Sotheby's posts record first-half sales as fossil and art demand surges

Sotheby's reported $4.4 billion in first-half sales, a record for the house, according to Artnet News, with the auction total up 59% on the prior year. Private-treaty sales, transactions negotiated away from the saleroom, hit an all-time high of $826 million, a sign that wealthy buyers increasingly prefer discreet, off-market deals for major works alongside public auctions.

The strength was underlined by a separate result: a nearly complete South Dakota Tyrannosaurus rex specimen named Gus sold for $50 million at Sotheby's, setting a new record for a dinosaur at auction. The sale reflects a broader trend of natural history specimens and other unconventional collectibles moving into the same buyer pool as fine art and jewellery, as collectors diversify into rarer, more attention-grabbing trophy assets.

Together the results suggest the ultra-wealthy are continuing to deploy capital into physical, scarce assets even as broader markets remain volatile. For Sotheby's, the record half also signals the payoff of its push into private sales and alternative categories beyond traditional fine art, a diversification strategy that rivals including Christie's have also pursued. Watch whether the momentum holds into the second half, particularly given how much of the private-treaty growth may depend on a small number of very large single transactions.

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