How Two Companies Dominate The $67 Billion Art World

The global art market was valued at $67.4 billion in 2018, the second highest year ever. The United States, United Kingdom and China are the three largest art markets in the world. Their sales combined make up 84% of the global art market. The auction house is one of the biggest drivers of the art market. Sales at public auctions exceeded $29 billion last year. Two auction houses-Christie's and Sotheby's- compete head to head each year capturing more than 40% of global auction sales.
» Subscribe to CNBC: cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic
About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC
#CNBC
How Two Companies Dominate The $67 Billion Art World

[@felixf4378]

When you have so much money that you don't know where to store it anymore.

[@putra_maliki]

Just let it hangging on the wall...

[@silvaphoenix3652]

F Fuentes also the best way to launder money

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

@@johndoew9777 Because we all know that your beloved Trump is a poor man

[@bigtosz]

@@johndoew9777 Hillary's not the one who uses Foundation money to buy portraits of themselves to hang in their cuntry clubs.

[@francethemc9416]

How about Picasso? Or is it the buyers who are laundering it? I don’t get it?

[@ericp4573]

I wonder how many assassins would come after me if I stole all the art in one of their auctions

[@resmur8095]

Nah they won't send assasin to you they just called the authorities and you will be charged with grand larceny

[@patrickm5217]

Tom Cruise will come after you

[@night00glider]

Serial number : 11.1.1.1

[@shajanmiah5063]

They would just pay someone $50 to paint them again and pretend they're legit.

[@itzdcx7991]

You just got yourself on the FBI watch list buddy shouldn’t have said that 😂

[@theophendyj9816]

Literally 90% of the comments:”art auctions are used for money laundering”.

[@dosantosbojan]

Because it's true...

[@humanrightsviolation7987]

Truth hurts?

[@governmentcontractor765]

They’re just copying each other’s comments. 80% of them wouldn’t have commented that if they didn’t see the top comments..

[@gundamnduke0]

they are just comment laundering

[@patw.6567]

i mwan its kinda true

[@stuffthings9618]

Imagine being so rich you have the two biggest auction companies rock paper scissors against each other. Those are some mega balls of steel.

[@HunterMann]

Good point, if you look at it from an acquisitions point of view and trending markets, my prediction is that the two auction houses will someday merge, and then they will really be a much bigger combined monster to be reckoned with

[@MoorishBrooklyn]

Shout out to the Asian guy that had them play rock, paper scissors. Priceless. Good educational video.

[@aBOOBaMUSIC]

it adds more to the story of the art

[@WiseOnion]

Dude just say Japanese guy. Asian is a broad ass term.

[@SpaseGoast]

Art is just a way to launder money.

[@yugiohpokemon5285]

So are cars houses and trading cards.

[@Abel1120]

explain

[@yugiohpokemon5285]

That shows you dont know how money laundering works.

[@Abel1120]

@@yugiohpokemon5285 your stupid... i asked to explain because i dont know... you could explain it to me.

[@ayoubdado7927]

Expensive art*

[@nxjxjfufc8778]

I swear some of these expensive art paintings look no different than goodwill paintings for $5

[@museonfilm8919]

I know - it's mainly hype. Just like the music industry.

[@AquaMarino]

About materiality and matketing.

[@YoungCoyy]

🤣🤣🤣

[@-rubinski-1030]

It’s often not only the painting itself, but more the story behind it what makes it popular and therefore expensive. Think about banksy who hates these auctions, however his painting was sold for a million pounds.

[@saaramohamed8921]

Lol nope.. do u paint or draw

[@muskreality]

I'm addicted to binge watching CNBC and Business Insider

[@CarlosSanchez-en6mr]

Isaiah Lali try alcohol

[@seanrenner25]

Some of the best content to be honest

[@airmark02]

Then that means You addicted to Fake News ~ Please get some help

[@zapfanzapfan]

Get back to work you lazy bum and explode more rockets! :-)

[@rigg13]

@@seanrenner25 You mean some of the best click baity content?

