Results end year 2021
We are proud to conclude this year with a remarkable sales result, which is 27% exceeding our results last year, a testimony to Venduehuis The Hague market leading position in the Netherlands in the recent years. We would like to thank our clients and employees for their extraordinary support during this year. Our success was driven by strong customer demand for high quality art and antiques, our further adaptation to a new digital shift in the art business, and last but not least, the trust our relations in The Netherlands and abroad placed in us.
Key figures 2021:
40 live and online auctions hammered down over 14.500 artworks across 12 broad categories ranging from the Old Master Paintings, Nineteenth- Century & Early Modern Art, Post-War & Contemporary Art, Indonesian Art, Jewellery & Watches, Fine Silver, Asian Art and Ceramics, Furniture and Decorative arts, Design and Books & prints.
81% sold rate overall.
We saw bidding competition in our live hybrid auctions and online only auctions from over 53 countries. 16% of all our bidders and buyers in 2021 are new to Venduehuis The Hague and coming not only from The Netherlands, but also from other countries in Europe, China, The United States and Indonesia.
The number of bidders, both online and offline, has been growing faster than anywhere in the Dutch auction market. We have reached over 100.000 online followers coming from our digital newsletter subscription and various social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, WeChat.
Our hybrid live auctions and online only sales this year keep expanding our online viewership. Venduehuis’ website traffic has reached nearly 350.000 users from 185 countries.
Beginning in March last year, with lockdown measures in place around the globe, Venduehuis The Hague successfully accelerated its online sales program in order to meet the continued demand of collectors. We converted a number of traditional live auctions online, added wholly new Online Only sales to the auction calendar, added Virtual Tour feature of our exhibition rooms, and introduced an online valuation tool.
Those efforts propelled Venduehuis The Hague Online Only sales to grow by 22% this year, accelerating the average lot value in our Online Only sales by +60%. This shows that the art and antiques markets have proven to be resilient, and that demand for quality across categories is unabated.
Notable sales successes this year include the Art Deco enamel advertising sign 'Sumatra Java Rotterdamsche Lloyd by Johann Anton Willebrord von Stein (1886-1965) sold for € 210.000 in our Indonesian Art Sale in September 2021, followed by the works from our Post-War & Contemporary Art sales Andy Warhol (1928-1987) Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands from the series 'Reigning Queens' (Royal Edition) (1985) sold for € 175.000 and a remarkable work of Yayoi Kusama (1929) Untitled sold for € 130.000; in our Asian Ceramics & Works of Art sale a very fine Dehua Blanc-de-Chine seated Guanyin from Late Ming or early Qing dynasty, Chinafetched € 90.000; and in our Nineteenth Century & Early Modern Art an exceptional work by Wijnand Nuijen (1813-1839) A stranded ship on the coast was sold for € 72.500.
We are proud to conclude this successful year, and would like to thank all our customers for their support and trust in our expertise and experience in art and antiques.
As we head into the new year, we wish you all happiness and good health and look forward to welcoming you again at Venduehuis The Hague in 2022!
Management Team Venduehuis The Hague