Art and classic car auctions top $600 million despite Iran war

A version of this article originally appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to high-net-worth investors and consumers. become a member to receive future editions straight to your inbox.

Global collectors shrugged off stock market declines and war in Iran to spend more than $600 million on classic cars and fine art last week, signaling continued strength at the top of the economy.

Art sales in London last week exceeded $550 million, up 50% from last year, according to Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips auction houses. Some works sold for more than twice their estimates, breaking records for many artists, and offers poured in from 40 countries.

Also last week at the Amelia Island Concours in Florida, Broad Arrow Auctions hosted the most successful auction in Amelia totaling $111 million. The sale, which included a $15 million 2003 Ferrari Enzo and a $6.7 million 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, follows a strong RM Sotheby’s auction at ModaMiami a week ago that reached $74 million.

Strong results in both art and classic cars from London to Florida show continued confidence among wealthy consumers despite increased volatility and rising oil markets as war broke out in the Middle East. Global turmoil could even help demand for rare collectibles, experts say, as the wealthy seek safe, long-term stores of value in an increasingly uncertain world.

“It’s surprising, but still not surprising,” said Drew Watson, director of arts services at Bank of America. “It’s surprising what’s going on geopolitically. But when times are uncertain, and I think we’re in a broader era of uncertainty, people go for the tried and true.”

After two years of declines, strong prices in collectible markets are continuing a rapid recovery. Art auction totals in 2023 and 2024 are down 40% from their peak in 2022, despite rising stock markets and falling interest rates. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in April of last year only added to the pessimism.

But by the end of summer, collectibles had a resurgence. Classic car auctions in Monterey and Pebble Beach in August surpassed $430 million, marking the second-highest total ever. The following month, Sotheby’s sale of the collection of British socialite Pauline Karpidas in London reached $135 million, well above its estimate. The strength continued in Paris and the massive New York sales in November, followed by huge crowds at Art Basel Miami in December.

Today’s wealthy seem accustomed to chaotic headlines and market volatility, said Kenneth Ahn, president of Broad Arrow.

“I don’t know if desensitization is the right word,” Ahn said. “But in the lead-up to this, we had Russia going on for a while and the market was volatile. What the market did was effectively drown out those concerns as noise.”

Ahn said the current era of classic car collectors is significantly different from those of the past. Previous buyers, especially baby boomers, were highly sensitive to market fluctuations and economic cycles. He reminded that there was a sell-off in Monterey in 2019 after the stock market dropped 400 points and bond yields signaled a recession.

“A client of mine walked into the auction room and said, ‘I lost $30 million in the last two days of my portfolio. I’m not sure if I should bid on this car right now,'” he added.

Ahn said today “feels different.” Despite market volatility and uncertainty, “there’s still incredible optimism in the auto market,” he said.

The reasons vary. Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s chief auctioneer and president of Sotheby’s Europe, attributed the strength of the market to the ultra-rare works on offer.

“I think it’s a function of the quality of material that the market is seeing right now,” Barker said. “For knowledgeable collectors, this is an incredible opportunity to acquire rare and extremely high-quality examples on the market.”

Many people say that the main source of weakness in the art market is a lack of supply, not demand. Following Christie’s blockbuster $1.5 billion sale in 2022, which included Paul Allen’s famous works by Cezanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin, several mega collections are up for sale in 2023 and 2024.

The big estates returned last fall. The sale of works from Leonard Lauder’s collection at Sotheby’s included a rare Gustav Klimt work that sold for $236 million, making it the second most expensive work ever sold at auction.

Among the sales held in London last week were famous British works from the collection of British billionaire and investor Joe Lewis. A self-portrait of Francis Bacon sold for $21.5 million, more than doubling its low estimate. Leon Kossoff’s painting “Children’s Swimming Pool, Saturday Morning, August 11” sold for $7 million after a bidding war between 10 bidders.

At Christie’s, Henry Moore’s sculpture “The King and Queen” sold for $35.2 million after six bidders competed at auction; This is a record for Moore.

Barker and others said there was a “return to quality”; This means collectors are bidding on the best works by famous artists rather than buying more speculative works by younger, less established artists. Big brand names from the art world (Picasso, Monet, Warhol) were big drivers of prices last week.

“This is a perfect moment where there is greater supply of major material and at the same time there is an extraordinarily hungry class of buyers,” Barker said. “We are seeing not only a depth of offering that we haven’t experienced recently, but also a much, much deeper depth of quality material.”

Another factor in the renewed power of collectibles is a new generation of buyers. As baby boomers slow down buying or selling their collections, Gen Xers, Millennials, and even some Gen Zers are getting into the act. Some are entrepreneurs and tech founders, while others inherited their wealth as part of the massive $100 trillion wealth transfer.

While they’re buying a wider range of collectibles, from sneakers to handbags to Pokémon cards and sports memorabilia, they’re also starting to shop at art and classic car markets. And they add it to the buyer pool.

“I think we’re in the middle of a generational transition,” Watson said. “We’ve seen many of the collectors who have driven the post-war and contemporary market over the past few decades begin to age. And we’ve seen new generations move in, too.”

The change is happening the most in the classic car market. A market once dominated by sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s has been overshadowed by the supercars of the 1990s and 2000s, favored by a new generation of young collectors. Ahn said the trend started before the pandemic but has accelerated in the past three years.

“We have seen an almost parabolic movement in the prices of some modern hypercars and supercars in the last six months,” Ahn said. “There’s a seismic shift happening. It’s a massive transfer of wealth: We’re seeing it, we’re feeling it. It’s a massive emergence of successful entrepreneurs in their 30s and 40s who are leaving their jobs or inheriting massive amounts of capital and are passionate about the cars they grew up with.”

Not all collection segments benefit from increased spending. Contemporary art dealers’ sales remain stagnant in 2025, with ultra-Contemporary art driving much of the post-pandemic recovery, according to the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report. While buyers flocked to auction houses and fairs for old works by well-known artists, high costs also caused some galleries to close.

“On balance, this year’s data points to something more important than a return to growth,” said Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz. “It reflects an industry adapting to new economic realities, evolving its models and strengthening its foundations over the long term.”

However, the financial backdrop for collections remains strong as stock markets remain unstable and interest rates potentially fall. Add to that the fact that the wealth of America’s richest 1 percent has nearly doubled since 2020, to more than $55 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve, and experts say the bull run in the art and classic car markets is likely to continue.

“We are optimistic that this positive atmosphere will continue, at least in the art market,” Watson said.