Sotheby’s and Christie’s try to avoid the blow of the decline in art auctions | Commercial activity

Do you remember the movie? Two on the way (Stanley Donen, 1967)? “You just want me to become a fond memory, the sooner the better,” Audrey Hepburn’s character scolds her, when Albert Finney asks her to marry him. The film is the memory of those beautiful days in the journey of life, then comes the divorce. The same thing happens for art. Their happiness belongs to the past, when existence was literally a dream. Today, great works are in short supply, millionaires choose to place them privately, the Internet is the last refuge, prices are falling and related expenses are skyrocketing. “And economic uncertainty is – according to almost all galleries (75%) – one of the biggest challenges they face,” summarizes Arun Kakar, publisher of the Artsy platform. Art also pays the boatman’s toll. “We live in an era in which great collectors of many decades die and quite a few collections go to auction,” reflects in writing Patricia Hanna, director of Espacio 23 in Miami. “Although yes, prices have calmed down a bit.” Despite everything, there are two giants still competing for the market: Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

Christie’s, owned by billionaire François Pinault, knows that Sotheby’s, its big rival, lost $248 million (212 million euros) last year before taxes. Pinault was instead able to increase its profits after taxes by 18% (around 845 million euros) and sell, pursuant to Financial times5.7 billion dollars (4.84 billion euros), 6% less than in 2023.

In the first six months of the year Christie’s – second Financial times— 2.1 billion placed. Better data than those obtained in the same period of 2024, when sales collapsed by 22%. The auction rate is good (88%) and the contribution of American customers has gone from 42% to 45%, even if that of Europeans, the Middle East and Africa has fallen by 34% and Asia is stagnant at 21%. “Government changes are common in the countries we operate in and we do not comment on political situations,” says a Christie’s spokesperson. Both companies achieved a mid-year turnover of 4.9 billion dollars (approximately 4.2 billion euros).

Art, in its pursuit of money, has veered in step with geopolitics, with Asia-Pacific buyers contributing 26% of total sales in 2024. After the opening of The Henderson (a building in Hong Kong), Christie’s Asia has benefited from the push of new, young collectors. And Hong Kong and Southeast Asia also help. But the certainty is that since 2015 the giant’s loss of purchasing power has been notable. Pandemic, real estate crisis… «There is fear because trust has been lost», observes collector Francisco Cantos. “And if you don’t believe it, you don’t buy,” he adds. “No experiments, hallowed names.” Sotheby’s signed its first international offering in Saudi Arabia with participation from 45 countries. They even sold, for the first time, racing car chassis.

Too many collectors feel like they are traveling back in time. Where is the euphoria hiding? The 400 million euros for a Leonardado painted with countless doubts? “The auctions lack objectivity: prices have nothing to do with real value or quality. Speculators have seen that the king is naked,” warns Commissioner Bartomeu Marí.

Sotheby’s is owned by French-Israeli telecoms billionaire Patrick Drahi, an activist investor who bought the company in 2019. The leveraged buyout pushed the company further into the red, according to accounts of the global group’s parent company published in Luxembourg in July. Now – through a note – he shares a mid-year journey that leads him to hope. It cites revenue of 2.8 billion (does not detail profit or loss), a brief “profit increase” and gives a sales rate of 85% across all categories.

However, the past cannot be repeated. “Not even Asian buyers, who have never thought about it too much; Americans walk through their own particular price labyrinth and Latin American artists come to the market at very low prices,” says collector and patron Jorge Pérez. “Everyone says that sales at auctions and galleries have dropped a lot. Maybe auction houses have reduced the number of works they exhibit and in the trade it is easier to negotiate prices because sales are decreasing.”

Commissions go down

At Sotheby’s, sales commissions and expenses fell from $994 million in 2023 to $813 million in 2024 and revenue fell 23% to $6 billion. The bailout came in August last year from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund (ADQ) with an injection of $909 million in exchange for 24% of Sotheby’s Holding UK, as well as preferred shares and warrants. In exchange, he asked for less debt and more growth. ADQ also agreed to buy an additional $75 million in shares if the British holding company’s ebitda (gross margin) exceeded $300 million in 2024. With an investment of $794 million, it acquired its new headquarters on Madison Avenue in New York after closing its digital footprint in China in February – the NFT bust.

Numbers don’t take hostages. Last year, global auction sales fell 12% and closed at $57.5 billion (around €49.5 billion). The lowest level of art auctions – according to the Art Basel/UBS 2025 report – since 2020. Art Basel continues to sell. But the trophy works await the return of big money in free ports or mansions.