After years of being number two, Sotheby's overtook Christie's in 2020.

After years of being number two, Sotheby's overtook Christie's in 2020.

Posted by Pi-eX Research on 17th Jan 2021

In times of crisis, Sotheby's thrives. After years of being number two, Sotheby's overtook Christie's in 2020.

Interestingly the auction houses adopted radically different strategies for their public auctions, with Sotheby’s focusing on volume via numerous new online auctions, while Christie’s moved many sales online but arranged in total fewer auctions than last year bringing on average higher revenue.

In the end, Sotheby’s was able to generate almost US$500m more than Christie’s in 2020.

Source: Pi-eX 2020 Annual MACRO Reports per auction house