London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Sotheby’s sells record $7.3bn of art so far in 2021

Sotheby’s sells record $7.3bn of art so far in 2021

Auction house credits younger, tech-savvy collectors for highest annual sales in its 277-year history
Sotheby’s has sold a record $7.3bn (£5.5bn) worth of art and other collectibles so far this year – the most in its 277-year history.

The auction house said on Wednesday that an “influx of younger, tech-savvy collectors” buying luxury items such as handbags, jewellery, wine and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) during the pandemic had helped lift sales to the record high.

Sotheby’s, which was founded in London in 1744 and now operates from 80 offices around the world with its headquarters in New York, said the 2021 total would rise still higher as it has 20 more sales to come before the year end.

So far this year, Sotheby’s has sold 57 pieces for more than $15m each, with a Botticelli painting of a young man holding a roundel selling for $92.2m being the top selling item. Sales are already 71% higher than they had been in 2020, when demand had waned in the early stages of the pandemic.

Records were also set for the most expensive trainers (or sneakers) ever auctioned, with the Nike Air Yeezys that Kanye West wore to the 2008 Grammy’s selling for $1.8m in April, and for a 1933 “double eagle” gold coin, which raised $19m to become the most expensive coin ever sold at auction.

The most money changed hands in modern and contemporary art, which totalled a record $4.3bn across auction and private sales. The departments that sell luxury watches, wine and spirits, design and books & manuscripts also all achieved record annual sales.

The company also set a record for the most valuable single-owner auction, with $676m paid for the Macklowe Collection amassed over more than half a century by the real estate magnate Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda Macklowe. The couple were ordered to sell the collection, which included masterpieces by Alberto Giacometti, Mark Rothko and Cy Twombly, by a judge overseeing their divorce after they failed to agree on its value.

Sotheby’s also held its first sale of NFTs, selling $16.8m worth in three days including the “source code for the world wide web” which sold for $5.3m.

It said the NFT sale fuelled a “dramatic expansion” of its audience, with 78% of the NFT bidders being new to Sotheby’s and more than half under 40. Overall, 47% of bidders were new customers in 2021, and the number of bidders under the age of 40 increased by 187%.

“An influx of younger, tech-savvy collectors also saw a landmark crossover into purchases of physical works such as Alberto Giacometti’s Le Nez bought by Justin Sun, founder of the cryptocurrency platform Tron, for $78.4m last month in New York,” the auction house said.

The announcement of Sotheby’s annual sales came as speculation mounts that the auction house’s billionaire French owner may be planning to float the company on the stock market.

Patrick Drahi, who bought Sotheby’s in a $3.7bn deal in 2019, is said to be exploring a prospect of flotation of Sotheby’s as soon as next year according to Bloomberg.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×