Sotheby’s Out Performs Christie’s Despite A Turbulent Year

Ed Ruscha's Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half

Sotheby’s released its 2024 earnings last week, revealing a year marked by resilience and challenges. CEO Charles Stewart announced consolidated sales of $6 billion, a figure that, while the highest in the auction industry, represented a 23% decline from 2023.

By comparison, Christie’s CEO, Guillaume Cerutti, revealed that the auction house’s projected sales for 2024 totalled 5.7 billion across art and luxury categories, marking an 8 per cent decline from last year’s 6.2 billion. Despite the dip, Cerutti struck an optimistic tone during a virtual press briefing, emphasising the market’s resilience and strong underlying performance metrics.

A notable result for Christie’s was Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half,1964 (Top Photo), which sold for over $68 million, setting a new auction record for the artist. According to reports, the buyer was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, adding a touch of draw power to the proceedings.

Sotheby's sold Claude Monet’s 'Nymphéas' (1914–17) for $65.5 million with fees in New York in November.COURTESY SOTHEBY'S
Sotheby’s Claude Monet’s ‘Nymphéas’ (1914–17) for $65.5 million with fees in New York in November.
COURTESY SOTHEBY’S

The past year was undeniably tough for Sotheby’s. The auction house faced headwinds ranging from a sluggish macroeconomic environment—shaped by geopolitical conflicts, high interest rates, and election uncertainties—to internal missteps, including an embarrassing reversal on buyers’ fees and layoffs in London and New York. Yet, Stewart was optimistic during the press call, emphasising the company’s readiness to pivot toward growth.

“2025 is set to be a very exciting year for us,” Stewart said, noting that Sotheby’s has already earmarked roughly $800 million in sales for the first quarter of 2025. If achieved, this would mark the most successful quarter in the house’s 281-year history.

In 2024, Sotheby’s auction sales fell by 28 per cent to 4.6 billion, with fine art sales taking the steepest hit, dropping nearly a third to 3.8 billion. Stewart attributed the decline to a lack of “discretionary sellers” and a dearth of large estates, which constrained supply at the high end of the secondary fine art and luxury markets.

“I certainly can’t recall a year when there were such strong counter indicators in the market,” Stewart reflected. “High interest rates, equity markets defying gravity, election uncertainties in the US and Europe, cyclical softness in Asia, and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East all contributed to a sense of overall uncertainty.”

Despite these challenges, Lisa Dennison, chairman of Sotheby’s North and South America, highlighted that demand for top-tier works remained robust. “A+ material generates A+ results,” she said, pointing to David Hockney’s L’Arbois, Sainte-Maxime (1968), which fetched over $17 million at Sotheby’s London in October. “When we offer the rarest and best-in-class objects with exceptional provenance, we see record prices and competitive bidding.”

Luxury sales proved a relatively bright spot, declining just 4 per cent to $2.2 billion. This resilience bodes well as Sotheby’s prepares to host its first international auction in Saudi Arabia on February 8. The event, set in the historic town of Diriyah near Riyadh, coincides with the opening of a new Sotheby’s office in the Al Faisaliah Tower.

The Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, represents a fast-growing luxury market. Stewart has made no secret of his ambition to position Sotheby’s as a global luxury brand beyond the art world. “Looking ahead, the horizon is bright,” he said. “We’re venturing into new markets, unveiling spectacular venues around the globe, and welcoming a new generation of collectors.”

One of the standout successes in 2024 was Sotheby’s private sales division, which grew by nearly 20 per cent to 1.4 billion—the second-highest total in the house’s history. ” In times of market uncertainty, clients often favour the discretion, price control, and flexible timing that private transactions offer,” Dennison explained—blue-chip artists like Monet, Alberto Giacometti and Jean Michel Basquiat drove much of this momentum, with 20 per cent of private sales value coming from works priced over 20 million.

Curated private selling exhibitions also played a pivotal role. October’s “London to Paris” exhibition, featuring works priced above $2 million, became Sotheby’s most valuable selling exhibition. David Rothschild, Sotheby’s Senior Specialist in Private Sales, noted that sellers increasingly seek control over pricing, which aligns well with private sales.

As Sotheby’s moves into 2025, the house appears poised to leave much of 2024’s turbulence behind. Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, pointed to a “renewed sense of collector confidence,” buoyed by falling interest rates and a stabilising economic environment.

While 2024 was a year of recalibration, Sotheby’s focus on innovation, new markets, and private sales suggests a strategic pivot toward long-term growth. Stewart said, “We’re not just weathering the storm—we’re preparing to thrive in the next chapter.” Adaptability remains the most significant asset for an institution with nearly three centuries of history.

“Despite a challenging environment for the art market, this year has been productive for Christie’s,” Cerutti said. “We look ahead to 2025 with confidence.” He pointed to key indicators such as an 86 per cent sell-through rate, a hammer-to-low-estimate index of 112 per cent, and an average of 3.7 bidders per lot—all showing year-over-year growth. The year began on a subdued note but gained momentum in the latter half, buoyed by strong showings at major art fairs like Frieze London and Art Paris Basel in October.

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