[@GamerbyDesign]

"The world is generally a much richer place then it was a few years ago." I've never gotten a sense of this in my neck of the woods.

[@calamorta]

but it is, the issue is that poor people are just a bit less poorer while the rich are much richer than before

[@GamerbyDesign]

@@calamorta I don't know where your from, but where I am from the poor are pooree and the rich are even rich than usual. I feel the poorest I've ever felt in my adult life.

[@flakgun153]

Doesn't matter how it feels to you. The math checks out.

[@flakgun153]

@@calamorta Nah. Globally the richest people are feeling the heat as jobs move to poorer countries. The global poor have never been better. Only unskilled labor in rich countries are feeling left out.

[@GamerbyDesign]

@@flakgun153 Would like to see your math. My math says wages have not gone up in over 50 years.

[@SN-hn9zi]

All these people have really weird smiles at the ends of their sentences. Like they know it’s a lot of bs

[@knowledgeiskey1319]

YES that lady at 8:37 made me want to smack that weird ass smirk off her face

[@dylanolic713]

ItS ArT ThOuGh

[@ronagoodwell2709]

Facial punctuation.

[@campkira]

basically they do nothing to get high fee....

[@kamu747]

Its the smile of satisfaction, comfort and prestige. Its a good place to be at when you can smile that way.

[@Anita-md9ze]

The fact that he says the buyers are coming from whatever sector of the economy are doing well says it's obvious they only use these as vehicles to move cash and dodge taxes. They aren't interested in the art. You don't have to have money to suddenly be interested in art.

[@DiabeticDawg]

Rock Paper Scissors is a genius marketing ploy for the individual. You know the piece is valuable and so you decide its fate on luck sparking controversy, free press coverage, etc. Very smart.

[@MKMK-bj2sk]

*Gotta ask my mom where she kept all my paintings what were on the fridge.. looks like I'm on my way to becoming a millionaire*

[@inigojuancarlos]

I used to work for Sotheby’s in HK and I have to say, it’s quiet snotty and had a sense of elitism when you’re in high art appraisal & auction market.

[@chidisimon7404]

Hey. A Little chat please. I'm on instagram @thinline_studios_of_art. Thanks

[@SantaBarbaraBiking]

That sounds about right.

[@pranjalvw2193]

Conclusion:- Its not about what you sell, Its how you sell and to whom you sell.

[@ziyaazmak]

Pranjal VW no this is money laundering

[@pranjalvw2193]

@@ziyaazmak yup

[@phanders6236]

It's only when it comes to art people have that objection that it is elitist but are fine with it in any other industry. Everyone assumes you are a moron in you want to dig a little deeper in your understanding of what captivates you/moves you etc. It's also often people who have no interest in art (and thats fine) who are suddenly experts on what is percieved as "good" and "bad."

[@sutats]

Two decades ago Christie's and Sotheby's were found guilty for price fixing and they're still at the top of the game today.

[@ein99999]

Actually there is a lot of beauty and time and effort put into something and people are willing to pay a lot of money for it.

[@bigtosz]

@OMEGALUL Clap Then why don't they? Why don't you? Easy money, right?

[@tadpole53]

Came here because the art in the thumbnail looks like every painting hanging in any taco bell ever. Ok bye

[@SilhSe]

Ha! Great

[@ollonnn]

You look like every girl hanging at Starbucks ever.

[@tadpole53]

@@ollonnn LMAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@evilmanua]

it`s not an art market, it`s an asset market.

[@r3dp1ll]

exactly

[@evilmanua]

@vlad wick Yeap. Art World is a creative scam, a way to transfer wealth and avoid taxation.

[@bluesque9687]

Ass

[@phanders6236]

It's only in the art market where people are annoyed with people making money. But in ANY other market people don't have a problem with companies making money.

[@bluesque9687]

@@phanders6236 because Art is useless... that's what Oscar wilde said!

