New buyers in online sales up 69% from 2019: Christie's India MD

London-headquartered auction house Christie’s has found in the pandemic an opportunity to accelerate its online sales and reach collectors across the globe. Till August 20 this year, it had held 115 auctions — 100 of them online. More auctions have since followed. Christie’s India Managing Director Sonal Singh tells Veenu Sandhu that the digital progress made during this short period has been a game changer. Edited excerpts:

How has the pandemic impacted the art auction scenario?

This situation has affected everyone within the wider global art community and we must work collaboratively to support one another to shape the future. Whilst this has been a tricky time and has had an effect on many business revenues in the short term, we should all look at the opportunities, especially the accelerated digital innovation. 

What have been the challenges and opportunities for major auction houses such as Christie’s in this exceptional time?

Online has been a huge support and allowed us, along with private sales, to continue the business remotely. But then online has been an important contributor to our business since sales started online in 2011. The game changer is the digital progress made over this very short period of time (augmented reality / enhanced photography / viewing rooms /360-degree imagery for sculpture / videos / artists interviews etcetera). This has been embraced by the majority of our clients, across all age groups. Covid-19 has been a catalyst here and has really pushed our business forward.

After our recent sale in London (October 22), my colleague and our global president Jussi Pylkkänen said: “The vocabulary of auctioneering and the art market has changed fundamentally.” I agree. History also shows that the art market has a natural resilience. There is a persistent appetite and our experience in the long term and across the last months is that collectors want to collect.

As we have had to adapt and disrupt the traditional sales calendar and the “rhythm” of the art market, it is very hard to be sure until the end of the year. We have done much to mitigate against a shortfall by scaling online auctions and using the lockdown period to push private sales.

It is also true that different regions were affected at different times. This will all help, but we are expecting to be down around 30 per cent by auction channel sales by year end, as a result of the necessary pause in live sales during our first half. We have adapted the business and savings in print materials have also been re-invested in digital and livestreaming.

Where does India feature in terms of collectors, and how has the Indian collectors’ market evolved in Christie’s experience? 

Our collectors in India have embraced the online experience and have been very active, both in our auctions and lectures alike. We have now held four Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art auctions online since March, and this category continues to see approximately 50 per cent of its buyers coming from India. 

In my experience, collectors have used this time to further learn and study their areas of interest and it has only deepened their passion for the category. 

In the online format, are there certain categories of collectibles that do better than others?

There were always departments whose objects best suited the online format, including luxury goods such as wine, watches, jewellery and handbags, Picasso ceramics, prints and multiples and photographs. However, the most significant shift came over the lockdown when we began to offer higher-value art online.

Previously it was felt clients need to see the works in person, but even on high-value lots, pictures and sculpture, the data allowed us to have confidence to offer higher value objects online. Compared to 2019, the number of new buyers in online sales is up 69 per cent (globally), with growth from all three regions: the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East/West Asia, Africa)  and Asia Pacific.

So far this year, we have held 91 more sales online than in 2019.