Pi-eX News



  • 28/12/2023: Financial Times: Celebrity auctions boost sales in a turbulent year: For the three major auction houses — Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips — whose sales rely heavily on the thin $10mn-plus market, the unsettling backdrop contributed to a combined fall of 18 per cent to $11.2bn in auction sales in the year to December 14, according to analytics business Pi-eX. While the numbers were impacted by 2022’s whopping $1.6bn made at Christie’s New York from the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen — “a difficult act to follow”, says Pi-eX chief executive Christine Bourron — she notes that all three houses had revenue falls across nearly all geographies.

  • 21/11/2023: 8th Deloitte Private and ArtTactic Art & Finance Report: Managing financial risk at public auctions from a seller's perspective: Collecting art can be a risky endeavour, with numerous pitfalls for art collectors to navigate. In her article, Christine Bourron, chief executive of Pi-eX discusses the financial risk faced by sellers at public auction sales and suggests some mitigating actions. Section 8: Risk management and regulation, Part 3: Risk management, legal and regulatory developments

  • 17/11/2023: The New York Times: Auctions in New York Reflect a Dip in the Market: According to data prepared by the London-based art auction analysts Pi-eX, day auctions of modern and contemporary art at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips in New York this season raised an aggregate $278.1 million with fees, down 8 percent on the equivalent day sales last November... “Basically a billion down, which is not that bad, considering what the Paul Allen Collection sold for,” said Christine Bourron, chief executive of Pi-eX. “It could have been a lot worse.”

  • 10/11/2023: The Art Collecting Legal Handbook (Third Edition): Chapter 1: The same ever changing art market: Ten years after the first edition of The Art Collecting Legal Handbook, the art market has changed and evolved in multiple new directions... Looking at historic annual results, however, could lead to the impression that very little has changed... To better understand changes and dynamics in the art market, one may want to look at the Pi-eX Auction Market Index (Pi-eX AMI), which tracks monthly public auction results at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips... The Pi-eX Index provides a fascinating live reading.

  • 07/10/2023: Arts: Comprehensive Analysis of the Trade of NFTs at Major Auction Houses: From Hype to Reality: While extensive research has been done on the trade of NFTs on the blockchain, little research exists on the trade of NFTs at public auction houses. Based on more than two years’ tracking of NFTs auctioned at major auction houses, Pi-eX research identifies three phases in the development of the trade and provides valuable insights into the unique factors that contributed to the growth of NFTs at public auctions between the springs of 2021 and 2023.

  • 08/09/2023: The Art Newspaper: The art market is on a bumpy ride in 2023: Crucially, back in May, the Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips marquee auctions of Modern and contemporary art in New York were noticeably underpowered. Spooked by a combination of rising inflation and hiked interest rates, owners were reluctant to put their trophies up for sale. The three houses grossed an aggregate $1.4bn (with fees), significantly lower than the $2.5bn achieved the previous May, according to data provided by Pi-eX, the London-based art auction analysis firm.

  • 14/07/2023: The Art Newspaper: What goes around comes around: the art of finance: Price being the prevailing measure of aesthetic value can work perfectly well, just as long as it continues to rise. The issue at the moment is that prices in certain sectors of the market appear to be softening. In May, Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips’s marquee evening sales of Modern and contemporary art in New York grossed an overall $1.4bn, way down on the $2.5bn the equivalent sales totalled the previous May, according to the London-based auction analysts, Pi-eX.

  • 27/06/2023: The New York Times: Klimt’s ‘Lady With a Fan’ Brings $108.4 Million, Auction Record for the Artist: “I think it is quite clear that Brexit has not served well the June Impressionist and Contemporary sales series in London,” said Christine Bourron, the chief executive of Pi-eX, a London-based company that analyzes art auction results. “Since 2016, sales have significantly shrunk despite a small increase in the past two years.”

  • 20/01/2023: The Art Newspaper: Guarantees, withdrawals and billionaires bidding at their own auction houses: Flagging market gets by with a little help from its friends "In terms of selling rates, today’s top-end auctions look as though they’re doing fine. However, Pi-eX reveals that this latest November series registered the smallest haul of prices that bettered their low estimates since 2008. In other words, an awful lot of works offered in November sold for one bid to their guarantors."

  • 15/12/2022: Financial Times: Glittering smokescreen’ of auction highs masks a nervous market "Auction sales will post a record year, calculates Christine Bourron, chief executive of the analytics company Pi-eX. Her running total puts sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips at $13.6bn, up 12 per cent from last year and already above the previous high of $13.2bn for the full year 2014."

  • 15/11/2022: MDPI Books: Global Art Market in the Aftermath of COVID-19 Article 1, page 5: "How Has COVID19 Affected the Public Auction Market by Christine Bourron, Pi-eX Chief Executive Officer.

  • 05/08/2022: The Art Newspaper<: Influencers and antiques? How a new generation is transforming the market Christine Bourron, the chief executive of Pi-eX, indicates that live day sales of major auction houses are now performing extremely well: “Live day sales have done so well, this season, thanks to the whole online bidding process. The new trend we’ve seen is that now, there are many more participants joining via online bidding during live day sales.”

