Christie's is a British

auction house An auction house is a business establishment that facilitates the buying and selling of assets, such as works of art and collectibles. Overview The auction house is the physical facility where the objects are catalogued, displayed, and presented ...

founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owned by

Groupe Artémis Groupe Artémis is a French investment holding company, holding with a portfolio in fashion (Kering), wine ( including Château Latour), art (Christie's, Pinault Collection), sports (Stade Rennais FC) and entertainment (Creative Artists Agency). ...

, the holding company of

François Pinault François Pinault (born 21 August 1936) is a French billionaire businessman, founder of the luxury group Kering and the investment holding company Artémis. Pinault started his business in the timber industry in the early 1960s. Taken public i ...

. In 2022 Christie's sold US$8.4 billion in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. On 15 November 2017, the ''

Salvator Mundi , Latin for Saviour of the World, is a subject in iconography depicting Christ with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand holding an orb (frequently surmounted by a cross), known as a . The latter symbolizes the Earth, and the whol ...

'' was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million to Saudi Prince

Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud ( ''Badr bin ʿAbdullāh bin Moḥammed bin Farḥān Āl Suʿūd''; born 16 September 1985) is a Saudi Arabian businessman and politician who is a member of the Saudi royal family and the inaugur ...

, the highest price ever paid for a painting.

History

Founding

The official company literature states that founder James Christie (1730–1803) conducted the first sale in London on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766. However, other sources note that James Christie rented auction rooms from 1762, and newspaper advertisements for Christie's sales dating from 1759 have also been traced. After his death, Christie's son,

James Christie the Younger James Christie the Younger (1773–1831) was an English antiquarian, auctioneer, and eldest son of James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie, founder of Christie's. Though his family didn't originally intend for him to go into the business ...

(1773–1831) took over the business.

20th century

Christie's was a public company, listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, from 1973 to 1999. In 1974, Jo Floyd was appointed chairman of Christie's. He served as chairman of Christie's International plc from 1976 to 1988, until handing over to

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secreta ...

, and later was a non-executive director until 1992. Christie's International Inc. held its first sale in the United States in 1977. Christie's growth was slow but steady since 1989, when it had 42% of the auction market.Carol Vogel (11 February 1997)
At the Wire, Auction Fans, It's, It's . . . Christie's!
''The New York Times''. In 1990, the company reversed a long-standing policy and guaranteed a minimum price for a collection of artworks in its May auctions. In 1996, sales exceeded those of

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

for the first time since 1954. However, profits did not grow at the same pace;Carol Vogel (19 May 1998)
Frenchman Seeks the Rest Of Christie's
''The New York Times''. from 1993 through 1997, Christie's annual pretax profits were about $60M , whereas Sotheby's annual pretax profits were about $265M for those years.Carol Vogel (19 February 1998)

''The New York Times''. In 1993, Christie's paid $10.9M for the London gallery

Spink & Son Spink & Son (established 1666) is an auction and collectibles company known principally for their sales of coins, banknotes and medals. They also deal in philatelic items, wine and spirits, and other collectible items. History John Spink foun ...

, which specialised in Oriental art and British paintings; the gallery was run as a separate entity. The company bought Leger Gallery for $3.3M in 1996, and merged it with Spink to become Spink-Leger. Spink-Leger closed in 2002. To make itself competitive with Sotheby's in the property market, Christie's bought Great Estates in 1995, then the largest network of independent estate agents in North America, changing its name to Christie's Great Estates Inc. In December 1997, under the chairmanship of Lord Hindlip, Christie's put itself on the auction block, but after two months of negotiations with the consortium-led investment firm SBC Warburg Dillon Read it did not attract a bid high enough to accept. In May 1998,

's holding company, Groupe Artémis S.A., first bought 29.1 per cent of the company for $243.2M, and subsequently purchased the rest of it in a deal that valued the entire company at $1.2bn. The company has since not been reporting profits, though it gives sale totals twice a year. Its policy, in line with UK accounting standards, is to convert non-UK results using an average exchange rate weighted daily by sales throughout the year.Scott Reyburn (17 July 2012)
Rothko, Private Sales Help Boost Christie's Revenue 13%
''

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

''.

