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Auction Analysis: New York Old Master Paintings Auctions – February & April 2018

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  • Pages: 10
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Sotheby’s and Christie’s have kicked off 2018 with their Old Master Paintings sales in New York, Sotheby’s on February 1st and Christie’s on April 19th. Together the houses raised a total of $69.7 million (excluding buyer’s premium) against a presale estimate of $65,570,000 to $97,472,000, up 38% from 2017.

About this report:

This report presents an in-depth analysis of Old Master sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, and provides a comparison of auction trends between the two auction houses. The analysis also provides analytical tools looking at annual trends between 2010 and 2018.

What is new in this report?

Based on feedback from our readers we have added a new section, which provides a detailed list of all the lots in the auction with its sales (hammer) prices. The list also includes list of guaranteed lots, the number of the winning paddle, and which paddle was the most frequent buyer in this particular auction.

Who is it for?

This report is popular among dealers, auction houses and collectors, who want to get an in-depth understanding of Old Master art auction trends and follow the performance of the top two auction houses in the first part of 2018.

Key Findings:

Strong sales start 2018: Old Master art auctions sales up 38% from 2017

Sotheby’s wins back market share in 2018: Sotheby’s controlled 57.1% of the 2018 market share so far, an increase from the 44.8% of the market it had in the first half of 2017. Sotheby’s New York result was 76% higher than the same sale in January of 2017.

Highest sell-through rate since 2010: Across the two sales, 100 lots were sold out of 133 on offer, with an average sale price of $679,000. This is the most lots sold since 2011, and the highest percentage of total lots sold since before 2010.


Analytical tools:
Comparable Performance: Old Master auction sales performance comparison between Sotheby’s and Christie’s in New York including: Total sales vs Estimates, Average Prices
Auction Lot Details: Details on the full auction including:  hammer prices, guarantees, bought-in lots and winning paddle numbers.
Auction Overview: Top selling artist by value and numbers and a breakdown by type of Auction Bids.
Top 10 Prices: Ranking by the highest prices achieved and by top price-to-estimate performance.
Special Report: Sotheby’s single-dealer auction: The Otto Naumann Sale.

Sotheby’s wins back New York market share with sale total up 76% from 2017