[@PristinePerceptions]

New headline: How two criminal front organizations dominate the 67 billion dollar art trafficking industry.

[@markmolino6091]

That's the real headline right there.

[@maticbukovac6966]

It's probably the same with the diamond and precious stones companies, all descended from colonial-era operations...

[@Jen-jo5qu]

Great story here. Intriguing to hear about how art auctions have changed recently.

[@boldbbqdorito7275]

My kindergarten painting could prolly make a couple 100 stacks

[@jon-unicorn-doxxer]

If you have a name and famous in art world why not...

[@niagaradrones]

Yes, that’s the point, art is subjective.

[@Abel1120]

try it... its actually super hard...

[@copypaste3526]

Et Cetera sry you are nor dead nor famous... pock up the sythe peasant and let the aristocrats do their thing

[@Patrick10271995]

If a famous artist sell you kindergartens artworks as his/her and create a story for each art, the artist can make millions. Hahaha

[@ericcoop8785]

Kind of amazing that France and Italy have such a small amount of global art market share, both widely fostered and birthed multiple forms of art. And since when did the US become so artistic 😅

[@hennisdoffman5412]

Especially when the US have less than a handful of great artists. The answer? Capitalism.

[@ziraprod6090]

We have more money. (not me) because we have been free.

Rock/Paper/Scissors is quite a useful skill.

[@anthonyd9844]

What they didnt tell you in this video is that many of the purchases are done to hide large sums of money. A buyer will get the artwork and stash it in a warehouse somewhere to be sold at a later date. Its great for these big auction houses who make a fortune off iconic artists but bad for the public who loose the chance to experience the work in person.

[@DripGxd_Cam]

That thumbnail looks like something I made in my 1st grade art class

[@bigtosz]

Cool! You're rich now.

[@michaelrantanen4312]

then actually sit down and try to draw like ur in 1st grade art class again... as an adult but also use a color wheel to get every colour to pop in unison

[@DripGxd_Cam]

@J H nah it was lost to time

[@alexandernunne4923]

High years of art sales are indicators of a coming recession

[@johnnyb3783]

Alexander Nunne that makes sense cause they know what we don’t

[@hiyashifalcion118]

Lol yeah actually. Me and my husband bought a painting that was priced at 150. But it was on sale 3 times over, ended up paying a little less than 60 bucks. Somethings not right with the economy. I mean, more than 200 for a painting? Pshhh, but still, art isn't valueless either.

[@Q_QQ_Q]

@Hiyashi Falcion how did you get for less than 60 ?

[@hiyashifalcion118]

@@Q_QQ_Q it was on sale at the store for like 60 percent I want to say. The thing was, it wasn't just an abstract paintsplotch or something stupid like that. It made sense to spend 100 bucks on it (it's a stylized map of the earth with nautical stuff and lots of bright colors)

[@Q_QQ_Q]

@Hiyashi Falcion but is it worth it ?

[@JohnFuckingDoe]

I'm a simple man, I hear money and laaundry, I click

[@unobooks]

love this documentary format... made me subscribe

[@tuts351]

Replace "art market" with money "laundering market"

[@keanureeves593]

Sotheby’s and Christie’s sound like they could be café chain names

[@Illuminatethedark_]

That Sotheby’s chick looks like she is really difficult to deal with.

[@RobertLeBlancPhoto]

And that upspeak is so annoying.

[@natella2426]

cause she's a wealthy successful woman and people hate that

[@shaunsiz.itsbetterbytube2858]

Wolfgang Beltracchi had fun with these characters 🤣🤣🤣

[@mellisssaaa3970]

Do these auction houses only sell items that are by well known artists? I have an EP MGil painting I want to sell, and one I want to sell by an artist I cannot identify but have info on the back saying he was a cousin to a famous theater actress in the 1800. Then I have some pottery, like newcomb ext. but how do they decide what they’re going to sell? Would Sothabees or Christie’s sell my stuff too?

