Old Masters Auctions Surge as New Tech Wealth Chases Classics

Key facts

• Christie’s and Sotheby’s Old Masters evening sales totaled £76.7 million ($101.6 million), up 9.4% year-on-year.
• Sotheby’s reported roughly 20% of buyers at its Old Masters evening sale were new to the auction house.
• Nearly a quarter of lots sold at Sotheby’s Old Masters sale went to collectors new to the field.
• Christie’s noted new bidders and buyers across its Tuesday sales.
• Advisor Evan Beard described a new breed of collectors from a tech background focusing on classics.
• Christie’s set six records, including back-to-back records for Jan van Huysum.
• Jan van Huysum’s undated still life sold for £6.52 million ($8.65 million) against a £3–4 million estimate.
• Jan van Huysum’s 1734 floral bouquet sold for £5.54 million ($7.35 million) against a £2.5–3.5 million estimate.
• An 1817 Laocoön bronze at Sotheby’s sold for £13.6 million ($18.1 million), becoming the most expensive Neoclassical sculpture ever sold at auction.
• 17th-century Flemish school copper panels sold for £768,000 ($1 million), 540% over low estimate.
• 17th-century Dutch school memento mori painting sold for £431,800 ($577,400), 440% over low estimate.
• Beard described the Van Huysum still lifes as 'magical' and better than some in major museums.