  • 15/07/2022: Il Giornale dell'Arte: Cosa c'entra Tik Tok con il mercato dell'antiquariato? Christine Bourron, amministratore delegato di Pi-eX, indica che le vendite in diretta delle principali case d'asta stanno ottenendo ottimi risultati: «Le vendite in diretta hanno ottenuto ottimi risultati in questa stagione, grazie all'intero processo di offerta online. La nuova tendenza che abbiamo riscontrato è che ora ci sono molti più partecipanti che si uniscono alle offerte online durante le vendite in diretta».

  • 11/07/2022: The Art Newspaper: Auction houses say the art market is booming. But what lurks beneath these shiny numbers? According to Sotheby’s data, this latest series of New York sales at the three main houses was the “biggest auction season the market has ever seen”. But numbers crunched by the London-based art market analysts Pi-eX disagree. Their independently gathered figures show that May was in fact the third highest-grossing series of auctions on record: the grand total of $2.84bn was short of the $2.93bn achieved in May 2018 and the $2.89bn taken back in May 2015.

  • 01/07/2022: The New York Times: London modern and contemporary auctions: A market minus the froth "I feel there was a turn,” said Christine Bourron, CEO of Pi-eX, a London based firm that analyses art auctions. Guarantors’ reluctance to finance high-value lots was a “warning sign”, Bourron said, adding: “Reality is starting to hit them; there’s a little less demand.”

  • 01/06/2022: NuovaMente, Paolo Turati: Quasi 3 miliardi di Dollari dalle Aste d’Arte di New York di Maggio 2022 Per carità, ora Christie’s ha almeno un paio di Sessioni colme di capolavori il 12 Maggio per poter recuperare (la Collezione Bass e l’Evening Sale del XX Secolo nonchè a seguire, dal momento le Sessioni una volta minori stanno sempre più diventando foriere di affari, la parte “Day Sale”), tuttavia l’invenduto del Basquiat pone qualche interrogativo sulla salute reale del Mercato dell’Arte, essendo l’Artista americano a detta di molti analisti, come la nostra cara e stimata amica Christine Bourron, Ceo e Fondatrice della Pi-eX Ltd di Londra (probabilmente la miglior casa d’analisi finanziaria del Mercato dell’Arte al Mondo), “il” Benchmark ( https://lnkd.in/dB2WaMq3) cui fa riferimento il livello di prezzi del Mercato dell’Arte Contemporanea.

  • 02/03/2022: New York Times: Magritte Sets Record With $79.7 Million Sale at Sotheby’s The Tuesday evening sales at Christie’s raised $298 million; the Wednesday evening auction of modern and contemporary works at Sotheby’s, preceded by “The Now,” took in $297.2 million. That combined total of $595 million was 39 percent down from the $971 million achieved at the equivalent London sales in February 2014, when art sales were at a high, according to Pi-eX... With Britain’s economy diminished by Brexit and China a more powerful force in the global art market, London was the third-biggest-selling auction center in 2021, behind New York and Hong Kong, according to Pi-eX, a London-based company that analyzes international auction sales...

  • 22/12/2021: The Art Newspaper: Have price and value in the art market parted ways for good?: ...“I understand why the auction houses do it, but guarantees make it harder to evaluate the true market value of artists,” says Christine Bourron, the chief executive of the London-based auction analysis company Pi-eX. “Guarantees give the false impression that everything sells and prices keep rising,” Bourron adds.

  • 16/12/2021: Financial Times: No NFT, no comment — how digital art dominated 2021: ...Overall, public auction figures for the three main houses, Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips, more than reversed their 2020 decline. Combined, they turned over $12bn in the year to December 8, up 76 per cent on 2020 and 20 per cent above the equivalent 2019 total, according to the analytics firm Pi-eX.

  • 15/12/2021: The Motley Fool: Sotheby's Considers an IPO Two Years After It Went Private: According to data from Pi-eX, hybrid auctions, where the process is livestreamed online with an auctioneer in view, have been a particular success, with sales via this medium rising from to $5.1bn this year, almost quadruple their $1.4bn level last year.

  • 15/12/2021: CITY A.M.: French tycoon Drahi mulls US IPO for Sotheby’s auction house: According to data from Pi-eX, hybrid auctions, where the process is livestreamed online with an auctioneer in view, have been a particular success, with sales via this medium rising from to $5.1bn this year, almost quadruple their $1.4bn level last year.

  • 25/11/2021: Financial Times: Stormtrooper ‘Art Wars’ sparks legal action: ...This month’s megawatt auctions in New York put the total public sales of 2021 on track to nearly double on last year’s hampered results, finds Christine Bourron, chief executive of the art marketanalytics firm, Pi-eX. Sales from Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips are currently running at $10.8bn for the year to date, compared with $5.8bn for the same period last year, Bourron finds...

  • 23/11/2021: CNBC: Blockbuster art week sets record with more than $2.6 billion in sales: The fall art auctions in New York set an all-time record, with more than $2.6 billion in sales, according to Pi-eX, an art data and analytics firm...

  • 17/11/2021: CAIA: The Market for Jean‐Michel Basquiat: a Roller Coaster Ride Rather than a Quiet, Steady, and Sustainable Climb: As inflation looms, finding ways to manage the inflationary pressures is becoming critical. Historically, art has often been seen as a solution. Christine Bourron Chief Executive Officer and Founder Pi-eX Ltd, explores a report which found that inflation was one of the main motivations for buying art (along with return on investment and portfolio diversification)...

  • 05/11/2021: propertymark: Auctioneers experiencing popularity boost: Analytics firm Pi-eX Ltd also reported that the top three public auction houses—Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips —saw a 405 per cent year-over-year increase in sales during the second quarter of 2021 between the months of April and June...

