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Report Card Of 2020 Sotheby Outperforms Christie'S

2021/1/9 12:28:00 34

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The year 2020, invaded by the epidemic situation, has made the whole world experience unprecedented changes. No matter which industry, 2020 will be a difficult year for operation. For the auction industry, after suspending traditional auctions for a full nine months, the final report card handed over in 2020 is not surprisingly slightly depressed, but the results are still encouraging compared with expectations. A few days ago, Sotheby's, Christie's and Fortis successively released annual sales data. The total sales volume of the major auction houses fell as expected, but the industry as a whole is still very resilient. Online auction, private negotiation and strong demand from Asia offset some of the downward pressure, helping the auction industry to move forward steadily in the plight of the epidemic.

Digital sales soared

Guillaume Cerutti, Christie's chief executive, described 2020 as a year of "shock and catalyst". On the one hand, the unexpected outbreak of the epidemic has brought a huge impact on the traditional auction industry; but at the same time, in order to adapt to market changes, online auction has been paid attention to and strengthened, making the major auction houses find a way out in the plight of global travel blockade.

Data show that affected by the epidemic situation, the performance of the three auction industries fell overall. In 2020, Christie's recorded a total sales volume of $4.4 billion, a decrease of 25% compared with that in 2019; Sotheby's total sales was $5.0 billion, down 16% from $5.8 billion in 2019. The $600 million gap is the second time Sotheby's has surpassed Christie's in sales in nearly a decade. Total sales at the world's third-largest auction house fell 11% year-on-year to $646 million.

Sotheby's recorded $5 billion in sales in 2020, surpassing Christie's for the second time in nearly a decade. IC photo

In the face of the traditional on-the-spot auction, Sotheby's, Christie's and other auction houses are also busy transforming to online, successfully "filling" the regret of offline. Sotheby's told the art newspaper that in 2020, they held more than 400 online auctions, an increase of 30% compared with that in 2019, and the total sales volume exceeded 570 million US dollars, about seven times of that in 2019, setting a new industry record. From the buyer's point of view, with the help of network and electronic equipment, 80% of bidding is conducted online. In addition, the proportion of new customers in online auctions exceeded 40%. Christie's also said that online sales increased 262% year-on-year to $311 million, setting a new record for Christie's online auction.

The reason why Sotheby's is still ahead in the context of the epidemic is mainly due to its rapid response and smooth transition to digital sales. Sebastian Fahey, managing director of Sotheby's Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "we have been closely monitoring the epidemic situation in Asia since January and February, so we are ready to stop the live auction due to the global tourism blockade." Although there have been many speculations in the industry about whether collectors are willing to buy works of art that they have never seen in person, it has been proved that even in special periods, the willingness of collectors to donate money for favorite and rare works of art is still much stronger than expected. On June 29, 2020, Sotheby's held a large-scale online live auction lasting five hours for the first time, which ended successfully with a sales volume of $363.2 million and a turnover rate of 93%. Among them, the biggest highlight is the triple painting by Francis Bacon, which sold for $84.5 million, the highest price Sotheby's has ever sold through a remote auction. "The entire auction process was transformed into an unprecedented live broadcast, almost overnight, with the efforts of our employees and the fearless trust of our clients," Sebastian said. Fortunately, all this trust has been rewarded. " From the perspective of the art market, the success of these online auctions is also a positive sign: even if physical auctions are no longer available, it does not mean that high-level transactions are no longer available.

The upsurge of private purchase

For the high-end market, although auction houses will have to close their doors in 2020, in fact, there are more transactions going on "in secret" behind the doors.

According to Sotheby's data, the live and online auctions generated a total of $3.5 billion in sales; Christie's had only $2.8 billion in live sales; so, where did other sales come from? Answer: from private purchase. As the daily auction is a kind of extensive transaction mode similar to "point to face", which can not take into account the customers' individual needs and cost considerations, the auction house will make some art investment planning and suggestions for some special customers. In recent years, "point-to-point" private negotiation has gradually become the main way to deal with high price auction in the art market.

