Sales Jump Nearly 30% In First Half At Christie's

Christie's International, the world's largest art seller, said auctions rose almost 30 percent on premium prices for Warhols and an influx of new buyers.

Christie's, based in London, sold $3.09 billion of art and collectibles in the first half of the year, compared with $2.38 billion a year earlier, spokesman Toby Usnik said in an e-mail. Contemporary auctions more than doubled to $933 million including an Andy Warhol car-crash picture that took in $71.7 million in New York.

"The most blistering growth is reserved for contemporary art, and the king is Warhol," Marc Porter, president of Christie's Americas division, said in an e-mail. "In every time of great wealth creation -- whether from railroads or hedge funds -- there is one field that captures most of the market interest."

Impressionist and modern art sales rose 28 percent, to $884 million, including a Claude Monet painting of Waterloo Bridge that sold for $36.4 million in London last month.

Christie's and Sotheby's, the No. 2 auction house, are riding a 10-year boom in contemporary art prices and an expansion of sales in Russia, Asia and the Middle East. Casino magnate Stanley Ho bought an imperial throne in Hong Kong, and Dubai sales attracted buyers from 19 countries, Christie's said.

Christie's handled $167 million of private transactions in the first half, which now aren't included in its revised auction totals. If they were counted, along with $48 million of sales at London's Haunch of Venison gallery, which Christie's bought in February, growth would be 32 percent and sales would rise to $3.31 billion, the auction house said in an earlier statement.

In dollar terms, Christie's first-half auctions were 43 percent more than last year.

Sotheby's auctions rose 41 percent, to $2.76 billion, according to preliminary figures on its Web site. Sotheby's, which is publicly traded, is due to release second-quarter and first-half profit figures in early August.

Christie's, which is owned by the French billionaire Francois Pinault, doesn't report revenue or profit, but it releases auction totals twice a year.

Consignments for Christie's November sales, including Warhols, Rothkos and Hirsts, already amount to "several hundred million dollars," Edward Dolman, the company's chief executive, said last month.

Two big sales seasons in London pushed British totals in the first half to $1.28 billion, compared with $1.29 billionin the United States, though second-half growth has usually been stronger in the Americas, Dolman said last month.

Contemporary art, whose collectors include Pinault, hedge fund manager Steven Cohen and Hong Kong real estate tycoon Joseph Lau, outsold earlier works.

Asian art sales worldwide were up 39 percent to $299 million, followed by jewelry and watches, which totaled $213 million.

Christie's, which held its first sale in London in 1766 under founder James Christie, was taken private by Pinault in 1998. With 14 salesrooms and 85 offices in 43 countries, it sells 80 categories of art and collectibles, including wine, vintage cars and fashion. Prices for individual items range from $200 to more than $80 million.

Online bidding at Christie's totaled $78.1 million in the past 12 months, the auction house said in a statement last week. Bidders bought $25.1 million of art and collectibles in 377 sales that were opened to online purchases, said Christie's, which plans to expand the service, started a year ago.

Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas introduced Internet sales in 1996, and they now account for as much as 40 percent of auctions and private sales totaling $613.6 million in the past 12 months, chief executive Steve Ivy said in an e-mail. Sotheby's said it had no plans to introduce online bidding.