  • 01/11/2021: Arts: How Has COVID-19 Affected the Public Auction Market?: Leveraging Pi-eX’s public auction results database and its 12-month-rolling methodology, our analysis shows (1) the surge of online only auctions while the number of live auctions plummeted; (2) the limitations of online only auctions and the rise of new opportunities; and (3) a comparison of the COVID-19 crisis with previous art market crisis in the past 15 years.

  • 22/10/2021: New York Times: At FIAC Art Fair, Ambitions Are High. Can Sales Keep Pace?: ... In the first half of this year, turnover at auction sales in Hong Kong increased 47 percent compared with the same period in 2019. In London, they were down 21 percent, according to the London-based art auction analysts Pi-eX...

  • 15/10/2021: New York Times: At Frieze London, the Art World Inches Toward Normalcy: ... But overall, London’s Frieze Week auctions are contracting. The aggregate 508 lots of contemporary art offered by Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips this week is less than half the 1,228 auctioned during the equivalent series in fall 2015, according to Pi-eX, a London-based art market analytics company...

  • 07/09/2021: The Art Newspaper: Armory week marks a return to normal—but not business as usual: ... That confidence makes sense considering auction sales saw an increase of 230% for the first half of 2021, according to the London-based data analytics company Pi-eX, which found that sales from the triumvirate of international auction houses—Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s—brought in a combined $5.8bn by the end of June, $4bn more than in 2020...

  • 30/08/2021: ARTnews: Picasso, Basquiat Lead Auction Market’s Comeback: ... According to a recent report published by London art market data firm Pi-eX, auctions in North America, which is typically the largest regional market, fell even further in 2021...

  • 24/08/2021: Lovemoney: Amazing Sales and Auctions of 2021: ... Despite the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, auction sales have bounced back in the first half of 2021, with the top auction houses seeing sales boosted by 230% according to Pi-eX data....

  • 23/07/2021: ARTnews: Auction Sales Rebound to Pre-Pandemic Levels with Boost from Asia: Report: According to a report published by London-based art market analytics firm Pi-eX, auction sales are once again at pre-pandemic levels after a tumultuous year of financial strain.

  • 08/07/2021: InterFax: Semi-Annual Sales of Top Auction Houses Tripled: In January-June 2021, the cumulative sales of the world's leading auction houses grew by 230% on an annualized basis, follows from the report of the British analytical firm Pi-eX.

  • 08/07/2021: Artnet: Art Industry News: Auction Sales Spike a Staggering 230 Percent Across the Top Auction Houses in the First Half of 2021: sales from the Big Three auction houses are up 230 percent in the first half of 2021, according to data from Pi-eX. Phillips, Christie’s, and Sotheby’s combined $5.8 billion in sales suggest that recovery is well underway; in fact, the figure is up $30 million from the equivalent pre-pandemic period in 2019.

  • 07/07/2021: Financial Times: Auction sales more than double this year: ...Data from Pi-eX finds that sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips, the largest international auction houses, hit a total $5.8bn by June 30, up from $1.75bn in 2020.

  • 02/07/2021: New York Times: Sothebyʼs and Christieʼs Reimagined Auctions Pay Off: ...“London is down,” said Christine Bourron, chief executive of Pi-eX, a London-based research company that tracks the performance of international art auctions. “It needs to reinvent itself. Brexit is making the trade more difficult.”

  • 17/06/2021: CADAF: NFTs & Digital Art: A Market Assessment: CADAF Online 2021: Panel discussion with Christine Bourron, chief executive of Pi-eX

  • 07/06/2021: New York Times: Gallery Weekend Brings London’s Art Scene Back to Life: ...At the end of May, the 12-month total for auction sales at Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s in London was $1.7 billion, $1 billion down on the equivalent total in 2019, according to Pi-eX, an art market research company.

  • 16/04/2021: The Art Newspaper: The cost of a single tulip bulb surged to the same price as a mansion 400 years ago: are NFTs the ‘tulipmania’ of the 21st century?: ...Christine Bourron, the chief executive of the London-based art market analysts Pi-eX, has a simple explanation. “Ether has gone from $100 a year ago to $1,800. A group of people have become millionaires and billionaires in cryptocurrency,” Bourron says. “It’s very complicated to turn it back into dollars or another fiat currency, and they don’t have many options for spending their ether.” And NFTs are one of those few options.

  • 25/03/2021: JingDaily: Auction Houses Embrace Luxury Fashion as New Frontier: ...“The‌ ‌auction‌ ‌houses‌ ‌are‌ ‌scaling‌ ‌in‌ ‌terms‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌number‌ ‌of‌ ‌auctions, ‌but‌ ‌not‌ yet ‌money,” ‌said‌ ‌Christine‌ ‌Bourron, ‌chief executive of the art‌ ‌market‌ ‌research‌ ‌company‌ Pi-eX‌‌, to the New York Times. The London-based company’s research showed that auction efforts in luxury have yet to make substantial contributions to earnings.

  • 24/12/2020: MoneyWeek: The art market managed to tough it out in 2020: It’s been a tough year for auction houses. The “big three” – Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips – suffered a combined 79% drop in revenue for the second quarter of 2020 compared with the same three months in 2019, according to art market analytics firm Pi-eX.