In 2020, affected by the epidemic situation, private negotiation is especially popular with a large number of high-end buyers. In an interview with 21st century economic reporter, Mr. Chen Zunwen, chairman of fortune Asia, explained: "the main reason for the rapid development of private purchasing is that the stock market will fluctuate greatly in 2020. Many people believe that art is a relatively safe and stable investment mode. Coupled with the continuous adjustment of auction time in response to the epidemic situation, the suspension of major art fairs around the world has led to a sharp increase in the demand for private negotiation. " He said that the trading activity of the private Purchasing Department of Fortune Global by 2020 was about 50% higher than that in the same period in 2019.

Similarly, in 2020, Sotheby's privately negotiated sales reached $1.5 billion, up 50% from $1 billion in 2019; Christie's private negotiated sales were $1.3 billion, an increase of 57% compared with that in 2019. Both companies have set a new record for the turnover of their private negotiation field. In addition, due to the outstanding performance of private negotiation business, Sotheby specially hired Michael gumener, the former director of colguxuan Gallery in London and Geneva, and asked him to be the senior director of international private sales of Sotheby's in London from January 2021, so as to better escort the "big order" of private negotiation in the future.

Asian buyers rise

In addition to the ups and downs of sales data, there are many new trends in the auction market in 2020.

In terms of geographical division, Asian collectors will be more active in 2020 than Western buyers. Guillaume Cerutti, chief executive of Christie's, said that in 2020, for the first time, buyers in Asia surpassed those from the United States, a potentially huge change in the art market that has been dominated by American collectors for decades. Kevin Ching, Sotheby's Asia chief executive, said Sotheby's sales in Asia would reach $932m in 2020, 18% higher than Christie's, due to strong demand from Asian collectors. And the number of online buyers in Asia is growing fastest, doubling from 2019. In 2020, 9 of the top 20 high-priced items in Sotheby's global auction were successfully traded by Asian collectors, accounting for almost half of the total. Ed Dolman, chief executive of fortune, also said Asian collectors bought half of its top ten high priced works. Moreover, compared with the older generation of Asian buyers who prefer to go to the auction site for classical works or contemporary Chinese art, the new generation prefers the works of "rising star" artists from all over the world.

From the age of buyers, millennials around the world have become a force that cannot be ignored. They are keen to compete with other experienced collectors for various types of luxury goods, greatly promoting sales of pink and blue diamonds, antique and military watches, high-end wine and limited luxury handbags. Amy cappellazzo, Sotheby's art director, told the Wall Street Journal that the millennials' bidding habits are also very "fashionable", and most of them prefer to bid through mobile apps rather than phone calls, and rarely even ask to see the status report.

From the category of auction, the sales volume of basketball shoes of major auction houses has increased significantly with the pursuit of young collectors. In May 2020, Sotheby's sold a pair of Jordan's Nike sneakers for a record breaking $560000, almost four times the estimated value. Five months later, the other two pairs of red and black jordan shoes with an estimated value of at least $300000 and $600000, respectively, finally failed. Sotheby's believes that this is because collectors are still looking for a price benchmark for this new collection. In December 2020, Christie's also tried to launch a baseball auction, a Yankees jersey worn by Lou Gehrig in 1931, which was sold for $1.4 million. In 2020, sports auction trade will gradually enter the public's vision, and this sports boom may continue in the future.

In addition, due to the delay in the negotiation of trade agreement after brexit, as well as worries about the increase of transport costs and red tape, London's continued status as the capital of European art trade has been gradually threatened. As a result, Christie's and Sotheby's both started to show that they might bet on France as the main trading position in the future and began to expand. Christie's is planning to expand the space of its Paris headquarters in martinion Avenue and hold a 1-54 contemporary African art exhibition in January 2021, while Sotheby's Paris plans to move its headquarters to the site of the recently closed old Gallery Burnham Gallery in 2023. Sebastian Fahey of Sotheby's told the art newspaper: "the French market has become increasingly important as a business position, and has been so in recent years. The acquisition of this building represents the beginning of a new era for us. "

 

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