[@vishnuprasad2312]

The beat in the background in the begining reminds me of "teach me how to Dougie"

[@TheAcenightcreeper]

That chinese bronze piece was the one the lady brought in to antiques roadshow. It ended up selling for 2million on an estimate of $100-150k.

[@glsapp23]

CNBCs channel has been on point lately! Interesting, unique stories.

[@MoneyMacro]

Art is such an interesting investment. On the surface it looks like a super safe and smart investment. But, as they mention, tastes are always changing... how to take that into account? Seems tricky... but fun.

[@HakunaMatata-ve7tl]

"For charity " Biggest lie you've ever heard about these auction things,,,

[@typingname7743]

Looks like kindergarten drawings are a billion dollar business

[@DjTrax78]

I love how all these auction houses and the people within them seem to think that they benefit and evolve the art world... what a mindset to have! Shouldn't art be public and not looked away in some big mansion?

[@SantaBarbaraBiking]

It is unfortunate that so many art pieces are hidden away in corporate buildings and personal collections.

[@ziraprod6090]

It is - go to a museum.

[@gaelgarciaisagod]

Kind of random but can anyone help me identify the music track playing from 12:44 till the end of the video?

[@Akkul]

Videos like these make me wanna steal paintings from a kindergarten and sell them for a million dollars.

[@ruthlessreid9172]

Boomers influence has made pop art ridiculously over valued.

[@synecdoche8783]

@buntovnik bez razloga value is set by the seller, you know how cheap it is to create computers, clothes, cell phones, and designer bags? like 1% of how much they sell them for

[@magick2006]

Your food also overvalue

[@synecdoche8783]

@buntovnik bez razloga well without money as a motivational factor, why bother developing newer and stronger models of technology? why would anyone want to get into that industry and try to get a backbreaking degree in computer engineering only to sell their products for pennies and make as much as a cashier nothing to do with greed, if healthcare and medicine was free, most people wouldn't want to be doctors and we'd have less

[@CinnamonByte]

@@synecdoche8783 you are correct about bags and clothes. But electronics is a bit different. Companies spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year in research and development. Which, may not even be used in the actual device. So, companies like apple are overpriced but not nearly as much as branded clothes

[@Ethiopianexposer]

I dont see the point of art

[@huthayfa1723]

You see art, I see money laundering

[@MrAlpinab7]

art, what a joke ! the only art was by Raphael, and Michelangelo and the other 2 ninja turtels :))))))

[@phanders6236]

you are not looking deep enough

[@sunnyj171]

How would you go about submitting some of your work to some of these auction? I'm an abstract 3D cosmic artist here, in Florida

[@provostguillaume]

I knew I saw the bronze statue at 5:43 somewhere! It was on Antique Roadshow : Best Moment: Early 15th-Century Chinese Bodhisattva Gilt Bronze (2018). Paid 100$ in a garage sale, valued at 100,000-125,000$. Made 1,300,000$ at Sotheby's.

[@sabrinanascimento5248]

Maybe I can try to sell my Art here.😂❤️

[@cscarlton24]

Fun, interesting thanks for uploading!

[@antoniajagodic]

Amazing art 😊

[@narsing2253]

The VC of Sotheby's is too cute in an Art Industry ;)

[@whateverittakes1167]

Low cost, high returns business.

[@ratnalumut]

14:03 that smile when talk about alot of money...

[@christopherdavis163]

It’s so many talented artist all over the world in every single market!!!!!

[@wantandlike]

wow 100 M for just one painting. this is exactly what is wrong with the system

[@bigtosz]

It's a really good painting. The system works.

[@altaydraws]

I like this art money

[@parapermesterjeluurinvesti523]

Well you forgot about "salvator mundi" i guess

[@OpEditorial]

A banana duct taped to the wall sold for $120,000,000. The banana was later eaten, there's no moral to this tale...