  • 22/12/2020: The Financial Times quotes Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron, as it looks back at the year 2020 in an article entitled The stop-start year in art collecting

  • 27/11/2020: As it reviews the recent focus on luxury items at auction houses, The New York Times quotes Pi-eX's research in an article entitled Sotheby’s Reports $2.5 Billion in Sales

  • 20/10/2020: Droit et Patrimoine: Repercussion de la Pandemie sur les Chiffres des Ventes aux Encheres (Impact of the Pandemy on Auction Sales) by Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron.

  • 06/08/2020: Artsy: Christie’s, Phillips, and Sotheby’s experienced a 79 percent revenue drop in the second quarter of 2020 quotes Pi-eX's report on Q2 2020

  • 05/08/2020: The ART Market Monitor quotes Pi-eX's Q2 Report and shares that Top Three Houses See 79 Percent Year-Over-Year Drop in Second Quarter of 2020

  • 03/08/2020: The New York Times< reports on Sotheby's results and compares them to data independently compiled by Pi-eX in an article entitled Sotheby’s Reports $2.5 Billion in Sales

  • 23/07/2020: Artsy: Despite an online boost, auction houses saw a 49 percent drop in sales in the first half of 2020 quotes Pi-eX's report on the first half of 2020

  • 12/06/2020: MoneyWeek looks at the findings of Pi-eX's May Monthly Report and highlights the challenges faced by the auction houses since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

  • 12/06/2020: In an article about the new virtual reality for the art market, The Art Newspaper compares the "online experience" with the "real life" experience and quotes Pi-eX CEO, Christine Bourron, making various hypothesis why so far online auctions have not performed as well as Live auctions

  • 09/06/2020: The Daimani Journal quotes Pi-eX CEO, Christine Bourron, as she comments on the switch from Live to online auctions and the impact this had on the Auction Houses' monthly and quarterly revenue

  • 04/06/2020: Artnews titles Top Auction Houses Saw 40 Percent Drop in Q1 Sales quoting Pi-eX's First Quarter reports

  • 03/06/2020: Based on Pi-eX's latest monthly May report, the Financial Times announces that Sale totals worldwide fell 97 per cent at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips during May.

  • 15/05/2020: Is the Future of the Art Market online? In a Podcast, arranged by The Art Newspaper, Scott Reyburn mentions Pi-eX's MACRO report about sales at auction houses in April 2020

  • 12/05/2020: April 2020: What data tells us about the impact of Covid-19 on the art market: To answer this question, Pi-eX invited a small group of art & finance experts and asked them to review and discuss Pi-eX latest reports, analysing auction sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips.

  • 09/05/2020: How did Covid 19 impact auctions at the top 3 auction houses in the first Quarter of 2020?: Pi-eX's Quarterly analysis of the first quarter 2020 highlights the impact of Covid-19 on the auction business over Q1 2020.

  • 30/04/2020: Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron, presented Pi-eX's research about March 2020: What data tells us about the Impact of Covid-19 on the art market on One Art Nation.

  • 16/04/2020: March 2020: the month when online sales finally made it to the top: Pi-eX's analysis shows that while March 2020 will most likely be remembered as the month when Covid-19 started to seriously impact the auction business, it should also be remembered as the first month when combined Online sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips represented the majority of auctions arranged by the auction houses.

  • 09/04/2020: What happened to the lots scheduled to be auctioned in the March 2020 sales that had to be cancelled because of Covid19?: Pi-eX reviews what happened to the more than 2,000 lots that were postponed following the cancellation of the sales where they were scheduled to be auctioned.

  • 06/04/2020: Paris Impressionist & Modern Art Auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's: 2007 - 2020: Pi-eX analyses the Paris sales to highlight what did not happen this year in order to get a sense of the impact these cancellations will have on the art market.

  • 05/04/2020: The effect of Covid 19 on the top three auction houses' March 2020 auction schedules: Pi-eX outlines differing strategies at the top 3 auction houses after they are forced to close doors.

  • 26/03/2020: New York March Asia Week cancelled because of Covid-19: Pi-eX looks back at the performance of the New York March Asia Week from 2007 to 2019 as the 2020 auctions for that week are all cancelled but one.

  • 10/03/2020: Pi-eX’s February 2020 monthly report confirms the decline of the UK market: Pi-eX's analysis shows the strengths and weaknesses of the art market in February 2020.

  • 05/03/2020: The International Art Market Study Association (TIAMSA) announces "The Pi-eX Private Collections Trends & Performance Report. The report compares the performance of various types of evening Sales (Repeating Calendar Sales, Private Collection Sales and Curated Sales) in London, New York and Hong Kong from 2007 to 2018 at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips.

  • 24/02/2020: Passion Investment Exchange: ‘Reconciling the worlds of finance and art’: Private Art Investor interviews Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron on the themes of art, finance and technology

  • 21/02/2020: In an article about Donald Marron collection to be sold privately: Private Art Investor quotes Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron, highlighting the fact that in the world of fine art data, only public auctions' results are reliable.

  • 20/02/2020: Pi-eX issues its long awaited report on the Performance of Private Collections at the Top Three auction houses: When selling a private collection at auction, is it better to run alone or with teammates?, analysing 385 evening auction sales, 178 in London and 153 in New York and 54 in Hong Kong of which 159 were arranged by Christie’s, 158 by Sotheby’s and 68 by Phillips.

