Auction Review 2019
- Analyst: Lindsay Dewar
- Pages: 20
- Access: Analyst Pro
New analysis and insights into the global auction market in 2019, show that global auction sales were down 19.8% from 2018. The 20.3% weaker sales numbers in the first half of 2019, continued into the second half of the year, with a particularly weak 4th quarter.
The report presents an analysis of all public auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips. All three auction houses experienced an overall decline in public auction sales (not including online only sales), with Sotheby’s experiencing a year-on-year fall of 18.4% in sales, Christie’s sales were down 22.2%, whilst Phillips fared best out of the three houses, with a 9.1% year-on-year decline in sales.
About this report:
This report presents an in-depth review and comparison of auction trends in 2019, based on global auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips. This Annual Auction Review is part of ArtTactic’s RawFacts research reports. RawFacts auction analysis is published twice a year with quarterly analysis and once a year with a full-year auction review.
Who is it for?
This report is popular among collectors, media, art advisors, auction houses and financial investors, who want to get an overall feel for the changing buying and collecting trends at auction and how the performance of the three main auction houses compare over the course of 2019.
Key Findings:
Hong Kong strengthens its position in the global art market in 2019 vis-a-vis New York and London: Despite increasing economic uncertainty and social unrest in Hong Kong during the second half of 2019, the auction market for Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips remained relatively stable compared to the auction sales in New York and London.
Auction market share remains largely unchanged in 2019: There were few seismic shifts among the auction houses this year, and their competitive standing, reflects pretty much that of 2018.
Post-War & Contemporary art market sales slow down, but are saved by stronger Asian buying: Despite a weaker global auction sales trend, the Post-War and Contemporary art market held up well, with an overall 4.6% sales growth
in 2019.
Plus more.