Pi-eX

Despite a tough year for public auctions, luxury concluded the year on a high note. - New York’s December luxury sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips ended the year strongly, with combined revenues reaching $185M in 2024, a 15% increase from last year. - Jewels continued to shine contributing the largest share of revenue at 51%, but it was watches that stole the show with the fastest growth in both volume of lots auctioned (+53%) and value achieved (+15%). - A renewed focus on live auctions over online-only sales played a notable role. Live auctions accounted for 60% of total New York’s December Luxury sales this year, up from 50% in 2023, driving a strong 18% increase in revenue. In contrast, revenue from online-only sales remained flat. - All three auction houses saw their sales of luxury items in New York increase this December, albeit at different rates. Christie’s and Phillips achieved the strongest growth rates, at 20% and 27% respectively, while Sotheby’s saw a more modest 6% increase. Source: Pi-eX MESO Report - New York December Luxury Items sales at Top Three auction Houses: 2007 - 2024 #luxury #jewels #watches #handbag #auction #christies #sothebys #phillips #newyork #salesanalysis #holidayseason

The December Design series at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips delivered good news for the market, with combined public auction revenues climbing to $56m from $48m in November 2023, a 16% year-on-year increase. - Recurring design sales grew by 7% thanks to iconic works by Diego and Alberto Giacometti, Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne, and Jean Royère, stealing the spotlight. Additionally, exceptional pieces from Tiffany Studios, backed by strong provenance, significantly boosted sales, driving a 37% year-on-year increase in revenue from single-owner private collections attached to the series. - Performance varied across each auction house. Phillips achieved a remarkable 182% increase, reaching $9m as it expanded its design offerings. Christie’s saw sales climb 37% to almost $21m, driven by an enhanced catalog. Sotheby’s, while maintaining its leadership in the category, recorded $26m in revenue, a 12% decline versus last year, reflecting potential supply challenges as in other categories. Source: Pi-eX MESO Report - New York December Design sales at Top Three auction Houses: 2007 - 2024 #design #auction #sothebys #christies #phillips #furniture #decor #tiffany #lalanne #Giacometti #royere

What Drives Value in the Art Market? The auctioning of two seemingly identical prints this week - one at Sotheby’s and the other at Christie’s - provides an intriguing case study to examine the factors driving value in the art market. - On December 4, 2024, Sotheby’s "Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Evening Auction" featured Lot 13: a drypoint print on laid paper by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn titled "Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves: 'The Three Crosses'". Estimated at £400,000–£600,000, the artwork failed to sell. - The following day, on December 5, 2024, Christie’s presented Lot 29 in its "The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn - Part II auction". This lot featured a seemingly identical drypoint print on laid paper by Rembrandt, estimated at £800,000–£1,000,000. The artwork achieved an impressive hammer price of £1 million. As highlighted by my esteemed colleague, Irina Kronrod PhD, although the two prints may appear identical to an untrained eye, their vastly different outcomes underscore the importance of several critical factors that drive value in the art market: the quality of the work and its rarity, its provenance, and its publication history. This case illustrates the complexities of the art market, particularly within the Old Master category. However, the same principles apply across all segments of the art market, emphasizing the critical role of expertise in navigating it. Understanding nuances such as condition, historical ownership, and scholarly recognition is crucial for making informed investment decisions. Source: Pi-eX MICRO Report: London December Old Masters Sales at Christie's & Sotheby's 2007-2024 #fineart #oldmasters #publicauction #christies #sothebys #Rembrandt

Have London’s Old Masters auctions begun their long-awaited recovery? While the number of artworks auctioned at the London Old Masters evening sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s this December hit a historic low, the atmosphere in the auction rooms hinted at promising signs of a potential recovery in this category. With just 48 lots auctioned, the combined sales marked the lowest supply on record and a further 27% drop from last year. However, driven by notably strong bidding in the auction rooms, the total hammer price exceeded the total high estimate, a milestone not achieved in the December Old Masters evening sales since 2007. As buyers and sellers await signs that the market has found its bottom, this could be an indication that the OId Masters category is primed for a resurgence. Source: Pi-eX MICRO Report: London December Old Masters Sales at Christie's & Sotheby's 2007-2024 #fineart #oldmasters #publicauction #christies #sothebys #ArtMarketTrends #auctionanalysis

As the auction scene is evolving in Hong Kong, the new scheduling has brought mixed results. With all three major auction houses now operating their own offices in Hong Kong, the traditional scheduling is changing. Instead of concentrating sales primarily in October and November, the calendar has expanded to stretch from September through December. This extended timeline has created space for more auctions and an increased number of lots offered, reflecting the dynamic nature of the Hong Kong art market. However, the revenue outcomes at the end of November 2024 tell a nuanced story. While Christie's and Phillips have achieved modest revenue growth compared to last fall (respectively +5% and +2%), Sotheby’s, on the other hand, has experienced a sharp decline in revenue (-49%). Source: Pi-eX MESO Report: Fall Hong Kong Sales Results at Christie's, Sotheby’s, & Phillips: 2007-2024 #ArtMarket #HongKong #AuctionTrends #Christies #Sothebys #Phillips #MarketAnalysis #PublicAuction

An #artadvisor who doesn't follow Christine Bourron and Pi-eX isn't doing their homework... The decline in third-party #guarantees is directly related to fewer offerings and vice versa. But they were still far more than #auctionhouse guarantees, suggestiong that #buyers, not #sellers are driving the #artmarket. At least at #auction, anyway. But good info to remember at Art Basel next week!

