The year 2022 is coming to an end and the sales results of the renowned auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's, are coming to light. Despite experiencing a difficult macro-environment between the war in Ukraine and high inflation, and after the decline they experienced with the pandemic, they have not only presented an important growth, but both have beaten their historical record.

The auction houses in 2022 they have not only presented an important growth, but both have beaten their historical record.

Christie's announced this December 19 its record sales of $8.4 billion for the year: $7.2 billion in auctions and the other $1.2 billion in private sales. Far surpassing the total of $7.1 billion they raised during 2021.

Executive officer Guillaume Cerutti said that despite the potential adversity currently facing the global market, "the resilience of the art and luxury markets, the remarkable success of several major art collections - including the unforgettable Paul Allen sale - and the expertise and hard work of our teams around the world".

And is that the collection of the Microsoft co-founder who died in 2018 has raised the immense figure of 1.6 billion dollars, as it brought together 150 works with a 500-year history, among them are five works that were sold for more than 100 million dollars each, including a Cezanne, a Van Gogh and a Gauguin. Most of the proceeds will go to charity for the "Giving Pledge," a promise he made in 2009.

According to Christie's, this increase in numbers is driven by "a new generation of collectors: 35% of buyers in 2022 were new and, of those, 34% were millennials (born in the 1980s and 1990s)."It is Asia that has the "fastest growing base of new collectors".

"a new generation of collectors: 35% of buyers in 2022 were new and, of those, 34% were millennials..."

While Sotheby's also announced its year-end with the best results since its founding in 1744. Including in addition to art and luxury items, collector homes and collector cars the auction house has reached $8 billion (€7.5 billion), up from $7.3 billion in 2021, and well above pre-pandemic figures, as 2019 sales gathered a total of $4.8 billion.