Christie's vs Sotheby's

In the battle between Sotheby's and Christie's it appears as if Christie's is winning.  I posted on the results and outlook from both auction houses several weeks ago, but it has been raised again by the Telegraph's art writer Colin Gleadell.  He points our the main difference between the two are not auction sales, but private sales where Sotehby's increased by 15 percent to $513.6 million while Christie's saw an increase of 53% to a record $661.5 million.

The Telegraph reports

Christie’s painted a rosy picture of the art market just before the summer break when it announced sales of £2.2 billion for the first six months of the year, up 13 per cent on last year. However, during the summer recess, Sotheby’s results were announced with far less fanfare. Its first six months sales had fallen by 12 percent to £1.88 billion. Several reasons were given for this: the global economic climate, the Asian market slow down, the lack of important single owner collection sales, and, most importantly, the exceptional performance in 2011 which left 2012 in an unfavourable position when making comparisons. The main common denominator between the two auction houses was the increase in private sales – that is, those conducted privately and not at auction. Sotheby’s had risen by 15 per cent to $513.6 million (£323 million), while Christie’s had jumped 53 per cent to a record $661.5 million (£413.4 million). Private sales and exhibition activities are now accounting for up to 18 per cent of all sales at the two auction houses as they encroach further into what was traditionally the art dealer’s territory.

Source: The Telegraph