Christie's 2021 Report: Record Sales of $7.1 Billion and Digital Innovation

Christie's released its 2021 annual report, revealing record aggregate sales of $7.1 billion, the highest in five years, with an 87% sell-through rate. The 20/21 century art department achieved over $5 billion in sales, a 57% increase from 2020, including the year's most expensive lot, Picasso's 'Femme assise près d'une fenêtre (Marie-Thérèse)' sold for $103.4 million in New York, and the white gloves Cox Collection for over $330 million. As the first auction house to offer an NFT-based artwork, Beeple's 'EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS' fetched over $69 million, contributing to $150 million in NFT sales. Online sales totaled over $7 billion, attracting millennial collectors. Private sales reached nearly $2 billion, up 108% from 2019, supported by augmented reality apps and 3D showrooms. Christie's also committed to net-zero emissions by 2030 and became the first auction house to have its climate targets validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). CEO Guillaume Cerutti called 2021 a memorable year.