Sotheby's and Christie's both reported their strongest first halves in years, with 8 lots selling for more than $50 million
Wiktor Szymanowicz / Getty Images
Fueled by fortunes minted in artificial intelligence, technology IPOs, and surging equities, the world's leading auction houses collectively took in nearly $10 billion during the first six months of 2026 — among the most successful openings to a year on record — with demand spanning fine art, watches, classic cars, and other collectibles, according to CNBC.
Sotheby's achieved an all-time first-half record with $4.4 billion in sales, a 58% jump over the same period last year — a milestone for the house that has been operating for 282 years. Christie's matched that energy with $4.5 billion, a 71% increase that made it the firm's strongest opening half since 2021. Phillips, Heritage, and a range of smaller auction houses also turned in standout performances.
According to CNBC, citing Artnet, the first half produced eight individual lots that each commanded prices above $50 million — a sharp contrast to 2024 and 2025, when not a single lot crossed that threshold. Christie's headline lot was Jackson Pollock's "Number 7A, 1948," a drip painting that realized $181 million and had once belonged to media magnate S.I. Newhouse. A Constantin Brancusi sculpture from the same celebrated Newhouse collection brought $107.6 million.
"The wealth being created now is the number one factor in our business right now," Sotheby's CEO Charles Stewart said. "It's obviously very visible when you sit here in New York and talk about the SpaceX IPO and these different tech IPOs coming and the AI fever."
According to Brennan, Christie's first-half client base included 30% who had never previously bid at the house; of that newcomer cohort, nearly half — 47% — were millennials or members of younger generations, and 85% of all bids arrived through digital channels. Brennan added that one-third of buyers being new reflects confidence returning to the market after nearly three years of declines.
Watches have emerged as a particularly strong category, with Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo tallying $235 million across its New York, Geneva, and Hong Kong sales — a figure that set a new first-half benchmark for the specialist. The most expensive watch sold was an F.P. Journe Souscription Résonance, which went for $13.9 million.
Dinosaur fossils have also drawn competitive bidding. A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton nicknamed "Gus" went under the hammer at Sotheby's earlier this month, fetching $50.1 million and setting a new global record for any fossil sold at auction. The bidding drew seven participants and stretched across a full 10 minutes before the 38-foot, 67-million-year-old animal found its new owner.
Pop culture and sports memorabilia rounded out the market's breadth. A game-worn jersey from New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson sold at Sotheby's for $1.024 million following the Knicks' NBA championship. A black Tom Ford $F leather jacket that Nvidia $NVDA CEO Jensen Huang wore to a Foxconn event in Taiwan in 2023 attracted a final bid of $960,000 — roughly 20 times its high presale estimate of $60,000 — with all proceeds directed to charity.
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