom hits such as Pablo Picasso’s 1955 Les femmes d’Alger, Version O (1955), which made a world auction record for any work when it sold for $179.4m at Christie’s in New York in May.
However, private sales—which previously seemed to be on a relentlessly upward trajectory—showed a steep fall from the £500m ($828m) recorded in the first half of 2014, coming in at £333m ($515m) this time around. In a statement, Christie’s said that it was still “on track for a record year” in this category, with a “significant pipeline” expected in the second half of the year (the annual total for 2014 was £916m/$1.5bn).
Also bringing down the 2015 numbers were its Old Masters sales, including 19th Century European Paintings and Russian art, which fell 32% to £71.1m (or 37% to $110m). Last year’s equivalent sales—held before the price of oil began its steep decline—brought in £104.8m ($173.9m).
New York, New York Sales in the Americas—led by New York—were the most significant, accounting for half of all Christie’s turnover (£1.4bn/$2.2bn) and a 35% growth in pounds sterling terms. Sales in Asia reversed last year’s decline and were up 16% to £294.2m (8% to $455.1m). Christie’s does not separate out its sales for mainland China (it held its first auction here in 2013) though its April 2015 mixed sales in Shanghai made Rmb86.9m, down considerably from its equivalent season in 2014, which made Rmb124.5m.
In the “EMERI” region (which stands for Europe, the Middle East, Russia and India) sales fell 4% in pounds sterling terms (11% in $) to £835.5m. Disappointments here included the London salerooms, which made less overall (a spokesman says "very slightly"), though post-war and contemporary sales were up 28% in the city in the period.
Jussi Pylkkännen, the global president of Christie's, played down the cooling sales levels: "This first half has witnessed strong growth at both ends of the spectrum. In New York in May, we saw 40 bids over $100m for a Picasso. but we also saw a 14% increase in middle market buyers, with nearly a quarter of our buyers new to Christie’s. So the trend for collectors to follow the art around the world continues apace."
Sotheby’s will release its full results for the first six months of 2015 in early August but a spokeswoman says that its auction sales made $3.2bn for the period, the same total as 2014. Christie’s equivalent auction total (excluding private sales and $15.3m of online sales) was $4bn (£2.6bn) for 2015.
Meanwhile, Auctionata, the Berlin-based online auction house, reported first half sales up 195% to €35.7m and its first profit before tax of €2.1m. “Only two years after launching weekly livestream auctions, Auctionata is now Germany’s biggest auction house,” the company said in a statement.
