The corona pandemic has also shaken up the art auction market worldwide. The big New York auction houses had to postpone their normally record-breaking face-to-face auctions in May and November and finally relocated them largely to the Internet. Auction records in the three-digit million range such as 2008, as a Monet painting for 110 million US dollars changed hands in the Corona year 2020. The highest proceeds came from 2020 a triptych by Francis Bacon at Sotheby’s with around 85 Million dollars – at least significantly more than previously expected.

Not crashed The total volume of the traded works 2020 has fallen sharply, says Johannes Vogt, Head of the Contemporary Department Art at the art market internet service provider Artnet. “But the market is there and it has been incredibly resilient during the crisis.” That is the big difference to the financial crisis 2008, when the art market went into the basement.

“The interest and the purchasing power is there, the volume has only decreased globally, “says Vogt. Between April and autumn, the sellers withheld their high-priced works because of the general uncertainty. A large part of the business of the big auction houses is now done through private sales anyway. So-called “private sales” have increased extremely. “The trend has been around for years and has nothing to do with Corona.”

Online Only Corona was before especially a catalyst for online auctions. For the first time, works in the millions were only offered online, says Vogt. Sotheby’s, for example, sold a work by the Russian romantic painter Ivan Aivazovsky at an “online only” auction for the record price of $ 2.8 million.

Artnet also had an “absolute record year”, says Vogt. According to its own statements, the house is the only “online-only” auction house that has only auctioned on the Internet. “Our business has gone through the roof since April.”

Many new customers The pandemic got on the auction market and “triggered an enormous change in the art industry,” says Bastienne Leuthe, Senior Director for Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Germany. “For Sotheby’s this meant an acceleration of digitization on an unprecedented scale.” With 362 online auctions in all categories, Sotheby’s 522 million dollars. Every week, jewels and wristwatches are now auctioned online at Sotheby’s. A pair of Nike Air Jordans sneakers were made for 560. 000 dollars sold.

Whether designer handbags, precious stones, expensive wines or sneakers – Christie’s is also up active in this area for a long time and this year also auctioned a pair of sports shoes worn by basketball star Michael Jordan for the record price of 615 . 000 dollars. Sotheby’s, for example, offered a plastic crown from the rapper Notorious BIG (1972 – 1997) that almost 600. 000 dollars. “34 Percentage of customers in our online sales are new customers, and more than one Quarter of online buyers are under 40, “says Leuthe.

Profiteers in Germany German auction houses offer a surprise in the Corona year: Despite the crisis, Ketterer achieved art in Munich and Van Ham in Cologne record results. With around 40 million euros, the annual turnover at Ketterer Kunst 2020 almost the level of 2019 (62 Million Euro). Three works cracked the million mark that is magical for German houses. The picture “Christiane and Kerstin” by Gerhard Richter achieved more than 2.6 million euros, two works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner came in at almost 1.7 million and a good one million euros.

“We are almost profiteers from Corona, “says owner Robert Ketterer. “We held our best spring auction in history in June.” The switch to online was not difficult at Ketterer. Even before Corona, almost 85 percent of all bids came from outside the auction room – so by phone, in writing or online. “Our online auctions have gone through the roof,” says Ketterer. “We’ve increased that fivefold.” 2020 has Ketterer 16 organizes pure online auctions. “Corona is really a catalyst for digitization, also in art.”

“Do not switch over” Van Ham in Cologne even achieved the best annual result with almost 34 million euros in the history of the house. Alone 16 Van Ham had online-only auctions with a total turnover of around 3.4 million euros. Managing director Markus Eisenbeis relied on technological independence in the sensitive online auction area early on. Even before Corona, he had his own internet platform developed in order to be independent of technology providers. This also secures customer data, says Eisenbeis.

Van Ham auctioned around 4000 objects in online auctions alone. A large depot at the gates of Cologne now serves as a logistics center. Eisenbeis observed a trend: “For years the halls have been getting emptier.” Bidding online has long been the norm in live auctions. «The people didn’t have to adjust much.”

(kbe)