  • 17/02/2020: Phillips' February London 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sales results: Pi-eX reviews Phillips London Contemporary Art Evening Sales that took place on February 13th 2020 in London and highlights how different this year's sale was from the previous two years.

  • 16/02/2020: Christie's February London 2020 Contemporary Art Evening Sales Results: Pi-eX reviews Christie’s London Contemporary Art Evening Sales that took place on February 12th 2020 in London and explains why the results although disappointing at first sight still demonstrated a good performance.

  • 15/02/2020: Sotheby's February London 2020 Contemporary Art Evening Sales Results: Pi-eX reviews Sotheby’s London Contemporary Art Evening Sales that took place on February 11th 2020 in London and highlights how Irrevocable Bids have contributed to the strong sale this year.

  • 11/02/2020: Christie's Impressionist & Modern Art and Surrealist Evening Sales Results: Pi-eX reviews Christie’s London Impressionist & Modern Art and Surrealist Evening Sales that took place on February 5th 2020 in London.

  • 09/02/2020: Sotheby's Impressionist Modern & Surrealist February London 2020 Evening Sales Results: Pi-eX reviews Sotheby’s London Impressionist, Modern & Surrealist Art Evening Sale that took place on February 4th 2020 in London.

  • 05/02/2020: Pi-eX issues its January 2020 MACRO Monthly Reports comparing the performance of worldwide auctions sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips in January 2020 versus the auction houses' January performance for each of the years from 2007 to 2019.

  • 30/01/2020: The International Art Market Study Association (TIAMSA) announces "The Pi-eX MACRO 2019 Annual Report on Auction Sales. The report provides an overview of the combined worldwide auction results over the past decade (2010 to 2019) at the three major auction houses: CHRISTIE’S, SOTHEBY’S & PHILLIPS.

  • 26/01/2020: Focus on the 2019 auction market: What a difference a year can make: Pi-eX looks back at the 2019 worldwide performance of auctions at the three leading auction houses: Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips and outlines key differences versus the previous years.

  • 24/01/2020: All key auction markets saw revenue decrease in 2019 versus 2018 but one...: Pi-eX Research details how auction revenue at the top 3 Auction Houses decreased in 2019 versus 2018 in most of the key art markets across the world, resulting in an overall decline of 15% Year on Year.

  • 15/01/2020: While auction revenue decreased in 2019 versus 2018, auction houses increased the number of auctions arranged: Pi-eX Research shows how after years of stagnation, the leading auction houses started to increase dramatically the number of auctions they arrange each year, with the special addition of new pure online auctions.

  • 09/01/2020: Auction revenue decline in 2019 leads to changes in revenue market share among the top 3 auction houses: Pi-eX Research outlines the impact of the 2019 auction revenue decrease on the market share of each leading auction house: Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips.

  • 07/01/2020: Combined revenue from auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips declined in 2019 compared to 2018: Pi-eX Research publishes its 2019 Auction Revenue Annual Report, covering a decade of auction sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips and outlining the latest trends of 2019.

  • 05/01/2020: Pi-eX issues its 2019 MACRO Annual Reports analysing worldwide auctions sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips over the past decade.

  • 20/12/2019: The Art Law Magazine in its #10 edition publishes "Running Alone or with Teammates?, an article written by Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO and Matteo Pace, Pi-eX Market Analyst, about the performance of Single Owner collections at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips evening sales.

  • 05/12/2019: Key Takeaways from the New York November 2019 auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips: Pi-eX Research reviews the recent November 2019 New York repeating sales and shares its key takeaways.

  • 28/11/2019: The London December 2019 Old Masters Week is around the corner: Ahead of this year’s Old Masters week, Pi-eX Research looked at the past thirteen years, to clarify the types of auctions included in the London December Old Master week and outline potential trends and changes.

  • 12/11/2019: A good time to buy at this year’s Christie’s Impressionist & Modern November evening sales: Pi-eX analysis shows that Low reserve prices combined with the fact that estimates were on average much lower this year than in the past few years, made for an interesting purchasing opportunity, which did not escape some collectors.

  • 11/11/2019: Auction Guarantees Lifted the Art Market to Record-Breaking Heights. The Only Problem? The Golden Age of Guarantees Is Over: Eileen Kinsela from Artnet reviews the rise and fall of guarantees quoting some of Pi-eX research on the subject.

  • 08/11/2019: New York November Impressionist Evening Sales: Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back: Looking at the number of lots catalogued at the November New York Impressionist Evening Sales and their Low Estimates, Pi-eX analysis shows that the profile of the 2019 sales is much similar to the 2015 sales’ rather than that of the past 2 years

  • 04/11/2019: The New York November 2019 auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips are around the corner...: Pi-eX analyzes 13 years of November Auction Sales in New York and highlights key features of the sales over the years.

  • 28/10/2019: Third Quarter 2019 at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips reveals some interesting new trends at auctions: Pi-eX issues its report for Q3 2019 showing that combined auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips declined 24% YoY from US$688m in 2018 to US$526m in 2019.

  • 23/10/2019: Paris October 2019 FIAC week evening auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s: Pi-eX reviews Auction Sales in Paris during FIAC week. Entitled “Avant Garde” at Christie’s and “Modernites” at Sotheby’s, the sales have grown in importance as this year’s results shows.

