Auction house Bonhams achieved $552 million in sales in the first half of 2023, making it the best first-half results in company history. The reported results reflect a 32% year-over-year sales increase despite the market correction seen at recent auctions around the world.
The results came on the heels of the first $1 billion the house has achieved since its inception in 1793, following a series of auction house acquisitions and a reinvention of its digital strategy. Last year, Bonhams acquired Bukowskis in Stockholm, Sweden, Skinner in Boston, Massachusetts, Bruun Rasmussuem, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Parisian house Cornette de Saint Cyr – the new house consortium is called the “Bonhams Network”.
Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), Concetto spaziale, Attese (1960) Courtesy of Bonhams.
While expansions helped growth, Bonhams said it was up 20% excluding acquisitions.
“The auction houses acquired last year continue to strengthen Bonhams’ global network, and we have seen a number of memorable sales around the world and achieved remarkable results,” said Bruno Vinciguerra, CEO of Bonhams. , in a press release. “These results confirm the increasing digitization and globalization of the art market at all price points, the two forces that underpin Bonhams’ growth strategy.
Bonhams also said it sold more than 100,000 lots out of 585 sales in the first half of this year. The number of purchases made by new buyers across the Bonhams network increased by 45%. Purchases made by Gen Z and Millennials increased by 147%.
Sales made in the first half of this year have also become international. Some 35% of total art and collectibles sales were “intercontinental purchases”, the house said. About 33% of hammers for fine art and collectibles are sold to buyers based in Asia, up 58% from the same period in 2022.
The Chamber Sword of Tipu Sultan (reg. 1782-1799), a beautiful gold koftgari hilt steel sword (sukhela) India, 18th century. Courtesy of Bonhams.
Investments in overhauling the home’s digital transformation also paid off, with the number of online sales increasing 132% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. Digital bidding has also increased by 62% over this period compared to last year.
A market correction is apparent in the first half of this year, as seen at major art auctions across new York, LondonAnd hong kong, where total modern and contemporary art sales were all down from last year. Bonhams is no exception to this trend either.
The house held a sale of 20th century masters in sole proprietorship and a sale of post-war and contemporary art in London at the end of June during London auction week. Some of the key lots from both sales were hammering in at prices above the presale low estimate. by Lucio Fontana Concetto spaziale, Attese (1960), a remarkable red canvas cut from among the five Fontanas offered that evening, led the sale of 20th Century Masters. It went under the hammer at £1.4m ($1.8m) from a low estimate of £1.3m, and sold for £1.7m ($2.3m). dollars) including fees. by Banksy Congestion charge (2004) from the private collection of British fashion icon Paul Smith, a guaranteed lot, led the post-war and contemporary art sale with a hammer price of £1.4 million ( 1.7 million dollars), against a low estimate of 1.2 million pounds. It sold for almost £1.7 million ($2.3 million), including postage.
Despite the relatively high sale rates of both sales – 26 of 27 lots on offer (96.3%) sold at the 20th Century Masters sale and 38 of 45 lots on offer (84.4%) sold at the post-war and contemporary art, the hammer total of the two sales did not reach the low estimates excluding presale costs. The 20th Century Masters hit a hammer total of over £3.4m ($4.5m), which fell below the lower end of the presale expectation at 5, £4 million. The sale of post-war and contemporary art, on the other hand, reached a total of £2.7 million ($3.5 million), slightly below the low estimate of 2 £.98 million.
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