Auction house Sotheby’s has had a good year so far. Edward Gibbs, Sotheby’s Chairman for the Middle East and India, believes it’s because there will always be “a demand for the finest and rarest works of art. Appreciation and love for art has remained constant across cultures and generations.”
The worldwide sales at Sotheby’s last year reached approximately $6.4 billion which is a 16 per cent increase on 2017.
This growth was across numerous categories which includes Watches (nearly 57 per cent), Wine (nearly 41 per cent), Old Master Paintings (33 per cent), Contemporary Art (14 per cent), Chinese artworks (14 per cent) and Impressionist and Modern Art (nearly 9 per cent).
Not to be left behind the sales of South Asian Art also saw an increase, to reach $24.1 million which for this segment is the company’s highest total in over five years.
Added to this the online sales are growing too. A record number of new bidders participated in Sotheby’s sales last year, and the majority of these (64 per cent) were bidding online.
So the online numbers also reached over $200 million in 2018 which is a 24 per cent rise since 2017.
Moreover, Gibbs has stated that private collections too generate a huge interest and awareness, stating, “When private collections emerge for auction, we are all offered the valuable opportunity to discover little seen artworks through the eyes of great collectors. They also often generate significant excitement in the market.”