Sotheby’s hosts a hybrid in-person and livestream auction in May 2021. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s
During the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020, auction houses have depended on their online platforms more than ever before. The shift to a larger online presence meant an increase in online bidding, online only sales, and new auction formats including innovative part-live, part-online auctions. However, auction houses also increased their private sales and added new sales formats. These new formats expanded the reach of auction houses adding accessibility to more clients around the globe, yet their sales numbers were still down in 2020.
Sotheby’s reported that they earned $3.5 billion from auctions in 2020, which was about a 30% drop from their 2019 auction revenue. An increase in private sales accounted for a large portion of the revenue, particularly because many clients were still skeptical of the online auction formats. Sotheby’s sold over $1.5 billion in private sales in 2020, coming to a 50% increase from 2019, according to Eileen Kinsella’s Artnet article “Top Auction Houses Saw Total Sales Drop in 2020—But Sotheby’s Outpaced Christie’s with $5 Billion in Revenue.”
The slow growth of their online presence from social media to the user experience of online bidding was accelerated by the pandemic. Sotheby’s was the first to premier their livestream evening sale on June 29, 2020, and with a livestream sale it was possible to increase international bidders, taking online bids and using phone banks in various locations from New York and London to Hong Kong. Christie’s shortly followed with their livestream auction, adding a pre-auction event highlighting works in their October 6, 2020 sale. Auction houses also increased the number of online only auctions and digitized the auction catalogues. In their auction rooms, they have transformed them into elaborate studios to film the sales, and the format seems to be here to stick around.
The hybrid format of livestream and in-person sales allows auction houses to reach a broader global audience. In London, livestreams allow the cities to maintain their strong-hold in Europe despite post-pandemic and post-Brexit woes. At the end of June, both Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London held what would normally be an evening sale in the afternoon. These livestream events now take place at an earlier time to include participation from bidders in Asia. London auction houses focused on reinventing themselves to combat the effects of the pandemic and Brexit on the British art market. Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s have done away with specialist selections of Impressionist art, and instead offered big ticket items in the 20th century and contemporary auctions to better accommodate the changing tastes of collectors.
Two-part livestream on June 29 at Sotheby’s London, selling both British and international modern and contemporary works, raised a combined total of 156.2M BP. However, this auction was still an 11% decrease in proceeds compared to similar pre-pandemic evening sales in 2019. Christie’s London held a 20th & 21st century sale the following day, earning 119.3M BP in their 51-lot sale. For Christie’s this was an improvement of 46% compared to equivalent sales in 2019, gaining an edge over Sotheby’s per Scott Reyburn’s New York Times article “Sotheby’s and Christie’s Reimagined Auctions Pay Off.” Despite the changes to the London art market in the wake of Brexit and the pandemic, this office continues to outperform other locations in Europe with their reimagined hybrid auctions.
By Natalie Parent
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