Sotheby’s Sells $7.3B in Art in 2021 Thanks Partly to First-Time Bidders

Sotheby’s has sold $7.3 billion in art sales this year, a new high for the 277-year-old company, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday (Dec. 15).

The WSJ attributes this high to millennials’ spending, as the generation spent big on everything from designer watches to digital art.

The $7.3 billion breaks down into $6 billion in auction sales in 2021, along with $1.3 billion in privately brokered art sales.

According to Sotheby’s chief executive Charles Stewart, 44% of the bidders in the last year had never done it before. Some were younger collectors who’d only started buying luxury collection items during the pandemic and stuck around even as in-person sales started up again.

“Younger collectors are playing at a high level we’ve never seen before,” Stewart said. “Luxury has become their on-ramp to collect considerably more.”

The younger buyers have already begun going onto other categories of collections, including rare books, antiquities and vintage cars. This is a change, as new bidders used to focus more on contemporary art and didn’t pay attention to “less-trendy” categories.

However, the auction house still saw a new high for modern and contemporary art with $4.3 billion.

Ultimately, the WSJ writes that the house sold 57 pieces that were worth more than $15 million. The top sale of the year ended up being a $92.2 million Botticelli portrait.

Meanwhile, in books and manuscripts, an original copy of the U.S. Constitution sold for $42.3 million, while a Frida Kahlo book sold for $35 million.

Sotheby’s was right alongside the rest of the world in trying to adapt to the rapidly-digitizing world and the idea of more mainstream digital art, and the house sold almost $100 million in non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Last month, PYMNTS wrote that RM Sotheby’s, the classic car auction house, had begun working with BitPay to allow cryptocurrency payments for auctions to draw in a wider customer base.

Bryon Madsen, chief strategy officer at RM Sotheby’s, said the importance of crypto on the financial landscape made it imperative to keep up with what clients needed in terms of payment options.

See also: Classic Car Auction House RM Sotheby’s Teams With BitPay for Crypto Payments