Art lovers drive first-half sales to new record high at Christie’s
A GROWING appetite for art has boosted revenues at auction house Christie’s, which said yesterday that global sales hit £2.4bn in the first six months of 2013, a record high for the third year in a row.
Worldwide sales rose 13 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2013, while private sales grew by nine per cent. The firm said its new digital platform was doing well, with 46 per cent of online buyers at the 11 auctions in the first half of this year identified as new clients.
The second half of the year has already seen the sale of its highest priced online lot, an original Apple 1 computer for $387,750.
Christie’s also announced it would be the first international auction house to host a sale in India this December.