21st century

In 2002, Christie's France held its first auction in Paris. Like Sotheby's, Christie's became increasingly involved in high-profile private transactions. In 2006, Christie's offered a reported $21M guarantee to the

Donald Judd Donald Clarence Judd (June 3, 1928February 12, 1994) was an American artist associated with minimalism.Tate Modern websit"Tate Modern Past Exhibitions Donald Judd" Retrieved on February 19, 2009. In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for ...

Foundation and displayed the artist's works for five weeks in an exhibition that later won an AICA award for "Best Installation in an Alternative Space". In 2007 it brokered a $68M deal that transferred

Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American Realism (visual arts), realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artist ...

's ''

The Gross Clinic ''The Gross Clinic'' or ''The Clinic of Dr. Gross'' is an 1875 painting by American artist Thomas Eakins. It is oil on canvas and measures by . The painting depicts Dr. Samuel D. Gross, a seventy-year-old professor dressed in a black frock coat ...

'' (1875) from the

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. The university is ...

at the

Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. ...

in Philadelphia to joint ownership by the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

and the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

. In the same year, the Haunch of Venison gallery became a subsidiary of the company. On 28 December 2008, ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' reported that Pinault's debts left him "considering" the sale of Christie's and that a number of "

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

groups" were thought to be interested in its acquisition. In January 2009, the company employed 2,100 people worldwide, though an unspecified number of staff and consultants were soon to be cut due to a worldwide downturn in the art market; later news reports said that 300 jobs would be cut. With sales for premier Impressionist, Modern, and contemporary artworks tallying only US$248.8M in comparison to US$739M just a year before, a second round of job cuts began after May 2009. In 2012, Impressionist works, which dominated the market during the 1980s boom, were replaced by contemporary art as Christie's top category. Asian art was the third most lucrative area. With income from classic auctioneering falling, treaty sales made £413.4 million ($665M) in the first half of 2012, an increase of 53% on the same period last year; they now represent more than 18% of turnover. The company has since promoted curated events, centred on a theme rather than an art classification or time period. As part of a companywide review in 2017, Christie's announced the layoffs of 250 employees, or 12 per cent of the total work force, based mainly in Britain and Europe.Scott Reyburn (8 March 2017)
Christie's to Close a London Salesroom and Scale Back in Amsterdam
''The New York Times''. In June 2021, Christie's Paris held its first sale dedicated to women artists, most notably Louise Moillon's ''Nature morte aux raisins et pêches''. In 2022 Christie's sold $8.4bn in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. Christie's agreed to acquire American

classic car A classic car is typically described as an automobile 25 years or older, although a car's age is not the only requirement it must meet before being considered a "classic." However, a standard criteria for recognizing cars as classics does not ex ...

auction house,

Gooding & Company Gooding & Company, LLC is a classic car auction company headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Incorporated in 2003, the company holds multiple all-time records for the most expensive cars sold in auction. The company also provides private tr ...

, in September 2024.

Commissions

From 2008 until 2013, Christie's charged 25 per cent for the first $50,000; 20 per cent on the amount between $50,001 and $1M, and 12 per cent on the rest. From 2013, it charged 25 per cent for the first $75,000; 20 per cent on the next $75,001 to $1.5M and 12 per cent on the rest. As of 2023, Christie's commission (buyer's premium) is 26 per cent of the hammer price of each lot up to £800,000/US$1,000,000, plus 21 per cent of the hammer price from £800,001/US$1,000,001 up to and including £4,500,000/US$6,000,000, and 15 per cent on the rest.

