Pi-eX FACTS

IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART EVENING SALES

NEW YORK, November 2016

With a Total Low Estimate of $202m(*), CHRISTIE'S offering
for the November Impressionist & Modern Art NY evening sale
is valued significantly higher than SOTHEBY'S

THE FACTS:
The top 2 auction houses move in opposite directions:
  • CHRISTIE'S continues for the 2nd year to increase its Total LE: from $80m in 2014 to $119m in 2015 and $202m this November.
  • SOTHEBY'S continues for the 2nd year to decrease its total LE after achieving its best LE in 2014: from $333m in 2014 to $274m in 2015 to $146m this November.
    • Over the past 4 years, the increased performance of one auction house seems to be to the detriment of the other:
  • While SOTHEBY'S almost doubled its Total LE from $168m in 2012 to $333m in 2014, CHRISTIE'S saw its Total LE almost halved during the same period from $155m to $80m.
  • While CHRISTIE'S more than doubled its Total LE from $80m in 2014 to $202m in 2016, SOTHEBY'S saw its Total LE more than halved during the same period from $333m to $146m.


    • ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
    Historical analysis over the past 10 years clearly shows a negative trend in terms of number of artworks being catalogued for the November Impressionist & Modern Art NY evening sales
    This year both auction houses see the number of their catalogued works decrease. For SOTHEBY'S, it is the lowest ever number of catalogued lots since 2007.

    While CHRISTIE'S has more works and also has seen in the past (especially in 2009 and 2014) lower numbers of catalogued artworks for this auction, it still suffers this year a significant drop versus last year (from 62 artworks catalogued in 2015 to 49 this year).
    2016 sees a clear shift in the type/value of artworks each auction house is able to source for its November Impressionist & Modern Art evening sale.
    Since 2007, the average LE of artworks sold at the November New York Impressionist & Modern Art evening sales have systematically been higher at SOTHEBY'S than CHRISTIE'S. This year however things change!

    Over the past two years the auction houses' average LEs were moving in opposite directions - with Sotheby's average LE sharply increasing while Christie's was slowly decreasing. The reversal of this year could further hint to the fact that the growth of one auction house is driven by the loss of another one.
    (*) based on catalogued artworks at Impressionist & Modern art evening auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's in November in New York.
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