Sotheby's Hails Record Sales In 2021
Auction house Sotheby's announced Wednesday that it had enjoyed record annual sales of $7.3 billion in 2021 as the art market rebounds from the pandemic.
Sotheby's said in a statement it had already made $6 billion from auctions this year, up 71 percent on 2020, with 20 auctions still to go.
It achieved another $1.3 billion in private sales.
Sotheby's added that its year-to-date consolidated sales of $7.3 billion represented "the strongest total" in the company's 277-year history.
![Sotheby's sold Mark Rothko's "No. 7" from the Macklowe collection for $82.4 million in November 2021](https://d.ibtimes.com/en/full/3358309/sothebys-sold-mark-rothkos-no-7-macklowe-collection-824-million-november-2021.jpg?w=736&f=14597d742f96037947aadf4ee284023c)
Sales were boosted by Asian buyers, new collectors, and the Macklowe collection -- the world's most expensive to hit the market.
Asian collectors accounted for 46 percent of bids and purchases of lots over $5 million.
Sotheby's said the purchase of Alberto Giacometti's "Le Nez" by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun for $78.4 million was symbolic of "an influx of younger, tech-savvy collectors."
The first part of an art collection owned by New York real estate developer Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda Burg that was put on sale after their bitter divorce fetched $676 million last month.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), unique digital objects that confer ownership through blockchain technology, contributed almost $100 million.
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