Locations

As of 2023, Christie's has offices in 46 countries worldwide, with salerooms in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Europe

Christie's flagship saleroom is in London on King Street in St. James's, where it has been based since 1823. It had a second London saleroom in

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

which opened in 1975 and primarily handled the middle market. Christie's permanently closed the South Kensington saleroom in July 2017 as part of their restructuring plans announced in March 2017. The closure was due in part to a considerable decrease in sales between 2015 and 2016 in addition to the company expanding its online sales presence. In early 2017, Christie's also announced plans to scale back its operation in Amsterdam.

Americas

In 1977, led by then Chairman Stephen Lash, the company opened its first international branch on

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

in New York City in the Delmonico's Hotel grand ballroom on the second floor; in 1997 it took a 30-year lease on a space in

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

for $40M. Until 2001, Christie's East, a division that sold lower-priced art and objects, was located at 219 East 67th Street. In 1996, Christie's bought a townhouse on East 59th Street in Manhattan as a separate gallery where experts could show clients art in complete privacy to conduct private treaty sales. Christie's opened a

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

saleroom in 1997. In April 2017, in moved to a two-story flagship space in Beverly Hills, designed by

wHY Why may refer to: * Causality, a consequential relationship between two events * Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose * Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...

Asia

Christie's has been operating a space in Hong Kong's Alexandra House since 2014. In 2021, the company announced plans to move its Hong Kong headquarters to the

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

-designed luxury tower The Henderson in 2024, where it will launch year-round auctions. Measuring more than over four storeys, the new space, which incorporates a permanent saleroom and galleries, is comparable in size to Christie's London headquarters.

Notable auctions

* In 1848 the sale of the contents of

Stowe House Stowe House is a grade I listed building, listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of the Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Stowe School and is owned by the Stowe House Preserv ...

after the bankruptcy of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos was one of the first and most publicised

British country house contents auctions British and Irish country house contents auctions are usually held on site at the country house, and have been used to raise funds for their owners, usually before selling the house and estate. Such auctions include the sale of high quality antique ...

. The sale raised £75,400 and included the

Chandos portrait The Chandos portrait is an oil painted portrait thought to depict William Shakespeare (1564–1616). Painted between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the ''First Folio'' in 1623. It ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. * The 1882 sale of the

Hamilton Palace Hamilton Palace was a country house in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was the seat of the Dukes of Hamilton and is widely acknowledged as having been one of the grandest houses in the British Isles.Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers'' fetched an auction record of $39.9M at Christie's, making it the most expensive painting in the world at the time, at more than three times the price of the previous worldwide record for the highest paid for any painting. * In November 1987, during the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

auction, Christie's auctioned a Bugatti Royale automobile for a world record price of £5.5M. * In May 1989,

Pontormo Jacopo Carucci or Carrucci (; May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as Jacopo (da) Pontormo or simply Pontormo (), was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound stylisti ...

's ''Portrait of a Halberdier'' was sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum for $35.2M, more than tripling the previous auction record for an

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

painting. * On 11 November 1994, the

Codex Leicester The Codex Leicester (also briefly known as the Codex Hammer) is a collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci. The codex is named after Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, who purchased it in 1719. The codex provides an insight into the m ...

was sold to

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...

for . * In 1998, Christie's in New York sold the famous

Archimedes Palimpsest The Archimedes Palimpsest is a parchment codex palimpsest, originally a Byzantine Greek copy of a compilation of Archimedes and other authors. It contains two works of Archimedes that were thought to have been lost (the '' Ostomachion'' and the ...

after the conclusion of a lawsuit in which its ownership was disputed. * In November 1999, a single strand necklace of 41 natural and graduated pearls, which belonged to

Barbara Hutton Barbara Woolworth Hutton (November 14, 1912 – May 11, 1979) was an American debutante, socialite, heiress and philanthropist. She was dubbed the "Poor Little Rich Girl"—first when she was given a lavish and expensive debutante ball in 1930 ...

