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Christie's expands Hong Kong footprint in hope of art market 'pickup'
The Peninsula
Hong Kong: Auction house Christie s opened its regional headquarters in Hong Kong on Friday as its Asia Pacific chief predicted a sales pickup despi...
Hong Kong: Auction house Christie's opened its regional headquarters in Hong Kong on Friday as its Asia Pacific chief predicted a sales "pickup" despite a global art market weighed down by wary sellers.
Christie's is the third major auction house in recent years to expand their footprint in the Chinese finance hub in a bid to woo younger Asian buyers, following rivals Phillips and Sotheby's.
President of Christie's Asia Pacific Francis Belin said the current dip in the market was due to "hesitant" consignors and "sellers being a little bit cautious".
"We are quite confident... in the second half of this year that we see a very nice pickup in our numbers," Belin told AFP.
Christie's earlier reported $2.1 billion in sales in the first six months of 2024 -- the second consecutive year of decline -- down from its 2022 peak of $4.1 billion.