Stories

The headline numbers for Christie’s in 2021 were very impressive indeed, but the most interesting metrics for the art market come deeper down in the auction house’s $7.1 billion results. Half way through 2021, it was clear that the art market was going to have a very strong year.

The holidays in America bring to mind images of the painter Norman Rockwell. Dismissed during much of his lifetime and after as a mere ‘illustrator’ best known for his magazine covers for the Saturday Evening Post, Rockwell’s work has become immensely valuable in a relatively short amount of time.

At Art Basel in Miami Beach, LiveArt’s Marion Maneker moderated a panel on price transparency with Esther Kim Varet, Heather Flow, and Alexander Forbes.

The LiveArt Hot 25 shines a light on artists whose work saw the most dynamic bidding in public auctions during 2021. From our comprehensive database of auctions, we isolated the artists whose work was bid the farthest above the low estimates.

Everyone knew 2021 was an extraordinary year simply judging from the first half results six months ago. Now that the final numbers are in at Sotheby’s we can see that the tally is greater than any time in the firm’s previous 277-year history.

From Beeple to Banksy to George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware—these five sales just might be turning points toward the future

Things are going so well for Phillips in Hong Kong—CEO Stephen Brooks says client interaction in Asia is up 30% since the lockdown—that they’re moving to a new location right next to the M+ Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The move will take place in the Fall of 2022.

Phillips pulled off an auction coup for an artist previously known through his friendship with—and influence upon—Matthew Wong

Hong Kong’s HKD 2.68 billion ($344 million) sales at Christie’s and Phillips were a surprising mixture of global, Western and Asian artists. There were a number of breakout sales for artists with relatively brief sales histories and works very recently made.

At the top of the market, records were set for Huang Yuxing, Yayoi Kusama and solid gains realized for Sanyu

Sotheby’s sold a rare and storied Roman statue of Aphrodite in London for a record price of £18.6 million ($24.6 million). Sotheby’s says the price is a record for any ancient marble sculpture sold at auction. The work was offered in a single lot sale with a low estimate of £2 million.

Art Basel Miami Beach re-emerged from its two-year suspended animation seemingly without so much as a cryogenic burn. Like everything else in our pandemic-paused world, the last fair seemed like it had taken place just yesterday or in another era entirely.