[@simeonzanechambers2430]

$120,000 not $120,000,000

[@kavoddivitaeglory5976]

How big are counterfeit market for this ?

[@mluu510]

Old school crypto currency

[@DhrubajyotiRaja01]

USA:I am at the top of every segment. China:I am gonna end this Man's career. 😎😎😈😈😈😈

[@ericswain4177]

I have found the Art World an ever-increasingly unscrupulous place. It's most evident in the high-end market which in turn sets trends and $$$ over the whole market and sets an over-inflated value of what we view.

[@GalleryCoronado]

Years ago, one of my artists (Captn Budd, now mostly blind) had art in Center Art Galleries, Honolulu. That gallery was accused of having fraudulent Red Skelton art. They closed and gave him back his art framed.

[@ericswain4177]

@@GalleryCoronado There are always exceptions, I speak mainly of the Top end art market.

[@ericswain4177]

Wow very lucky.@@GalleryCoronado

[@Ice_Karma]

Your closed captions, which I note are not KZbin's automatically-generated ones... are *_terrible._* 😞

[@boncitagoyang6963]

OMG YES

[@waynem7634]

Money launderers love these Guys....side smirk smiles throughout this video.

[@sebastianbiehl7906]

3:18 what's the artist?

[@sabrinanascimento5248]

Whoa Picasso! ❤️

[@chichan9013]

Art should be treated as a priceless historical artifact, it should be in museums for everyone to see. Like what.. You buy it for investment and probably look at it twice a year? It's waste that everything is just hidden in your basement and everyone can't even see it.

[@piusx8317]

@MysteriousOklahoma Examples?

[@jyashin]

The fact that you can hire reproducers to make the exact same thing so easily tells you exactly how much the art is actually worth

[@julialuber3767]

The story of art investing is also a dimension of history, though.

[@JOSEPHCHARLESCOLIN2024]

And I sell my Art By Time = $1 = 1 Min

[@2024SLCLUBBERS]

No need for a Auction

[@vanessadoe3588]

1:54 talks about the process of consignment

[@gavinreid5387]

Walt Disney couldn't draw a mouse.

[@sagarmajumdar92]

Does anyone know the name of the painting and artist at 1:35 ?

[@sagarmajumdar92]

@MysteriousOklahoma thanks

[@randomuser5443]

It’s a vase for 300K, how I get the eye with the skull because it looks amazing.

[@m.k.s.7417]

I think, that there should be =as much support, as poss_ABLE, for: "Artists, from: across:_ Africa, Ireland, ASIA, "Indigenous_Australasia", "The [very]_Native_AmeriCAN_ ART-ists" -etc. -M.K.S.

[@PandaOnRitalin]

Art is expensive because rich people literally have nothing else to spend it on.

[@BrandonClark-StocksPassports]

BINGO!!!

[@kelty2424]

Could i get Sotheby's blueprints real quick, please, theeeeeeeenks

[@ehfdup9460]

where can i get some coupons?

[@damselindiktat]

"Selling between two auction house is not an easy decision" That's a problem I wish I had.

[@MrIrons-og3rg]

I will get my own Art Gallery here in Jamaica soon

[@csanton3946]

These art companies should be tagging themselves as tech companies called WeArt

[@kojoman75]

Wow!!! That's a lots art-selling.

[@farsidetracer7230]

one part for tax planning (tax mitigation, via legal means), and an extension of the stock market but with a higher sense of gambling

[@csanton3946]

Leonardo da vinci must be proud of a great artist we have in Adam neuman founder of WeArt

[@sabigyoza]

Does war and technology break through also have any auction ?

[@richielee2315]

2:39: most awkward pen hold in history?

[@niagaradrones]

Richie Lee lefties hold pens weird

[@mikhael7221]

@@niagaradrones that's not a left hand

[@niagaradrones]

Mickyle Dud it absolutely is, the image is flipped.