  • 14/10/2019: Sotheby's Fall Auction Season in Hong Kong was business as usual: Pi-eX reflects on Sotheby's Fall week of Auction Sales in Hong Kong, where the auction house auctioned more than 4,000 lots, and sold 3,400 of them in 20 separate auctions for a value surpassing HK$3.3B (about US$435m).

  • 08/10/2019: London Frieze art Week: Time to reflect on this year's auction sales: After a busy Frieze week in London, Pi-eX looks back at the sales and reviews their performance in light of previous years performances.

  • 01/10/2019: The Art Newspaper publishes an article entitled "The blue chip delusion: why investors should be wary of the brand name lure focusing on whether “brand name artists” can be considered gold-plated assets or “Blue chip”. Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron, shares some insights from Pi-eX's research on the subject.

  • 01/10/2019: Collezione da Tiffany publishes an article entitled "Aste e “garanzie”: il lato oscuro del mercato presenting some of Pi-eX's findings on auction guarantees.

  • 29/09/2019: London Frieze art Week: A historical Perspective of auctions assembled around the fair by Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips: Ahead of the 2019 Frieze week, Pi-eX takes a look back at 12 historical years of auction sales around Frieze to better understand what has changed overtime.

  • 24/09/2019: Who can you trust in the art market? was the subject of a panel discussion Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron, participated in - event organized by the Art Innovators Alliance

  • 22/09/2019: After Christie's auction sale in Shanghai, China, on 21st September 2019, Pi-eX's September Shanghai Contemporary MICRO reports compares the 2019 sale with the previous 6 years in Shanghai​.

  • 17/09/2019: Interview of Pi-eX's CEO, Christine Bourron on the theme Does the art world need transparency?

  • 10/09/2019: artnet's Fall 2019 Intelligence Report includes an article entitled "Why the Golden Age of Auction Guarantees Is Probably Over" featuring Pi-eX's research on Auction House Guarantees and Third Party Guarantees.

  • 05/07/2019: Pi-eX Quarterly Report Summary: Q2 2019: Pi-eX's Quarterly MACRO report shows that Second Quarter 2019 revenues at the top three auction houses declined versus revenues in Q2 2018.

  • 30/05/2019: Christie’s Hong Kong Evening Sale: A Decade to Breakout: The Art Market Monitor historical charts of the growth of Christie's Spring Evening sales in Hong Kong, leveraging Pi-eX's research: MICRO Modern & Contemporary Spring Hong Kong Evening Sales Results at Christie's – 2007-2019 Tailored Report.

  • 09/05/2019: Guarantees & Irrevovable Bids: Are the Fine Art Market’s Magic Tools starting to wear out?: How do Lots with an Irrevocable Bid/Third Party Guarantee perform on average at auctions versus Lots without a Guarantee? Pi-eX's latest analysis provides some answers.

  • 08/05/2019: May 2019 New York Contemporary evening Sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips: Ahead of the Contemporary Evening sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips in New York, Bénédicte Taillandier Thomas reviews Pi-eX's May New York Contemporary MICRO reports and presents key findings by comparing the 2019 auction catalogues with the past 12 years​.

  • 03/05/2019: May 2019 New York Impressionist evening Sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s: Ahead of the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening sales at Christie's and Sotheby's in New York, Bénédicte Taillandier Thomas reviews Pi-eX's May New York Impressionist MICRO reports and presents key findings by comparing the 2019 auction catalogues with the past 12 years​.

  • 02/05/2019: O Day sales how Art thou?: Analyzing Pi-eX's Day Auction MACRO report and Pi-eX's Day Auction MICRO report, Anna Benoliel looks at the state of Fine art Day Sales at auctions and reflects on what this may mean for the fine art market and for the upcoming New York 2019 Spring Sales.

  • 05/04/2019: Pi-eX Quarterly Report Summary: Q1 2019: Pi-eX's Quarterly MACRO report confirms that First Quarter 2019 revenues at the top three auction houses decreased versus revenues in Q1 2018.

  • 02/04/2019: Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Sales, 2007-2019: The Art Market Monitor reviews 6 years of Sotheby's Spring Hong Kong Modern and Contemporary Art evening sales, leveraging Pi-eX's research: MICRO Modern & Contemporary Spring Hong Kong Evening Sales Results at Sotheby's – 2007-2019 Tailored Report.

  • 15/03/2019: London Winter Contemporary Sales, 2007-2019: This 13-year analysis of February Contemporary Art Evening sales by The Art Market Monitor is based on Pi-eX's report and includes the latest auction results of the 2019 London Winter Contemporary evening sales

  • 04/03/2019: London Winter Impressionist & Modern Evening Sales, 2007-2019: This 13-year analysis of February Impressionist & Modern Art Evening sales by The Art Market Monitor is based on Pi-eX's report and includes the latest auction results of the 2019 London Winter Impressionist & Modern evening sales

  • 23/02/2019: Auction house and third party guarantees: market developments and legal perspectives: As part of the Study Forum organized by the Institute of Art & Law, Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO, and Azmina Jasani, solicitor at Constantine Cannon provided both a market and a legal perspective around the use of Auction House Guarantees and Irrevocable Bids at the top three auction houses.

  • 18/02/2019: Analytical and Financial Tools for the Art Market: Interview with Christine Bourron , the Founder of Pi-eX Ltd: Etienne Verbist, an authority in the field of crowd sourcing, disruptive business modelling and disruptive art interviewed Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO. During the interview, Christine shared information about Pi-eX's fine art research platform and the rational for Pi-eX Contract on future Sales (CFS).