, was auctioned by Christie's Geneva for $1,476,000. * In June 2001,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

sold 20 of his cars at Christie's, saying he didn't drive them often because he was frequently out of the country. The sale, which included a 1993 Jaguar XJ220, the most expensive at £234,750, and several Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys, raised nearly £2M. * In 2006, a single Imperial

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

porcelain bowl, another item which belonged to Barbara Hutton, was auctioned by Christie's Hong Kong for a price of US$19.5M. * On 16 May 2006, Christie's auctioned a

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

called The Hammer for a record US$3,544,000. It was, at that time, the most paid at public auction for any musical instrument. * In November 2006, four celebrated paintings by

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

were sold for a total of $192M, after being restituted by Austria to Jewish heirs after a lengthy legal battle. * In December 2006, one of the three versions of the Givenchy black dress worn by

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

in the film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'' was sold for £467,200 at Christie's South Kensington. * In 2006, controversy arose after Christie's auctioned artefacts known to be looted from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. * In November 2007, an album of eight leaves, ink on paper, by China's

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

court painter

Dong Qichang Dong Qichang (; courtesy name Xuanzai (玄宰); 1555–1636) was a Chinese art theorist, Calligraphy, calligrapher, Painting, painter, and politician of the later period of the Ming dynasty. Life as a scholar and calligrapher Dong Qichang was a ...

was sold at the Christie's Hong Kong Chinese Paintings Auction for US$6,235,500, a world auction record for the artist. * In 2008, the

ink wash painting Ink wash painting ( zh, t=水墨畫, s=水墨画, p=shuǐmòhuà) is a type of Chinese ink brush painting which uses Wash (visual arts), washes of black ink, such as that used in East Asian calligraphy, in different concentrations. It emerged duri ...

Gundam is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ...

painted by Tenmyouya Hisashi in 2005 was sold in the Christie's auction held in Hong Kong at a price of US$600,000. * In June 2008, ''

Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas (''Water Lily Pond''; 1919) is one of the series of ''Water Lilies'' paintings by French Impressionism, impressionist artist Claude Monet. Exhibited *Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Monet, January - February 1921, no. 44 or 45. *Pittsburgh, Carn ...

'' by

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

was sold for a price of $80.4M, the highest price ever for a Monet. * Over a three-day sale in Paris in February 2009, Christie's auctioned the monumental private collection of Yves Saint Laurent and

Pierre Bergé Pierre Vital Georges Bergé (; 14 November 1930 – 8 September 2017) was a French industrialist and patron. He co-founded the fashion label Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), and was a longtime business partner—and onetime significant other—of its ...

for a record-breaking 370M euros. It was the most expensive private collection ever sold at auction, breaking auction records for Brâncuși,

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

, and Mondrian. The "Dragons" armchair by Irish furniture designer

Eileen Gray Eileen Gray (born Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith; 9 August 187831 October 1976) was an Irish interior designer, furniture designer and architect who became a pioneer of the Modern architecture, Modern Movement in architecture. Over her career, s ...

sold for 21.9M euros, setting an auction record for a piece of 20th century decorative art. * In 2009, controversy arose again after the auction of two imperial bronze zodiac sculptures (for US$36M) collected by Yves Saint Laurent, as the items had been looted in 1860 from the

Old Summer Palace The Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuanmingyuan () or Yuanmingyuan Park, originally called the Imperial Gardens (), and sometimes called the Winter Palace, was a complex of palaces and gardens in present-day Haidian District, Beijing, China. I ...

of Beijing by French and British forces at the close of the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...

. * Christie's Hong Kong, November 2009 sale of Fine Modern Chinese Paintings, sold a work by Fu Baoshi titled ''Landscape inspired by Dufu's Poetic Sentiments'', for HK$60M (US$7.7M) – a world record for the artist. * Christie's auctioned

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

's '' Nude, Green Leaves and Bust'' on 4 May 2010. The piece sold for US$106.5M, making the sale among the most expensive paintings ever sold. * On 14 June 2010

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...

