LONDON.- For the first time in its history,
Bonhams has achieved more than $1 billion turnover for 2022. The figure includes sales by Bonhams and its network from Art and Collectables, Luxury and Collectors’ Cars, and is a +27% year-on-year increase from $816m, the result posted in 2021.
Bonhams now has 14 salerooms around the world, with 34 offices and 60+ departments, making it one of the largest international auction houses, both in the range of categories and in global reach.
Bruno Vinciguerra, Global CEO for Bonhams, commented: “This has been an extraordinary year. It is the largest turnover Bonhams has achieved in its history and we are very proud of the result. We saw particular growth in our digital activity: 91% of items were sold through online channels, and this accounts for 44% of value. In addition to acquiring four auction houses – three in Europe and one in the US – this year, Bonhams’ turnover was divided across the globe with North America: 33%; UK: 19%; Continental Europe: 33% and Asia-Pacific: 16%. It shows the company has continued to develop its footprint internationally. Bonhams has seen a continuing increase in registration levels, up by 57% this year and almost four times the pre-pandemic level. In 2022, 52% of buyers at Bonhams bought from the auction house for the first time.”
In 2022, Bonhams offered landmark single-owner collections, including the white glove sales of Sir Michael Caine: The Personal Collection, Sir Terence Conran: The Contents of Barton Court, Personal Property of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and The Robert & Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting. Other notable single-owner sales included Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible; Style and Substance: The Collection of George and Charlotte Shultz and The Claude de Marteau Collection.
Top lots for 2022 included a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder (Sold for US$4,185,000), a pair of blue and white octagonal candlesticks (Sold for HK$30,453,000/ US$3,910,000), La femme en rouge au fond bleu by Chaïm Soutine (Sold for £1,842,300/ US$2,237,000), and a rare emerald and diamond Cartier bracelet (Sold for US$3,240,375).
FACTS AND FIGURES FOR 2022
Bonhams and the Bonhams Network achieved $1,003,670,000 in 2022
14 Salerooms: UK: New Bond Street, London; Knightsbridge, London; Edinburgh. US: New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Marlborough. Hong Kong: Admiralty. France: Avenue Hoche, Paris; Rue de la Paix, Paris. Belgium: Brussels; Denmark: Copenhagen. Sweden: Stockholm and Australia: Sydney.
Number of Departments: 60+
Number of Offices: 34
Number of Sales: 710 (325 live auctions; 385 online-only)
Number of Lots sold: 317,042
Number of lots sold over $1m: 33
Top lots sold at Bonhams and its network in 2022:
Top 10 Lots over US$1M (with Premium) in 2022
•1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, coachwork by Wendler. Sold for $US4,185,000. The Amelia Island Auction, Fernandina Beach Gold Club, Florida, US. 3 March 2022
•Yangcai painted ‘Imperial poems and landscapes’ incised celadon-ground lobed oval vase. Sold for HK$32,253,000 (US$4,143,136). Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, Admiralty, 29 May 2022
• Pair of blue and white octagonal candlesticks. Sold for HK$30,453,00 (US$3,911,913). Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, Admiralty, 29 May 2022
• Bodhisattva, Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). Sold for €3,342,375 (US$3,550,237). The Robert and Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art, Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris, 25 October 2022
• Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), Let There Be Light (And the Sun Beautiful as She Was and Pregnant – Scattered Her Colours All over the Earth), 1955-1961. Sold for US$3,300,375. The Estate of Melvin S. Rosenthal, New York, 16 November 2022
• Cartier, a rare emerald and diamond bracelet, circa 1926. Sold for US$3,240,375. New York Jewels, New York, 24 May 2022
• A gilt copper alloy figure of green Tara. Sold for US$2,310,312. Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art, New York, 22 March 2022
• 2014 Ferrari LaFerrari Coupé. Sold for €2,200,000 (US$2,337,038). Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris, Paris, 3 February 2022
• La femme en rouge au fond bleu by Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943). Sold for £1,842,300 (US$2,236,940). Expressionism: Germany, Austria and Beyond Sale, London,16 November 2022
• 1927 Bugatti T35 B. Sold for €2,000,000 (US$2,124,580). The Monaco Sale 'Les Grandes Marques à Monaco', Paris, 13 May 2022
