Big 3 auction houses report uptick in 2025 revenue, but Asia still lagging

Global collectors have given auction houses a Christmas present: a projected uptick in full-year revenue that marks a reversal from recent years of decline.\nThe “Big Three” – Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips – have reported a combined projected total revenue of US$14.1 billion for 2025, up roughly 10 per cent from 2024.\n“The first half was solid and stable. I feel even better at the end of the year, as a great second half gave us an even stronger finish,” Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan told the Post on December 15, after the company posted a 6 per cent increase in projected sales to US$6.2 billion – a figure that includes both auctions and private sales.\nAnother encouraging sign came two days later, when Sotheby’s announced a 17 per cent jump in its projected sales to US$7 billion. This was followed on December 19 by Phillips’ announcement of a 10 per cent jump that took its 2025 total to US$927 million.\nBut the recovery in Asia is lagging behind that seen in the United States and Europe, at least in terms of auction sales.\nChristie’s Asian auction sales – which mostly take place in Hong Kong, where Sotheby’s and Phillips also have their Asia headquarters – contracted by 5 per cent, while auction sales in the Americas surged 15 per cent and were up 2 per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.\nPhillips’ Hong Kong auctions total was just over HK$1 billion (US$129 million), 6 per cent lower than in 2024 and only 14 per cent of its global total. Sotheby’s did not provide a regional breakdown.\nThe geographic disparity is reinforced by various remarkable November sales in New York, where Sotheby’s inaugurated its new home at the Breuer Building with the sale of a US$236.4 million Gustav Klimt painting and a US$54.7 million Frida Kahlo self-portrait, and where Hong Kong-based dealer Patti Wong bought a Van Gogh painting for US$62.7 million on behalf of an anonymous client.\n“I am still very bullish on Asia,” Brennan said. “My key goal is to fill the pipeline with new buyers. In that regard, Asia is most helpful. It was absolutely the right thing to move into The Henderson. We play the long game.” (Christie’s moved into a lavish space in The Henderson, a new skyscraper in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood, in 2024.)\n\nBlue-chip and modern art remain the focus of Asian collectors, Brennan added, while Asia-Pacific is the top spending region in global luxury auctions.\n“Luxury is where we have the most dialogue with younger buyers and where we have great female engagement,” she said.\nChristie’s international head of jewellery, Rahul Kadakia, will move to Hong Kong in January as the company’s president of Asia-Pacific, a region in which its clients are contributing 37 per cent of the spending in Christie’s global luxury auctions compared with just 23 per cent of all auction sales.\nBrennan noted that there is an “insatiable” appetite for second-hand watches and strong demand for unique coloured stones.\nSotheby’s is doubling down on its luxury-retail-style presentations in Hong Kong, which have helped Asia buck the trend of a global decline in private sales at the company.\nMore than 70 per cent of its new buyers in Asia came through private sales, facilitated largely by its Maison, a new flagship space that opened in Hong Kong’s Landmark shopping centre in July 2024, the company said in a press release. In total, private sales in Asia were 40 per cent higher than in the previous year.\n\n“Looking ahead, we are committed to pioneering new experiences in our city, redefining our physical presence, and curating museum-quality exhibitions that captivate the global art community,” said Masumi Shinohara, managing director of Sotheby’s Asia.\n“These initiatives not only showcase our commitment to excellence but also underscore Asia’s pivotal role in the global art market,” he added.\nThe company is also expecting to see strong demand in auctions and private sales from Southeast Asia in 2026, particularly from collectors in Thailand.\n\nPhillips, too, highlights a notable rise in buying activity from Southeast Asia – particularly Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore.\nAsia‑based collectors remain highly active at the masterwork level, the company said.\nOf the top five lots sold at auction globally, two were acquired by buyers in Asia – believed to be Study for Head of Isabel Rawsthorne and George Dyer (1967), by Francis Bacon, sold for US$16 million in New York on November 19, and Pinky (2000) by Yoshitomo Nara, sold for HK$56.6 million in Hong Kong on September 27.\nAt the other end of the spectrum, Australian artist Cj Hendry’s collectable toy series, called “juju”, drew 10,000 visitors to Phillips’ headquarters in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District over four days in November and sold out within a week, prompting a second order of the rabbit-like plush toys.\n\nThe company is signalling a shift in its Asian auctions model going forward.\n“In the year ahead, Phillips is committed to embracing innovation across our business,” the company said. “We are planning a strategic refresh of some auctions and exploring collaborations with partners to introduce fresh ideas and drive sustained growth.”\n