Christie's auctioneer posts record sales in 2010

The world's largest auction house Christie's posted record annual sales of £3.3 billion ($5 billion) in 2010, a jump of 53% on 2009, underlining the strength of the recovery in the fine art market.

Prices in several sectors soared and records tumbled last year, making up for steep losses triggered by the global economic crisis. New collectors and investors from China were one of the main factors behind the rebound.

Christie's said it was the highest sales total in its 245-year history, and Christie's International CEO Steven Murphy said the signs for 2011 were positive so far.

"2010 was a record-breaking year and early signs of 2011 indicate that the art market remains buoyant at all levels," he said in a statement.

The total included £369 million in private sales in 2010, a rise of 39%.

Christie's main rival Sotheby's also enjoyed bumper sales, with its auction total, not including private sales, reaching $4.3 billion in 2010 compared with $2.3 billion in 2009.

The company, which is listed and has yet to announce its full year figures for 2010, called the performance "outstanding".

Christie's set a new auction record for a single work of art when Pablo Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust" fetched $106.5 million in New York in May.

It was just enough to surpass the $104.3 million set by Sotheby's a few months earlier in London for a statue by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti.

Astronomic prices were fetched outside the auctioneering mainstream last year, most notably when Bainbridge's in England sold a Chinese vase discovered during a routine house clearance for £43 million.

The following month, Bonhams, a major auction house, sold a blue-and-white Chinese porcelain dragon jar for $7.7 million, more than 600 times its estimate.

Christie's was encouraged by the fact that its client base was expanding, adding depth to a market prone to big fluctuations and often dominated by a handful of players.

It also said 28% of its clients now bid for items online via its LIVE platform, a 5% increase on 2009.

Among the most spectacular gains registered in 2010 was in the post-war and contemporary market, which raised £603 million, up 147% on 2009. Asian art sales realised £570 million, an increase of 115% year-on-year.

"In addition to a large number of new clients, participation from mainland Chinese buyers worldwide continues to increase substantially," the company said.

It added that 51% by value of the Asian art sales in Hong Kong were purchased by mainland Chinese buyers, a jump of nearly 250% on the equivalent sales in the autumn of 2009.