Why billionaires aren’t bidding: Art sales fall to decade low
Big-ticket art is stalling, but demand for luxury items and lower-priced collectibles is on the rise.
Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images
The world’s biggest auction houses are feeling the chill.
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Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips brought in $3.98 billion in the first half of 2025, according to new numbers from ArtTactic — down 6% from last year and a staggering 44% below 2022, CNBC reports. That makes this the weakest first half in a decade (pandemic year aside) and marks the third year in a row that sales have slid.
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The hardest-hit category? Postwar and contemporary art, which fell 19%.
Wealth is booming — so why aren’t people buying art?
That drop comes at a strange time. The wealthiest 10% of Americans have added $37 trillion to their net worth since 2020, thanks to rising stocks, real estate, and business valuations. Historically, more wealth has meant more spending on art. This time, not so much.
One explanation could be generational. Baby boomer collectors — the ones who spent decades building big art collections — are buying less and in some cases selling. Millennials and Gen Z, meanwhile, seem to have different tastes.
They’re bidding online, prefer smaller works under $50,000, and are showing more interest in luxury goods and digital culture than in $10 million paintings. At Christie’s, 80% of bids now come in online, and nearly a third of winning bidders are millennial or Gen Z.
Luxury is holding up
While fine art is softening, jewelry, watches, handbags, wine, and cars are holding strong. Jewelry in particular jumped 68% in the first half of 2025.
Christie’s luxury sales surged 29%, with highlights including the $14 million Marie-Therese Pink Diamond and the $11 million “Blue Belle” vivid blue diamond. Sotheby’s also made headlines in May with a $21.5 million sale of the “Mediterranean Blue” diamond.
The big question is whether these declines are just a post-pandemic slowdown or a sign of something more permanent as tastes change and younger collectors set the tone. For now, high-end art sales are slowing while the lower-priced and luxury segments keep growing — and the industry is adapting fast.