's '' Tête'', a limestone sculpture of a woman's head, sold for $52.6M, making it one of the most expensive sculpture ever sold, and at the time the most expensive work of art sold in France. * On 18 April 2012, the silver cup given to the marathon winner, Greek athlete Spyridon Louis, at the first modern Olympic Games staged in Athens in 1896 sold for £541,250, breaking the auction record for Olympic memorabilia. * On 22 June 2012,

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's personal

annotated An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...

copy of the ''Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America'' from 1789, which includes

The Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitut ...

and a draft of the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

, was sold at Christie's for a record $9,826,500, with fees the final cost, to

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union (MVLA) is a non-profit organization that preserves and maintains the Mount Vernon estate originally owned by the family of George Washington. The association was founded in 1853 by Ann Pamela Cu ...

. This was the record for a document sold at auction. * On 12 November 2013,

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

's ''

Three Studies of Lucian Freud ''Three Studies of Lucian Freud'' is a 1969 oil-on-canvas triptych by the Irish-born British painter Francis Bacon, depicting artist Lucian Freud. It was sold in November 2013 for 142.4 million, which at the time was the highest price attained ...

'' sold for 142.4M(including the buyer's premium) to an unnamed buyer, nominally becoming the most expensive work of art ever to be sold at auction. * On 11 May 2015,

's '' Les Femmes d'Alger ("Version O")'' sold for 179.3M to an unnamed buyer, becoming the most expensive work of art ever to be sold at auction at Christie's New York. In November of the same year, Amedeo Modigliani's ''Nu Couché'' (1917–18) sold at Christie's in New York for $170.4M, making it the second most expensive work sold at auction. * In May 2016, the

Oppenheimer Blue The Oppenheimer Blue is a vivid blue diamond that in May 2016 became the most expensive jewel ever sold at auction, until April 2017 when it was surpassed by the Pink Star diamond. The diamond was named for its previous owner Philip Oppenheime ...

diamond sold for CHF56,837,000, a record price for a jewel at auction. * On 7 July 2016, the highest price ever sold for an old master painting at Christie's was achieved with £44,882,500 for

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

' Lot and his Daughters. * On 11 November 2017, a Patek Philippe Titanium wristwatch Ref. 5208T-010 was sold for $6.226M ( CHF6,200,000) in Geneva, making it one of the most expensive watches ever sold at auction. * On 15 November 2017,

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

's ''

'' sold for a record $450.3M (including buyer's premium). * On 4 July 2019, a bust fragment of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

was sold for £4.7M. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities had tried to stop the auction, citing concerns that the bust had been looted from a temple and illegally taken from Egypt in the 1970s. * On 25 June 2020, Christie's sold a

Timurid Quran manuscript The Timurid Quran manuscript, also known as the Aqquyunlu Quran manuscript, is a 15th-century Timurid Quranic manuscript written on paper produced in the Ming dynasty. On 25 June 2020, it was sold at auction by Christie's for £7,016,250, surpa ...

, described as "rare and breathtaking", for £7M (with fees), ten times its estimate. The price was the highest price ever paid for a Quran manuscript. Probably created at a Timurid prince's court, the manuscript comprised 534 folios of

Arabic calligraphy Arabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of penmanship, handwriting and calligraphy based on the Arabic alphabet. It is known in Arabic language, Arabic as ''khatt'' (), derived from the words 'line', 'design', or 'construction'. Kufic is the ...

on "gold-flecked, coloured paper from

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

". The sale was criticized that since the "object apparently has no provenance prior to the 1980s, we can't know anything about the context in which it was removed from its country of origin." * In October 2020, Christie's sold Stan, one of the world's most complete ''

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It live ...