[@MoneyR236]

John Roscoe if it was flipped he’d be signing right to left

[@MoneyR236]

John Roscoe and all lefties do is tilt the paper, being lefties barely has anything to do with how you hold the pen (source: me and my parents are all lefties)

[@MikeHottVOD]

Art is in the wallet of the beholder.

[@cactuslovesballoons8581]

"When economies are failing, art auctions are booming" --- Pedro Parker, phd.

[@zareenwilhelm5811]

Link to thesis?

[@xy_77]

They suffered a 20% drop during the pandemic.

[@kamu747]

@@xy_77 Well, Economies thrived and bloomed. 2020 was generally, a profitable year. Don't consider the average man, think about the upper strata. Many industries did better than usual. There was a lot of money in circulation.

[@xy_77]

@@kamu747 The auction houses lost more than 20% in profits.

[@cejamieson2024]

Brilliant!

[@joaquin67]

Soon enough, once artists wake up and realize you can just market yourself on social media.. these companies will soon and hopefully crumble. Just imagine those $67.4 billion dollars being distributed among all of the artists around the world.. the poorest artists will still make a living! Not all 7.8 billion of us humans on Earth are artists! But like I said.. artists gotta stop being so romantically tied and wake the fudge up. It's much easier to market yourself as a brand rather than wait and "sell-out." It's hard to even get to the point of selling-out!

[@yaserahamed_8276]

Haw to sale our prodects pls gide me

[@chicostacos2]

The Extremely Rich: This speaks to me. I've never seen anything so magnificent! Art Dealer: Yes, and for only $698 million this 4x9 Post-It note can have a home in your heart! 😘 T.E.R. : 🤔🤔🤔 I'll give you $700 million and not a penny less! A. D. : 🤑 DEAL!!!!!! 😍 Me: Cool, so universal health insurance is feasible and saves money overall, we just need to raise the taxes of the bazillionaires. T. E. R. : That's unaffordable. Me: 😡😡😡 You just paid hundreds of millions for Windows '98 clip-art! T. E. R. : So?

[@beamboy14526]

There are millions of people in Africa and other developing countries dying from lack of access to fresh water or food. Should the government raise taxes on you to feed them? Billionaires and millionaires who legitimately earned their wealth deserve to spend it however they'd like. Instead of spending $1k on an iphone or $2K on a laptop, you could've used that money to help hundreds or thousands of dying kids in Africa. Why didn't you do it?

[@gillgousse2247]

@@beamboy14526 "legitimately earned their wealth" :)

[@fivegoldstar6811]

Using art for money laundering and avoiding tax. What a disgusting scam.

[@sergioinfante417]

Stick to the status quo then 😆

[@ericmccloud7619]

I like both there great businesses

[@roboko6618]

I hate that this is called 'art' by media. This is 'money laundering'

[@sabudehchukwumdimma7619]

lol

[@governmentcontractor765]

Very original comment

[@sangramskarande1841]

Can you make a video on Goodwill Industries

[@niagaradrones]

Nice to see some transparency. I have made some art and sold it, not for crazy amounts, but the time it takes and the reputation of the artist will only increase arts value. I’m a nobody and I sold a piece I made for 1,300$

[@bsaforlife]

What kind of art did you do?

[@f1sh98]

MFW the video’s longer than the time it’s been uploaded

[@stellarian498]

This doesn't make sense

[@tombevan4160]

The Sotheby’s and Christie’s interviewees seem very smug

[@markmolino6091]

I got that impression as well.

[@gurlbye9942]

especially the Christie's guy. lol

[@auro1986]

why isn't there an auction on artists?

[@crombajaa]

9:08 lol, funny!

[@nickrodis6862]

Salamat po. Nick Rodis speed artist from Tagaytay City Philippines

[@ShidaiTaino]

They belong in a museum!

[@hogatiwash7750]

well not all of them...

[@codorin]

Maybe but some people want to build their own private museum.

[@JefferyDavisJr.]

And so do you

[@duran9664]

Money laundry at its basic.