Private Sales vs. Public Auctions: The Art Market Is Changing Its Model

There is a scene that few people know about, and that the major auction houses have no interest in making public. A hushed room, a few chairs, carefully hung works, and a carefully curated guest list. No auctioneer. No frenzied bidding wars. No price displayed in real time on a screen. Just a discreet negotiation between parties who trust each other, around a work that is sometimes worth several tens of millions of dollars.

This market has always existed. But it has never been more central than it is today. At Sotheby's, private sales reached $1.4 billion in 2024 — the second highest total in the house's history — up nearly 20% from the previous year, despite an overall market contraction. The signal is clear: the art market is changing its model. And for collectors, understanding this shift is now essential.

A Market in Full Recomposition

To read this transformation correctly, one must first understand the global context in which it is taking place. According to the Art Basel & UBS Global Art Market Report 2026, the global art market contracted by 12% in 2024, declining for the second consecutive year after the post-pandemic recovery period that peaked in 2022. The contraction was particularly pronounced at the high end, while sales proved more resilient at the lower end of the market.

In 2025, the global art market returned to growth, rising 4% to an estimated total of $59.6 billion — a modest recovery after two consecutive years of contraction, but still 9% below 2023 levels. It is against this backdrop of an uncertain and slowly recovering market that the rise of private sales takes on its full meaning: when the environment is volatile, major collectors seek discretion rather than spectacle.

The Auction Room: A Showcase, Not the Whole Picture

For decades, the imagination of the art market has been dominated by a single image: the auctioneer, the hammer, the room held in suspense. Sotheby's, Christie's, Phillips — these names immediately evoke scenes of competition, records broken in public, prices displayed in real time on giant screens before a stunned crowd.

This image is not wrong. Major public auctions remain fundamental events for the market — they set benchmark prices, establish records, create visible liquidity, and feed the specialist press. In 2025, Sotheby's achieved $7 billion in total sales — up 17% from 2024 — of which $5.7 billion came from public auctions alone. Christie's, for its part, totalled $6.2 billion, up 6%.

But this image is incomplete. Because behind the spotlights, far from the catalogues and the rostrum, another economy has developed — more discreet, more strategic, and increasingly dominant.

The Irresistible Rise of Private Sales

Private sale revenues at both major houses have grown exponentially since the pandemic. Comparing year-end results from 2019 and 2025, Christie's brought in $700 million more in private sales this year than in 2019 — $1.5 billion versus $800 million.

Christie's transacted $1.5 billion in art privately in 2025, representing nearly a quarter of its global sales. Seventeen of those transactions exceeded $15 million, compared to thirteen in 2024. More strikingly, its three most expensive works sold in 2025 were all sold privately — all above its public auction record for the year, the Rothko hammered at $62.1 million.

This is not a cyclical phenomenon. It is a structural transformation of the market. Auction houses have understood that demand for discreet, confidential transactions is growing. As a result, rather than focusing solely on public auctions, they are strengthening their private sale services.

The Art Basel & UBS 2026 report confirms this trend, noting that private auction sales declined 5% in 2025 compared to 2024 — a slight correction after years of strong growth — while public auctions advanced 9%, a sign that both channels are evolving in parallel according to market conditions.

Why Collectors Prefer Discretion

To understand this evolution, one must listen to what major collectors say in private — and what auction houses are translating with increasing candour in their annual results.

Discretion, first. In a private sale, no public details come to disrupt negotiations. This is particularly valuable for collectors who want to avoid any publicity around their acquisitions, or who prefer the transaction to remain confidential, away from outside scrutiny. In a world where personal wealth is increasingly exposed, this need for confidentiality has become a decisive advantage.

Price control, next. In a public auction, it is always possible that a lot will not reach its expected price. In that case, not only is there no sale, but the work is also "burned" — everyone can know that the piece failed to find a buyer, making it particularly undesirable and therefore very difficult to sell thereafter. In a private sale, this risk does not exist. For a seller who cares about the market reputation of their work, this is a decisive argument.