'' skeletons for US$31.8M, setting a new world record for any dinosaur skeleton or fossil ever sold at auction at the time. * In May 2022,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

's silkscreen painting '' Shot Sage Blue Marilyn'' sold at Christie's New York for $195M, making it the most expensive work of American art sold at auction and the most expensive work of 20th-century art sold at auction. * In September and October 2022 at Christie's, the ''James Bond'' film franchise auctioned 61 lots of vehicles, watches, costumes, props, posters, and memorabilia from the 25 Bond films. The auction raised nearly £7M from 28 countries, and proceeds went to over 45 charities. * In November 2022, the art collection of Microsoft co-founder

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the ...

was auctioned at Christie's New York. It was the biggest sale in art auction history, surpassing $1.5bn in sales. Six works sold for more than $100M:

Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , ; ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough ...

's ''Les Poseuses Ensemble (Petite version)'', ($149M, with fees);

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

's 1888–90 ''La Montagne Sainte-Victoire'' ($138M); van Gogh's ''Verger avec cyprès'' ($117M); and

's 1903 ''Birch Forest'' ($105M). The auction also included paintings by

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes. Born in Nyack, New York, to a ...

Jasper Johns Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...

and Jan Brueghel the Younger. Proceeds from the auction benefitted undisclosed philanthropies. * In May 2023, the jewellery collection once owned by Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten, who died in 2022, set a record for the most valuable single collection of jewels in an auction, fetching CHF180M ($201M). In August 2023, Christie's cancelled a second Horten jewellery sale, which had been scheduled for November, after Jewish charities and organizations refused to accept portions of the proceeds from the first sale citing the source of Horten's wealth. * In November 2024 a painting by surrealist artist Rene Magritte broke an auction record, selling for more than $121 million at Christie's in New York. The previous record for a work by Magritte was $79 million, set in 2022. * In May 2025, a painting by

Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas (born 3 August 1953) is a South African artist and painter based in the Netherlands. Early life and education Dumas was born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Kuils River in the Western Cape, where her father ha ...

''Miss January'' (1997) broke the record for a living woman artist, selling for $13.6 million with fees at Christie's 21st Century Evening sale in New York.

Criticism

Price-fixing scandal in 2000

In 2000, allegations surfaced of a price-fixing arrangement between Christie's and

. Executives from Christie's subsequently alerted the Department of Justice of their suspicions of commission-fixing

collusion Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...

. Christie's gained immunity from prosecution in the United States as a longtime employee of Christie's confessed and cooperated with the US

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. Numerous members of Sotheby's senior management were fired soon thereafter, and A. Alfred Taubman, the largest shareholder of Sotheby's at the time, took most of the blame; he and Dede Brooks (the CEO) were given jail sentences, and Christie's, Sotheby's and their owners also paid a civil lawsuit settlement of $512M.

Insufficient or invalid provenance for looted works

Christie's has been criticised for "an embarrassing history of a lack of transparency around

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

". In 2003, Christie's was criticised for its handling of two Nazi-looted artworks claimed by heirs of the original Jewish owners. In one case, it refused to divulge to the heirs the location of an Italian painting formerly owned by Jewish Viennese banker Heinrich Graf, looted by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. Christie's eventually revealed the holder's name after the Jewish Community of Vienna filed a successful suit in the UK on behalf of Graf's American daughters in late 2004. In the other 2003 case Christie's declined to inform the family that it had discovered that a painting consigned to it had been looted from Ulla and Moriz Rosenthal, a Jewish couple murdered in Auschwitz. On 19 May 2020, the craft supply company

Hobby Lobby Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., formerly Hobby Lobby Creative Centers, is an American retail company. It owns a chain of arts and crafts stores with a volume of over $5 billion in 2018. The chain has 1,001 stores in 48 U.S. states. The Green family fo ...

