Summary

• Sotheby’s revenue dropped nearly 20 percent in 2024, posting a $248 million USD pre-tax loss as the art market slowed
• The auction house secured a $909 million investment from Abu Dhabi’s ADQ to pay down debt and buy a new Madison Avenue building

The art world’s blue-chip auction house just had a rough year. Sotheby’s, the 280-year-old giant that sells everything from Picassos to Patek Philippes, saw its revenues tumble nearly 20% in 2024 which means that fewer collectors purchased luxury goods and fine art and the house took a major hit.

According to filings in Luxembourg, Sotheby’s brought in $1.13 billion USD in 2024, down from $1.36 billion USD the year before. The losses stacked up fast, with the company posting a pre-tax loss of about $248 million USD, more than double its $106 million USD loss in 2023.

So what happened? Commissions and fees, the bread and butter of Sotheby’s, shrank as big-ticket auctions cooled as per Business of Fashion. The global art market has been sluggish and even a powerhouse like Sotheby’s is feeling it. Last year, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, bought a 24 percent stake for $909 million USD. Sotheby’s used the cash along with a top-up from owner Patrick Drahi to pay down debt and buy a new Madison Avenue building in New York.

The big picture is that Sotheby’s is not just about gavel drops anymore. They are also lending money against art, flipping buildings and leaning on wealthy backers to weather the storm. But with sales still sliding, the question is whether this old-school auction house can be relevant in a world where hype culture and social media are already setting the rules.

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Summary

• Elizabeth Peyton's Liam + Noel (Gallagher) (1996) is heading to Sotheby's contemporary art sale in London on June 24
• Created in the apex of the band's fame, the "prescient" portrait highlights the quiet tension that shaped the duo's public relationship and their break-up in 2009.
• After a reunion last year, the piece draws art world excitement for the upcoming Live '25 tour, set to start in Cardiff on July 4.

With the Live '25 tour kicking off next month, it's safe to say: Oasis Fever is back in full swing. Britpop nostalgia is back in the air and the Elizabeth Peyton double-portrait of the Gallagher brothers couldn't have arrived at Sotheby's in better timing. The 1996 painting is among the headlining works at the house's contemporary art auction in London on June 24, expecting to fetch £1.5 – £2 million GBP ($2.03 – $2.71 million USD).

Created in the aftermath of their Knebworth Park shows, which made history as the UK's largest live concert, Liam + Noel (Gallagher) was based on a photographer of the brothers taken by Stefan De Batselier just a year before. The painting belongs to a pivotal series within Peyton's oeuvre surrounding the brothers, one of which sold for $4.1 million USD last year.

Here we see the two tracksuit-clad brothers in an tight embrace, yet beneath the matching mod cuts, full brows and rosy cheeks is the quiet tension of their professional-private sibling dynamic. “It is a press image,” Sotheby’s specialist Antonia Garnder told The Guardian. “They’ve got their arms around each other, but you can feel that sort of slight tension within it. It feels so prescient, knowing now how it all ended up”

Just as the indie duo soar into pop stardom, so too did Peyton whose soft and moody paintings solidified her title as one of the most defining American portraitists of the era. Known for her portraits of pop icons, Liam + Noel (Gallagher) embodies her ability to rescue pop faces from the oppressive pressure of the spotlight and instead, present them with a tender, raw radiance.

The painting will be on view ahead of the auction at Sotheby's London galleries from June 18 through 24. For more information on the upcoming sale, head to the house's website.

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