Auction Houses Post Nearly $10 Billion In First-Half Sales As Wealthy Buyers Return

According to CNBC, major auction houses generated nearly $10 billion in sales in the first half, with Sotheby's reporting a record $4.4 billion and Christie's posting $4.5 billion, its best first half since 2021. Sotheby's sales rose 58% from a year earlier, while Christie's climbed 71%. The article said the rebound in art and collectibles is being fueled by wealth creation from the artificial intelligence boom, IPOs and rising stock prices. Christie's CEO Bonnie Brennan said confidence in the market is supporting selling and spending, while Sotheby's CEO Charles Stewart said wealth creation, including talk of SpaceX and other tech IPOs, is the top factor in the business. The strongest sales included Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948, which sold for $181 million at Christie's, and a Brancusi sculpture that brought $107.6 million. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo said watch auctions totaled $235 million in the first half, its largest ever, and Sotheby's sold a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil named Gus for $50.1 million, the most expensive fossil ever auctioned.