  • 05/02/2019: The Top of the Impressionist & Modern Market, 2007-18: Leveraging Pi-eX's research, The Art Market Monitor looks back at 12 years of Impressionist & Modern evening sales and shares his insights on what has been happening during the growth years of 2009-2015 and the "correction" since 2016.

  • 31/01/2019: The Top of the Contemporary Art Market, 2007-2018: Leveraging Pi-eX's research, The Art Market Monitor looks back at 12 years of Contemporary Art evening sales and shares his insights on what has been happening during the growth years of 2010-2014 and the "correction" since 2016.

  • 22/01/2019: Three Phases of the Auction Market, 2007-2018: The Art Market Monitor looks back at repeating Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art evening sales at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips over the past 12 years and shares its view on what this means for the fine art market.

  • 10/01/2019: Pi-eX Quarterly Report: Q4 2018: Pi-eX's Quarterly MACRO report shows that Fourth Quarter 2018 revenues at the top three auction houses decreased versus revenues in Q4 2017.

  • 17/12/2018: Did the latest New York Impressionist and Modern day sales just show that art buyers are price sensitive?: Pi-eX's research on the latest Impressionist & Modern Day Sales in New York at top auction houses seems to indicate that buyers' price sensitibity may be a driver of price adjustments in that market.

  • 15/12/2018: Price guarantees are common at art auctions ... but their record value is distorting the art market: The Economist mentions Pi-eX's research in an article about Auction Guarantees and their impact on the fine art market.

  • 28/11/2018: Do Third Party Guarantees at Fine Art auctions increase the risk for sellers without a guarantee?: Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO, shares some of the company's research that seems to indicate that Irrevocable Bids and Third Party guarantees may have an impact on the performance of lots without guarantees.

  • 12/11/2018: Guarantees: the next big art market scandal?: The Art Newspaper mentions Pi-eX's research on Guarantees and shares its concerns that Irrevocable Bids and Third Party guarantees may have a negative impact on the Fine Art market.

  • 11/10/2018: Art investment myth busters: Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO, debunks some of the most common misconceptions about investing in fine art at an event organized by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI).

  • 23/10/2018: "Glimmers of light for the London October Contemporary Day sales": Pi-eX 's research on the London October Contemporary Day Sales shows the show recovery over the market since 2008 and address some of the questions that remain to be answered.

  • 04/10/2018: "Will the October Contemporary Art evening sales in London continue to show strength?": Pi-eX 's research looks at historical performance at the October Contemporary Art evening sales in London to predict what could happen in 2018.

  • 28/09/2018: "All eyes on Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Art fall sales in Hong Kong!": Pi-eX 's research looks at historical performance at Sotheby's Fall Modern and Contemporary Art evening sales in Hong Kong to predict what could happen in 2018.

  • 26/09/2018: "Is London no longer the preferred location for auctioning contemporary Italian fine art?": Pi-eX 's research looks at historical performance at the the October London Italian evening sales to predict what could happen in 2018.

  • 14/09/2018: Pi-eX 's research on Guarantees & Irrevocable Bids is mentioned in a New York Times' article.

  • 13/09/2018: Pi-eX is nominated as a finalist for Best Financial Start-up in the 2018 Financial Innovation Awards. The Financial Innovation Awards is presented by The London Institute of Banking & Finance and UK Finance. The awards, which are in their 20th year, celebrate the very best projects in global banking and finance.

  • 05/09/2018: "Guarantees & Irrevocable Bids. The Fine Art Market's Magic Tools?" Pi-eX publishes key insights from its 11 year analysis of the performance of guarantees and irrevocable bids at London and New York evening sales.

  • 30/08/2018: "ArtTactic Podcast" Christine Bourron, Pi-eX's CEO, introduces listeners of the ArtTactic Podcast to the Contract on Future Sales (CFS), a product that enables artwork sellers to pre-sell a percentage of their artwork to investors in advance of their artwork heading to auction.

  • 30/05/2018: "Christie’s Hong Kong Evening Sale: A Decade to Breakout": Post-auction analysis by the Art Market Monitor using Pi-eX research

  • 22/05/2018: "A Quick Look at New York’s Contemporary Evening Sales": Post-auction analysis by the Art Market Monitor using Pi-eX research

  • 16/05/2018: "Imp-Mod Evening Sales Have Best May Ever": Post-auction analysis by the Art Market Monitor using Pi-eX research

  • 11/05/2018: "How’s This Season’s Contemporary Market Stacking Up?": Pre-auction analysis by the Art Market Monitor using Pi-eX research

  • 02/05/2018: "Value Intensifies in the Impressionist and Modern Market": Pre-auction analysis by the Art Market Monitor using Pi-eX research

  • 30/04/2018: Is the Art Market focusing on the right set of data?: Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO, argues that looking at the right set of data, art collectors and investors could have seen in May 2008 early signs of the challenges of the years to come in the fine art market.

  • 13/04/2018: 8th World Women Lawyers' Conference: Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO, participated in a panel focusing on our women are changing the fine art market.

  • 19/03/2018: Third Party Guarantees at the Spring London Contemporary Evening Sales: Increase of Low Estimates but little boost to Hammer Prices: Pi-eX looks at the impact of Third Party Guarantees on the results of the Spring London Contemporary Evening Sales.

