Navigating the Downturn: Christie’s Remains Resilient Amidst Art Market Slump

By Elizabeth Gillett

Christie’s 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale, 9 October 2024.

Image courtesy of Beaumont Nathan.

Following an uptick in 2022, the art market has experienced a steep decline, with collectors demonstrating heightened discernment and caution in their approach to new acquisitions. The auction sector has been hit particularly hard, with a twenty-nine percent drop in total sales by the big three houses (Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips) over the first half of 2024 against the same period in 2023. California based collector Mihail Lari has stepped back given the current fragile state of global affairs, telling ArtNet that ‘to accumulate art for the sake of accumulating art is just so five years ago’. Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti cites ‘the three Ms’—macro environmental factors, money factors, and mood—as the primary reason for the decline.

Whilst Phillips’ fine-art sales have only dropped 12.7 percent, as opposed to Christie’s 28.2 percent and Sotheby’s 31.2 percent, the smaller house’s USD 252 million in fine-art sales places them out of contention against the two mega houses’ combined USD three billion in fine-art sales. Meanwhile, even after procuring the ‘prized estate of the season’—that of Sydell Miller, an estimated USD 200 million collection heading to the block in November—Sotheby’s struggles to remain afloat. The house has been called out for delaying payments to shippers and conservators by up to six months, bonds have been downgraded to B- and B3 by S&P and Moody’s respectively, and the overhaul of their fee structure earlier this year is ‘clear evidence of a crisis’ according to Italian Art Lawyer Massimo Sterpi.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Red Poppy, 1928, oil on canvas, 92.1 x 76.2 cm.

Amidst a precarious global economy and buyer hesitancy, Christie’s has played upon the chaos of current affairs to garner sales. At New York’s 20th Century Evening Sale, floral works by Andy Warhol and Georgia O’Keeffe both hammered above their high estimates, at USD 35.5 million and 16.5 million respectively, including fees. Warhol’s Flowers, 1964, and O'Keeffe's Red Poppy, 1928, were advertised as part of a slightly eccentric, yet vastly successful, marketing tactic which emphasised these vibrant, hypnotic flower paintings as ‘an escape from the depressing state of the world’. Chairman of Christie’s 20/21 Art Departments Alex Ritter described the paintings’ success as ‘unheard of, in any market’.

Conversely, Christie’s inaugural sale at The Henderson, marking the expansion of their Hong Kong market, showed ‘relatively lacklustre’ results. Although ninety-three percent of lots were sold, the total hammer only came in at USD 113.4 million, with buyers remaining prudent and expressing restraint, a mood attributed to economic uncertainties, especially in China. This expansion is not the only new venture for the house, with the recently announced Christie’s Saudi Arabia set to open ‘as soon as possible’ in the capital city of Riyadh. The first global auction house to have a permanent location in the Kingdom, the space will feature private sales, exhibitions, and showings of prominent pieces touring from international auctions. With the record hammer for a work of art at auction—Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, c. 1499-1510, at USD 450.3 million—sold to the crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, and a large market of emerging collectors in the state, the house’s new location in the Middle East is expected to greatly expand their reach. 

Pablo Picasso, Hibou, Autoportrait, 1957, pastel on paper cut out over David Douglas Duncan’s gelatin print Pablo Picasso’s Eyes, 53.4 x 37 cm.

Further highlights from the year thus far have included Titian’s Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1508-1510, bringing in GBP 17.6 million at July’s Old Masters Part I sale in London, marking an auction record for the Venetian master. Additionally, the first half of 2024 signified Christie’s highest private sales in a six-month period to date. However, Jeff Koons’ Balloon Monkey Blue, 2006-2013, the most anticipated piece shown at yesterday’s 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale during Frieze London, hammered on the lower end of its estimate (GBP 6.5-10 million) at GBP 7,555,000. Even so, the sale managed to bring in GBP 81.9 million, including fees. In addition, yesterday's Impressionist and Modern Art Works on Paper Sale was particularly successful, with fifty-six percent of lots going for over their high estimates, including Hannah Höch’s Da-Dandy, 1919 (est: GBP 60-80,000; realised: GBP 277,200) and Picasso’s Hibou, Autoportrait, 1957 (est: GBP 150-250,000; realised GBP 428,400).

Although 2024 has been rocky in terms of overall sales and buyer appetite, Christie’s appears to be coping relatively well. After yesterday’s success at their Frieze London sales, record-breaking hammers earlier this year, and their new venture in the Persian Gulf, it seems as if Christie’s will emerge from this market downturn stronger and better equipped for the future. According to Cerutti, soft markets in the art world have never lasted longer than two years, suggesting that 2025 may be a more promising year for the market as a whole. However, with over fifty nations holding political elections this year, unrest in Russia, Ukraine, and Gaza, as well as growing interest rates, the future of the art market remains uncertain. 

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