, who purchased material for loan or donation to The Museum of the Bible, filed a diversity action on the auction house regarding the sale and purchase of the

Gilgamesh Gilgamesh (, ; ; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumer ...

tablet by private sale agreement on 14 July 2014, allegedly while knowing the Iraqi-origin cuneiform object had a fake provenance. In June 2020, they were forced to withdraw four Greek and Roman antiquities from sale after it was discovered that they came from "sites linked to convicted antiquities traffickers". The same month, they were criticised for putting up a

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

plaque and two Igbo

alusi Arusi are spirits that are worshipped and served in the Igbo religion. There are many different kinds of Arusi and each has its own purpose and function. Ancestors The Igbo ancestral world is divided into several interconnected realms, principa ...

figures for auction. The plaque was tied to similar plaques taken from Nigeria during the

Benin Expedition of 1897 The Benin Expedition of 1897 was a punitive expedition by a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British force of 1,200 men under Harry Rawson, Sir Harry Rawson. It came in response to the ambush and slaughter of a 250-strong party led ...

and remained unsold after an auction was held. The alusi figures are alleged to have been taken from Nigeria during the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...

and were sold for €212,500 (after fees), below their low estimate of €250,000. Christie's claims to require "verifiable documented provenance that the object was taken out of its source nation prior to the earlier date of 2000, or the date which is legally applicable between the country in which the sale takes place and the source nation". In November 2014, Christie's had to withdraw a prehistoric sculpture from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, valued at $800,000–$1.2m, put on auction by

Michael Steinhardt Michael H. Steinhardt (born December 7, 1940) is an American billionaire Hedge fund, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, and former antiquities collector. In 1967, he founded a hedge fund, Steinhardt Partners which he ran until he closed it in 19 ...

, a US-billionaire, who was given a lifetime ban on acquiring further antiquities by the Manhattan district attorney's office in 2021. After having acquired artworks with unverified

for years, for example by convicted art dealer Giacomo Medici, Steinhard's collection had been subjected to search warrants and investigations since 2017. He finally surrendered 180 looted and illegally smuggled antiquities valued at $70m. According to

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, the district attorney said: "For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artefacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe. In February 2023 a French court ordered Christie's to unconditionally restitute Dutch painting ''The Penitent Magdalene'', signed Adriaen van der Werff (1707), looted in 1942 from Lionel Hauser in Paris and last sold by the auction house without any provenance in London in April 2005. Christie's had offered the Hauser heirs 50 per cent of the sale price; the heirs refused the offer and took the case to court.

Blockchain Technology at Auctions

In 2018, Christie's began offering "digital passports" stored on the

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

to a select number of private collectors purchasing art. These "certificates of ownership" gave the buyer a clear and transparent

record of the piece of art they were purchasing, a record that could never be erased or manipulated, and accessible worldwide. Six years later in October 2024, two Christie's auctions exhibited this block-chain technology in the most public events to date. In the first, on 2 October, Christie's New York showcased the work of Diane Arbus and

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

in ''An Eye Towards the Real: Photographs from the Collection of Ambassador Trevor Traina'' - a former U.S. ambassador to Austria and founder of the

web3 Web3 (also known as Web 3.0) is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such as decentralization, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics. This is distinct from Tim Berners-Lee's concept of th ...

wallet provider ''Kresus''. Eight days later, on 10 October, Christie's New York auctioned ''Ascend'', a digital work created by Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell, marking the first time a piece inscribed on Bitcoin's Ordinals protocol had been sold in a live auction at Christie’s. Christie's sees this "integration of physical and digital ownership" as the future of art auctioning, and the most efficient way for buyers to know they've purchased a work with as accurate and secure a provenance as possible.

Christie's Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS)

Christie's first ventured into storage services for outside clients in 1984, when it opened a 100,000 square feet brick warehouse in London that was granted "Exempted Status" by

HM Revenue and Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...