Scheduling flexibility, finally. The terms of the transaction are more flexible in a private setting. Buyers and sellers can define arrangements suited to their specific needs, whether in terms of financing, transport, or payment. For multi-million-dollar transactions involving international parties, this flexibility is often indispensable.

As a Sotheby's executive put it: "This reminds us that in times of market uncertainty, clients often prefer the discretion, price control and scheduling flexibility that private transactions offer."

New Formats: Between Room and Salon

The most fascinating evolution of recent years is the invention of hybrid formats — neither quite a public auction nor a classic private transaction, but something in between.

Sotheby's views these invitation-only events as "a new way to engage collectors." In 2025, the house conceived "The Apartment" in London — an invitation-only exhibition-sale where works by Hockney, Condo, Richter, and Basquiat were shown alongside designer furniture, recreating the atmosphere of a private interior. The boundary between the act of purchasing and the cultural experience is deliberately blurred.

Christie's, for its part, announced its next invitation-only private sale during the opening of the Venice Biennale in May, at Palazzo Ca' Dario — one of Venice's most mysterious palaces. The setting is the message: buying art becomes an experience, a ritual of belonging to an inner circle.

These formats reveal something essential about the new expectations of high-level collectors: they no longer simply want to buy a work. They want to live a relationship with it, in a context that matches their way of life. Auction houses have understood this — and they are adapting with remarkable speed.

Palazzo Dario, Venise

What Public Auctions Still Do Better

It would be simplistic to conclude that public auctions are losing ground. They retain decisive advantages that private transactions cannot replicate.

Price transparency. A public hammer price creates a documented, searchable, verifiable market fact. It is this public price that serves as the reference for insurance, estate planning, and future resale. Without it, the secondary market would have no reliable benchmarks.

This is precisely why platforms such as LLB Auction — which publishes its results transparently and charges a buyer's premium of 20%, considerably lower than the 25–26% applied by the major international houses — are particularly relevant for collectors who wish to understand the true value of works and access the secondary market on more favourable terms.

Competition as a revealer of value. When two collectors bid on a canvas for ten minutes and the price doubles the estimate, that is not speculation — that is the market saying something essential about demand for that artist at that moment. The major evening sales remain the moments when the market reveals itself to itself.

Accessibility. Public auctions allow less established collectors to access quality works under transparent conditions. It is one of the rare instances where the art market is truly open — whereas private sales remain, by definition, reserved for a very closed circle.

The Strategic Role of Galleries in This New Landscape

In this recomposition of the market, galleries are not bystanders. They occupy a unique position — at once actors in the primary market and trusted intermediaries for private transactions.

For collectors, discretion, personal relationships, and carefully curated opportunities are more attractive than the visibility of a public auction. This is where galleries hold a strategic advantage. A gallery is not merely a seller of works, but also a trusted advisor and long-term partner for collectors.

This is precisely the model embodied by Lynart Gallery: an online gallery that does not simply offer works for sale, but accompanies collectors in building a long-term vision. Unlike automated online sales platforms — such as certain aggregators offering thousands of references without advice or qualitative selection — Lynart Gallery applies a rigorous selection of the artists it represents, guarantees the quality and traceability of works, and offers that level of personalised guidance that neither an auction house nor a recommendation algorithm can replace.

In a market that increasingly values discretion and trusted relationships, this positioning is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

« Liquid Light », Richard Prince (b. 1994) — available on Lynart Gallery

How to Navigate Between the Two Channels as a Collector

For a collector who wishes to buy or sell intelligently, the question is not which to choose between private sales and public auctions. It is knowing when to use one or the other — and why.

To buy: public auctions offer transparency and access to a broad market. But for high-value works, or for artists whose trajectory you wish to follow without signalling your interest to the market, the private route is often preferable. Lynart Gallery provides access to carefully selected works, in a direct relationship with the gallery, without the pressure of an auction room.

To sell: assessing the market value of a work on the secondary market is an indispensable first step. LLB Auction provides access to public sale results and secondary market data, with a buyer's premium of 20% — allowing you not only to calibrate expectations and identify the right moment, but also to choose the most appropriate channel for each situation under financially more favourable conditions than those of the major houses.

