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Bonnie Brennan, Chief Executive Officer, Christie’s:
“We had our best first half in 5 years at Christie’s, growing in all departments and regions, at every price point. We delivered auction sales up 71% YoY and our strongest half year private sales total. With a continued focus on exceptional art and objects, whether in collections or various owner sales, we drove our strongest ever levels of international bidding and buying and delivered the best selling performance in the market for our clients.”
Brennan continues: “These excellent results were achieved profitably and through disciplined stewardship of capital, delivering expanding EBITDA margins and further reinforcing our already exceptionally strong balance sheet. As we look optimistically toward the balance of 2026, the global team at Christie’s continues to prioritize our clients and the long-term strength of the business.”
Auction sale performance and client metrics, including sell through rate, hammer vs. low estimate and average bidders per lot, are up across all price points.
$3.5BAuction Sales, up 71% (LY $2.1B)
91% Sell Through Rate (LY 87%)
124% Index of Hammer Price to Low Estimate (LY 112%)
47% Of New Clients are Millennial/Gen Z (LY 45%)
In addition, points of note include:
Bought value by international clients beyond their local salerooms is up 34% YoY and underbidding is up 69%, demonstrating the truly global and diverse interests and curiosity of our client base.
Our global teams’ expertise and deep client relationships are reflected in our strongest-yet rate of average bidders per lot and a sell through rate of 91%. These factors combined to deliver a leading hammer vs. low estimate across all sales of 124%, up 12 percentage points YoY.
The strength in 1H was also driven by the incredible success in day and online sales, delivering a hammer vs. low estimate on lots valued at $20,000-$100K of 148%, (up 21% YoY). Online sales continue to be the conduit for new clients accounting for 63% of all new bidders and buyers.
Christie’s sold the top three works so far this year, all setting new auction records, and the highest value Collection, The Collection of S.I. Newhouse in May in New York which made $630.8M:
Jackson Pollock’s seminal Number 7A, 1948 sold for $181.2M
Constantin Brancusi’s Danaïde sold for $107.6M
Mark Rothko’s 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe), sold for $98.4M
In parallel with the strong performance of our auction and private sales businesses, Christie’s Art Finance has significantly expanded its reach across regions, collecting categories and currencies, providing liquidity solution to a broader and increasingly diverse client base.
GLOBAL AUCTION FIGURES FOR 1H 2026
Auction sales: $3.5B / £2.6B / €3.0B / HK$27.5B
including online sales ($200M / £149M)
Regional Buyer Contribution at auction: Americas 54% / EMEA 26% / APAC 20%
H1 Auction Sales by Cluster
1H 2026
% vs. LY
20th & 21st Century
Luxury (incl. Gooding Christie’s)
Asian & World Art
Old Masters
Looking Forward:
On July 16th Christie’s and The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in New Delhi will open The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection in London which will be open to the public until 21st August 2026.
Looking ahead to August, Gooding Christie’s, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance®, will hold its annual sale in California. In November, Rétromobile will make its U.S. auction debut in New York, with Gooding Christie’s serving as the event’s official auctioneer.
Marr’s Guitars: The Johnny Marr Collection will be sold in London in September.
In September, Christie’s Paris will sell The Graziella Patiño de Ortiz Linares Collection, including important works by Watteau and Fragonard alongside furniture and silver.
In celebration of its 40th anniversary in Asia, in October in Hong Kong, Christie’s, in collaboration with Daniel Eskenazi, will hold The Royal Academy International Exhibition of Chinese Art 1935 to 36, A Commemorative Tribute alongside Asian Art Week
(Press Release)