Total combined revenue for the November 2024 New York Marquee auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips amounted to $1.3 billion (including buyer's premium), a 41% contraction from November 2023, as the smallest offering of lots since 2007 went to auction. The decline was primarily driven by a steep 50% reduction in the value of the Marquee evening sales, which fell to $668 million from $1.35 billion in November 2023. Despite the disappointing results, the overall performance of individual lots auctioned was notably resilient. Total hammer prices aligned closely with pre-sale estimates, and the number of withdrawn and unsold lots increased only slightly. The heart of the issue, however, was not what went under the hammer, but rather what did not make it to the auction block. The absence of high-value lots not only constrained revenue, but also revealed a vulnerability in the market’s ability to attract and secure top-tier consignments. Source: Pi-eX MESO Report - New York November Marquee sales, Private Collections & Curated Auctions: 2007 - 2024 #fineart #modernart #contemporary #art #auction #publicauction #christies #sothebys #phillips #marqueesales

At Geneva's fall auctions this year, Phillips defied the market downturn to achieve a historic milestone - surpassing Sotheby’s market share for the first time. The November 2024 Geneva’s luxury item auction series faced significant market challenges, with total combined revenue at the top three auction houses—Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips—falling to 185m CHF, a 29% decline compared to 260m CHF in 2023. In this challenging environment, Phillips stood out as a notable outlier, achieving both positive growth (+7%) and a gain in market share. This success was driven by several key factors: - Phillips' addition of a jewellery auction in 2022 began expanding the auction house’s market reach - The addition of a curated watches auction this November added almost 25m CHF in incremental revenue - Phillips prioritised live auctions, while Christie's and Sotheby’s shifted many of their lots online. This year marked a significant evolution in the Geneva auction market, transitioning from a duopoly to a triopoly, with Phillips establishing itself as a key player since re-entering the Geneva market in 2015. Source: Pi-eX MESO report: Geneva November Marquee Sales Results at Christie's, Sotheby's, & Phillips - 2007-2024 #luxury #jewels #watch #jewellery #handbag #auction #geneva #christies #sothebys #phillips

Sotheby’s Hong Kong “Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction” hammered this week for a total of HK$357m (US$45m), contracting by 21% versus its October 2023 results. Originally set to take place alongside Christie’s “20th/21st Century Evening Sale” in September, Sotheby’s sale was rescheduled without explanation. It is hard to know if pushing back the sale to November significantly helped. Supply issues were laid bare as just 35 lots were cataloged, the lowest ever even before 7 lots were withdrawn ahead of the sale, plus 1 lot during the sale. Eventually, “Untitled (Yellow and Blue)” by Mark Rothko counted for over 60% of the sale. Demand appeared soft as less than 30% of lots auctioned obtained a hammer price above their low estimate while 89% of the total hammer price was covered by irrevocable bids. After Christie’s relatively successful Hong Kong “20th/21st Century Evening Sale” in September, Sotheby’s will have to turn back the tide to regain momentum in China. Source: Pi-eX MICRO Report - November Hong Kong Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Auction Results at Sotheby's – 2007-2024 #AuctionMarket #ArtMarket #MarketTrends #PieXAnalysis #Sothebys #HongKong #China #modernart #contemporary #finart

The sale of the first-ever AI robot-generated painting at Sotheby’s has once again underscored the NFT/AI/Digital Art market’s insatiable quest for the "next big thing." “A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing,” created by the AI robot Ai-Da, took centre stage in Sotheby’s “Digital Art Day Sale,” raking in over $1 million in the online-only auction and grabbing headlines worldwide. What the papers failed to mention was that the artwork had an Irrevocable Bid in place, meaning a buyer had already committed to purchase the artwork at an agreed price before the sale, even receiving a share of any upside if another bid surpassed theirs. Also, unmentioned was the fact that in the very same auction, “DOOM Party” by the digital artist XCOPY—a digital artwork paired with an NFT and estimated to fetch between $800,000 and $1.5 million—failed to find a buyer. This is a stark reminder of how quickly the tides shift in digital collecting, where yesterday’s “gold” can turn to "dust" overnight. Collectors in this volatile space need to be ever ready to jump on the next hype wave or commit to holding their newly acquired assets for the long haul, or maybe forever. Source: Pi-eX MICRO Report: Sotheby's Digital Art Day Sale | New York: April 2024 - November 2024 #auction #publicauction #NFT #AI #art #fineart #digital #auctionanalysis #performance #blockchain #trading