Editor’s Note
This article explores the evolving landscape of art collecting, highlighting Christie’s insights on engaging younger generations. It examines the shift from luxury consumption to art acquisition and the values driving new collectors.
The auction house exec shares stats about Christie’s youthful buyer base and discusses the house’s belief that art can be a force for change.
There has been a lot of talk within the trade of converting luxury buyers to art collectors, especially in the millennial-to-Gen Z age group. How often does a buyer make that transition, and what does this demographic look for when it comes to art?
“It’s more about converting someone to auction generally. Then, once they move into the auction market, they start to move between the various categories. If you look at Christie’s buyers and bidders globally, about 30 percent are millennial or Gen Z, so aged 44 and below. They have some distinct characteristics. Among the things that most draw them in are luxury, jewelry, and watches. But when it comes to art, they tend to be drawn to younger artists who are around their age. Partly, that’s probably because of the price point—those artists’ works are at the lower end, which is more accessible—but it’s also because the artists are reflecting the younger collectors’ values, whether through subject matter or medium. And this age group is much more digital, by which I mean they are interested both in digital art and in buying and selling online.”
Christie’s has been doing business in the Gulf for 20 years, having opened a Dubai office in 2005. What market growth in the region have you witnessed since then, and how has it influenced your decision to open a Riyadh office now?
“The Middle East is a region at the forefront of change, shifting tastes, and behaviors. I noted that a third of our global client base is under 44, but the proportion is even higher in the Middle East, where 58 percent of new buyers and bidders are millennials or younger. That partly has to do with the region itself. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has a very young population: 63 percent is under the age of 30. I think, within the region, there is interest across all categories, without question. There is certainly a great interest in luxury, in line with the demographic—that’s not at all surprising. There is also a significant interest in modern Middle Eastern art. If you look at our sales in that category since 2020, they have risen 298 percent. Additionally, the growing cultural infrastructure in Saudi Arabia is astonishing, and the impact of that is a growing commercial market within the kingdom and more internationally. The ambition and pace of Vision 2030 are incredible. The Islamic Arts Biennale is an example—the quality and curation of what was there are absolutely mind-blowing for how recently it was started.”
Christie’s made headlines when it sold Salvator Mundi to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2017. Was this a watershed moment for business with Saudi clients, or had there already been a steady influx of clients from the kingdom?
“We’re grateful to have worked with passionate collectors from the kingdom for many years. I think collectors have been increasingly looking to buy cross-category, from Old Masters to 20th-century to jewelry. I think Vision 2030 is what’s driving the change and the ambition in the region that we’re seeing now. In the past five years, the number of buyers from the kingdom has risen 150 percent.”
At the end of the last decade, there was concern among many art firms about Saudi Arabian business practices and alleged human rights abuses. This led Frieze’s parent company, Endeavor, to return a multimillion-dollar investment to the kingdom, and Sotheby’s to pull out of some events there. As the Saudi cultural infrastructure grows and investment from the kingdom expands, including recent deals with the U.K and France, how has Christie’s reconsidered the business landscape there?
“We are reinforcing our presence in the region, as are many businesses at the moment. We believe there is an ongoing process of change, and we believe in the power of arts and the free marketplace as a positive force of change in society. We want to play our part using our global platforms to support arts and artists, wherever we do business.”
What are some of the highlights you’re looking forward to soon in the region?
(Note: The article concludes with the final question, but the direct answer from Anthea Peers is not provided in the given text.)