Auction Houses Post Record $9.4bn First-Half Sales as Wealthy Collectors Shift from Modern Art to Pokémon Cards
In the first half of 2026, global auction revenues at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips totaled $9.4 billion. Christie’s topped the list with $4.5 billion, reflecting a 71% increase, while Sotheby’s followed closely with $4.4 billion, a rise of 58%. Phillips reported $507 million, marking a 60% growth. Heritage Auctions also saw a significant boost, reaching $1.4 billion, up 47%. Notable sales included Christie’s S.I. Newhouse auction at $631 million and Sotheby’s Joe Lewis auction at $406 million, which together accounted for 32% of fine art sales. A record $181.2 million was paid for Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A, and Sotheby’s sold a Rothko for $85.5 million.
Key facts
- Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips posted combined first-half 2026 revenues of $9.4bn with fees.
- Christie’s led with $4.5bn (up 71%), Sotheby’s $4.4bn (up 58%), Phillips $507m (up 60%).
- Heritage Auctions recorded $1.4bn in first-half sales, a 47% increase.
- Single-owner sales accounted for 32% of fine art value at the three major houses, including S.I. Newhouse ($631m) and Joe Lewis ($406m).
- Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A sold for a record $181.2m at Christie’s.
- A Tom Ford leather jacket owned by Jensen Huang fetched $960,000 at Sotheby’s, far above its $40,000–$60,000 estimate.
- A 1998 Pokémon “Pikachu Illustrator” card sold for $16.5m at Goldin to A.J. Scaramucci.
- Bloomberg reports $1 trillion of art will be transferred across generations in the next decade, but Philip Hoffman says younger heirs are uninterested.
- Auction records for Avery Singer, Christina Quarles and Flora Yukhnovich have fallen from $5.3m, $4.5m and $3.6m in 2022 to a top of $63,737 in first-half 2026.
Entities
Artists
- Gabriel Zucman
- Elon Musk
- Anders Petterson
- S.I. Newhouse
- Joe Lewis
- Pauline Karpidas
- Leonard A. Lauder
- Jackson Pollock
- John Naughton
- J.M.W. Turner
- Thomas Lawrence
- Sarah Goodin Barrett Moulton
- Joseph Duveen
- Henry Huntington
- Gerald Reitlinger
- Henry Clay Frick
- Andrew Mellon
- Gainsborough
- Reynolds
- Bernard II van Risenburgh
- Jan Raes
- Monet
- Mark Rothko
- Tom Ford
- Jensen Huang
- Logan Paul
- A.J. Scaramucci
- Anthony Scaramucci
- Sylvain Lévy
- Philip Hoffman
- Avery Singer
- Christina Quarles
- Flora Yukhnovich
- Constantin Brancusi
- Andy Warhol
Institutions
- Christie’s
- Sotheby’s
- Phillips
- Heritage Auctions
- ArtTactic
- Goldin
- Nvidia
- SpaceX
- Forbes
- Bloomberg
- The Fine Art Group
- Paris School of Economics
- Substack
- The Observer
- The Art Newspaper
- Christie's
- Sotheby's
- Artnet
- Artnet Price Database
- Zabludowicz Collection
- Lewis Collection
Locations
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Paris
- France
- Texas
- Hong Kong
- China
- Geneva
- Switzerland