Art auctioneers saw record revenues in first half of 2022

Collectors and investors spent a record CZK 910.8 million crowns (including commissions) during the first six months of 2022, the Czech News Agency reported on Thursday, citing the editor-in-chief of art auction website Artplus, Jan Stuchlík. This is a year-on-year increase by 7 percent.

Mr Stuchlík said that the domestic auction market also saw collectors raising prices at auctions to the highest levels yet, with the threshold of CZK 100 million being paid for a single art piece being crossed for the first time ever. The piece in question was Bohumil Kubišta’s Staropražský motiv, which was sold in May for CZK 123.6 million, surpassing the previous record of CZK 90.24 million that was paid for František Kupka’s Divertimento II in 2020. According to the art magazine editor it is not only the luxury art market that is experiencing a boom, but also the lower and middle segments of the art auction market.