Christie’s reported projected global sales of $5.7 billion for 2024, down 6 percent from $6.1 billion in 2023. Auction sales fell 16 percent to $4.2 billion, including $336 million in online sales, while Private Sales rose 41 percent to $1.5 billion, contributing 27 percent of the global total. In other currencies, total sales were £4.5 billion, €5.3 billion and HK$44.6 billion.
The sell-through rate was 86 percent, up from 84 percent the prior year, and the index of hammer price to low estimate reached 112 percent, against 105 percent in 2023. Bidders per lot stood at 3.7, online bids accounted for 81 percent of all bids placed, and Millennial and Gen Z clients represented 30 percent of buyers. Chief Executive Guillaume Cerutti attributed the year to stronger momentum in the Fall season and the acquisition of Gooding & Co.
The most valuable work of the year was René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières, which sold for $121.2 million from the Mica Ertegun collection, a record for a Surrealist work and the only lot to sell above $100 million globally. The most valuable jewel of the year was The Eden Rose, a 10.20 carat pink diamond, which sold for $13.4 million in New York in June.
The Americas contributed 42 percent of global auction sales, at $2.030 billion, down 21 percent year over year. The Magritte led a $689 million week of sales in November that included Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half at $68.3 million and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled at $23 million, with 18 artist records set. MICA: The Collection of Mica Ertegun totalled $194 million across four fully sold sales.
EMEA contributed 32 percent of global auction sales, at $1.429 billion. In London, Titian’s Rest on the Flight into Egypt sold for a record £17.6 million in July, and three dinosaur fossils dating from 157 to 145 million years ago sold for £12.4 million in December. Paris auction sales totalled €384 million, up 24 percent year over year, led by the €73 million Barbier Mueller Collection. Luxury sales in Geneva in November included a Colombian emerald brooch, a gift from the Aga Khan to Nina Dyer, which sold for CHF7.8 million.
Asia-Pacific contributed 26 percent of global auction sales, at $725 million. Following the opening of The Henderson in Hong Kong, Christie’s Asia recorded its highest second-half sales since 2021, with Autumn sales totalling HK$3.28 billion and close to 90 percent sold by lot. Van Gogh’s Les canots amarrés sold for HK$250.6 million and Monet’s Nymphéas for HK$233.4 million. APAC clients accounted for 42 percent of global luxury spend.
During the year Christie’s completed the acquisition of Gooding & Company, the collector-car auction house, now trading as Gooding Christie’s, and was granted a commercial licence to trade in Saudi Arabia. Christie’s Ventures now holds investments in 12 companies across AI, Fin Tech, Hardware and Web3.
(Press Release)