To follow the market: cross-referencing both sources of information is essential. Public auction results provide the official price benchmarks. Private sales, meanwhile, provide signals about the direction the market is taking — who is buying what, under what conditions, and in what spirit. These weak signals, discernible to those who know how to read them, are often the most valuable.

Key Figures to Remember

Sotheby's private sales reached $1.4 billion in 2024, up nearly 20% — the second highest total in the house's history.

Christie's transacted $1.5 billion in private sales in 2025, representing nearly a quarter of its global sales. Its three most expensive works of the year were all sold privately.

Comparing 2019 and 2025, Christie's brought in $700 million more in private sales — rising from $800 million to $1.5 billion.

In 2025, public auctions nonetheless progressed: +8% at Christie's to $4.7 billion, +26% at Sotheby's to $5.7 billion — a sign that both channels are developing in parallel rather than one at the expense of the other.

Conclusion: Two Markets, One Logic

The art market is not choosing between public auctions and private sales. It is combining them with increasing sophistication — using the former as showcases and generators of benchmark prices, and the latter as privileged channels of circulation for the most significant works.

For today's collector, this duality is an opportunity. It means there are now more ways to access quality works, more levels of information available, and more partners capable of supporting each type of transaction.

Lynart Gallery is part of this evolved market logic: a gallery that operates with the clarity of the primary market, with the level of advice and personalisation that the finest collectors expect from a trusted partner.

And to never lose sight of what the secondary market is truly saying — public auctions, verified results, up-to-date valuations, competitive buyer's premium at 20% — LLB Auction remains the indispensable reference tool.

The art market is changing its model. The collectors who understand this first will gain the greatest advantage.

FAQ — Private Sales vs. Public Auctions

What is the main difference between a public auction and a private sale? A public auction is open to all, with prices set in real time by competition between buyers. A private sale is a confidential transaction, negotiated directly between seller and buyer, with a price agreed in advance. The former offers transparency and competition; the latter offers discretion and control. Both coexist and complement each other in the contemporary art market.

Why are the major houses developing private sales so extensively? In times of market uncertainty, clients prefer the discretion, price control, and scheduling flexibility that private transactions offer. The houses also find in them a stable growth driver, less exposed to the vagaries of auction seasons and the risks of public unsold lots.

Are private sales more expensive than public auctions? Not necessarily — and this is one of the great misconceptions of the market. In a private sale, the price is negotiated between the parties, which can be favourable to the buyer or the seller depending on circumstances. However, transaction costs are often less transparent. At public auctions, fees (buyer's premium) are set in advance and apply to all — at LLB Auction, this premium is 20%, compared to 25–26% at the major international houses, representing a concrete advantage for the buyer.

Can a privately sold work be tracked on the secondary market? With greater difficulty, precisely because discretion is the defining principle of this channel. This is why cross-referencing public auction data — available on LLB Auction — with private market signals is the most reliable method for assessing the true value of an artist's work.

How can the authenticity of a work be verified in a private sale? This is one of the most important questions — and one of the reasons why private sales demand a high level of trust in the intermediary. In the absence of a public catalogue and expertise regulated by an auctioneer, it is essential to rely on independent expertise: a certificate of authenticity from the artist or their foundation, documented provenance, and if necessary, recourse to a recognised third-party expert. Lynart Gallery guarantees the traceability and authenticity of every work it offers, with complete documentation provided to the purchaser.

How can a collector gain access to private sales? The private sales of the major houses are reserved for their most established clients, by invitation. For collectors who are starting out or wish to expand their network, relying on a trusted gallery such as Lynart Gallery is the most direct route to accessing carefully selected works under personalised conditions — without the pressure of an auction room or the entry costs of the major houses.

Is it better to buy from a gallery or at auction? It depends on the objective. From a gallery — notably through Lynart Gallery — you benefit from guidance, qualitative selection, and a lasting relationship. At auction, you access a transparent market with verifiable benchmark prices and, at LLB Auction, a competitive buyer's premium of 20%. Both channels are complementary: the finest collectors use both.