,Kelly Crow (26 April 2010)
The Ultimate Walk-In Closet: Christie's Offers Art Storage in Brooklyn
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''. meaning that property may be imported into the United Kingdom and stored without incurring import duties and VAT. Christie's Fine Art Storage Services, or CFASS, is a wholly owned subsidiary that runs Christie's storage operation. In September 2008, Christie's signed a 50-year lease on an early 1900s warehouse of the historic N.Y.D. CompanyLaura Gilbert (26 April 2013)
An exodus from Red Hook
''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments i ...

''. in

Red Hook, Brooklyn Red Hook is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn, New York City, United States, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula projecting into the Upper New York Bay and is bounded by the Gowanus Expressway and the Ca ...

, and subsequently spent $30M converting it into a six-storey, 250,000 square feet art-storage facility. The facility opened in 2010 and features high-tech security and climate controls that maintain a virtually constant 70° and 50% relative humidity. Located near the Upper Bay tidal waterway near the Atlantic Ocean, the Brooklyn facility was hit by at least one storm surge during

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

in 2012. CFASS subsequently faced client defections and complaints arising from damage to works of art. In 2013,

AXA Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

Art Insurance filed a lawsuit in New York court alleging that CFASS' "gross negligence" during the hurricane damaged art collected by late cellist

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian-born American cello, cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Dnipro, Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a c ...

and his wife Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild. Later that year, StarNet Insurance Co., the insurer for the LeRoy Neiman Foundation and the artist's estate, also filed a lawsuit in

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

claiming that the storage company's negligence caused more than $10M in damages to Neiman's art.

Educational and other ventures

Christie's Education previously offered master's degree programs in London and New York, but they were planned to be phased out in 2019. In 2020, in the aftermath of the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

, Christie's noted that there was a lack of racial diversity in the art world, and admitted that Christie's degree programs only exacerbated these inequities. However, Christie's continue to offer non-degree programmes in London, New York, Hong Kong and Amsterdam as well as online. In addition they offer an Art Business Masterclass Certificate and the Luxury Masterclass Certificate. With

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought t ...

, Christie's is a shareholder in the London-based Art Loss Register, a privately owned database used by law enforcement services worldwide to trace and recover stolen art.

Management

Since its acquisition by François Pinault, Christie's CEOs have been as follows: * 1999–2010: Edward Dolman * 2010–2014:

Steven Murphy Steven Murphy (born March 1954) is an American business executive and prominent figure in the international art market. Previously CEO of Christie's, and before that, publishing firm Rodale in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, Murphy is currently Managing ...

* 2014–2017: Patricia Barbizet * 2017–2025:

Guillaume Cerutti Guillaume Cerutti (born 20 March 1966) is a French business executive and former senior civil servant. He is the chairman of Christie's auction house since 2023. In 2025 succeeded François Pinault as president of the Pinault Collection. He was ...

* 2025–present:

Bonnie Brennan Bonnie Brennan (born c. 1973) is an American auction-house executive. She has been the CEO of Christie's since February 1, 2025. Prior to that, she had a 13-year career at Christie's, including four years as head of Christie's Americas. Before join ...

Kabir Jhala (15 January 2025)
Guillaume Cerutti steps down as Christie's chief executive—but will stay within Pinault's orbit
''

''.

References

Bibliography

* J. Herbert, ''Inside Christie's'', London, 1990 () * P. A. Colson, ''The Story of Christie's'', London, 1950 * H. C. Marillier, ''Christie's, 1766–1925'', London, 1926 * M. A. Michael, ''A Brief History of Christie's Education... '', London, 2008 () * W. Roberts, ''Memorials of Christie's'', 2 vols, London, 1897 * "Going Once."

Phaidon Press Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional of ...

, 2016. .

External links

* * *
Christie's page on Arcadja Art database with several auction catalogs

– ''Daily Telegraph'' obituary
Christie's Fine Art Storage Services
– Official website {{Authority control Auction houses based in New York City Retail companies established in 1766 London auction houses Price fixing convictions 1766 establishments in England British companies established in 1766 Archaeological theft Defunct private universities and colleges in New York City