  • 28/02/2018: Insights from art buyers' and sellers' behaviors at evening auction sales: While the impressionist & surrealist February auction sales take place in London, Pi-eX looks back at historical evening sales over 10+ years at Christie's and Sotheby's to see what the behaviors of buyers and sellers can teach us.

  • 31/12/2017: Pi-eX publishes its 2017 TOP 10 SERIES

  • 14/12/2017: A New Approach to Art Data Analysis: Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO explains how Pi-eX is shifting the focus from the artworks to the collectors.

  • 08/11/2017: Deloitte 5th Art & Finance Report features Pi-eX as one of seven key Art data & analytics providers in the fine art market. In a separate article, Pi-eX CEO, Christine Bourron shares her vision of data analysis for the art market.

  • 06/10/2017: During Frieze week London 2017, Pi-eX CEO, Christine Bourron, was a panelist on the Vastari / Cromwell Place event about Mining for Big Data in the Art World .

  • 15/09/2017: Pi-eX is invited by the Asia Institute of Art & finance to participate in "The 2nd edition of the Global Art Financier Program London Module"

  • 07/09/2017: Pi-eX is nominated as a finalist for Best Innovation in the Data category for the 2017 Financial Innovation Awards. The Financial Innovation Awards is presented by The London Institute of Banking & Finance and UK Finance. The awards, which are in their 20th year, celebrate the very best projects in global banking and finance.

  • 19/06/2017: What to expect at Sotheby's Impressionist evening sale in London? As Sotheby's prepares for its June 2017 London Impressionist evening sales, Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO looks at what data tells us about comparable sales over the past 10 years and what we can expect for this year.

  • 05/05/2017: Will the New York Impressionist Market follow the London trend? Ahead of the May 2017 New York Impressionist & Modern and Contemporary evening sales, Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO looks at guarantee level and its potential impact on the upcoming sales.

  • 21/04/2017: Is segmentation by price relevant in the fine art market? Price segmentation is commun practice, but rarely used in the fine art market? Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO gives a concrete example of how price segmentation can bring interesting insights when analysing fine art auction results.

  • 28/03/2017: How Categorizing artworks' performance at public auctions can help better understand the state of the fine art market.: Christine Bourron, Pi-eX CEO shares some insights into how Pi-eX uses standard categories to better understand trends in the fine art market.

  • 24/01/2017: Which artists attracted most fine art collectors'​ money in 2016 and how?: Pi-eX CEO, Christine Bourron, reflects on fine art top auction sales in 2016 and who the top 10 most attractive artists for art buyers in 2016 were.

  • 31/12/2016: Pi-eX publishes its 2016 TOP 10 SERIES

  • 31/05/2016: In an Artsy Editorial, Alexander Forbes describes Pi-eX as the "one interesting, late-breaking development in the art investment space", which "should allow both art buyers and sellers to hedge their risk when selling a particularly major piece, something that could, if adopted successfully, have interesting implications for the auctions business and the guarantees houses currently use to help consignors mitigate their risk exposure.".

  • 24/05/2016 and 25/05/2016: ART & FINANCE PRESENTATIONS & BRAIN STORMINGS Pi-eX organizes in London a series of presentations of the Deloitte Art & Finance report followed by brainstormings. Small groups of art and finance professionals - art investors, wealth managers, lawyers, art dealers, etc. - were invited to participate. Some of the subjets discussed included: art as an asset class, transparency in the art market, regulation of the art market, risk management, art derivatives, blockchain, etc...

  • 21/04/2016: Deloitte Luxembourg features Pi-eX in its latest Art & Finance report. In Part 3, "Art as an Investment", Pi-eX's Contract on Future Sales (CFS) are listed as one of the new developments.

  • 15/03/2016: Art is clearly not a commodity but the art world could still learn from the commodities world: Pi-eX Founder & CEO, Christine Bourron, writes about how she sees great similarities between the commodities markets at the end of the 19th century and the fine art market today. In particular, she outlines the role of derivative instruments in allowing tremendous growth in the commodities markets and asks whether the same could happen for the art market.

  • 07/03/2016: WHEN ART MEETS FINTECH: Pi-eX first mini Hackathon took place at the Photographer's Gallery in London. A small group of selected senior executives with complementary experiences were invited to participate: art professionals, finance professionals, art collectors, Fintech entrepreneurs, art advisors, wealth managers, art lawyers, art dealers, etc... Within a few hours, new opportunities and avenues of growth were discussed for the art market.

  • 12/02/2016: Art Finance & Law Conference/Art Law Foundation (FDA): Risks, rules & opportunities in art investing: The FDA conference took place at the beautiful AXA Insurance headquarter in Paris. Pi-eX participated in a panel answering the question: Is art an asset class like others?

  • 10/02/2016: FCA AUTHORIZATION: Pi-eX receives authorization from the FCA to arrange and sell Contracts on Future Sales (CFS), the first financial derivative based on Fine art.

  • 15/10/2015: Art Business and Finance Talk at The Wharton School of Business: Pi-eX Founder & CEO, Christine Bourron, was invited to speak to the Wharton A.R.T. club about her experience and knowledge of Fine Art Auction Business, the current artwork underwriting process and how her new business Pi-eX is looking to revolutionize the Fine Art industry.

  • on-going updates: FINE ART NEWS FOR ART INVESTORS: Pi-eX Linkedin page outlines the latest important news art investors should be aware of. For on-going updates follow Pi-eX on Linkedin.
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