New | Christie’s brushes off political turmoil in China to notch highest-ever art sales in 2014

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Occupy protests and Xi’s graft crackdown barely made a dent, auction house chief says as China drives record-breaking revenue

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A client browses for artwork at a Christie's Hong Kong exhibition. Hong Kong and other areas in Greater China were key to the auction house's record sales last year. Photo: David Wong

George Chen

Published: 3:00pm, 20 Jan 2015Updated: 6:15pm, 20 Jan 2015

Christie’s once again saw a record year of sales – led by aggressive art buyers from Asia, especially out of Hong Kong and mainland China – despite a more challenging market environment in the world’s largest economy.

On Tuesday, London-headquartered Christie’s, the world’s largest auction house by sales, announced record results for last year with £5.1 billion (HK$45.8 billion) in art sales, up 12 per cent from a year ago.

This is the highest sales figure for Christie’s, which first opened its doors in London in 1766, and any company in the history of the art market.

Patricia Barbizet, Christie’s first woman chief executive, who was appointed last month, said clients from the Greater China region, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and mainland China, spent 22 per cent more last year than the previous year.

Patricia Barbizet, chief executive and chairwoman of Christie's, says Asian buyers have helped drive growth. Photo: Bloomberg

They accounted for 24 per cent of total sales of Christie’s globally, despite Beijing’s nationwide anti-corruption drive, which some industry watchers warned might hurt art sales.

Asked by the in an exclusive interview if she was concerned about any impact on Chinese art buyers’ interest amid Beijing’s efforts to crack down on bribery and corruption, Barbizet replied: “The Chinese art market has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years and we believe this growth can continue into the future.