Seoul Auction Co. Ltd..(063170)[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyung-il ] Seoul Auction announced on the 4th that its total auction sales from January through July of this year reached 68.2 billion won, surpassing last year’s annual total (68.0 billion won).

Offline auctions drove this growth. From January to July of this year, the total winning bid amount for offline auctions reached 63.2 billion won, an increase of more than 190% compared to the same period last year, while the auction success rate rose by 11 percentage points to 68%.

Online auctions also continued their growth trend. From January to July, the total hammer price for online auctions reached 5 billion won, an increase of more than 50% compared to the same period last year, and matched last year’s annual total.

Seoul Auction Co. Ltd. explained that demand for premium artworks is rising as transactions, particularly for high-value works, have recovered in both domestic and international art markets. Accordingly, analysts note that the ability to source competitive works is emerging as a key competitive advantage for auction houses.

Building on its global sourcing capabilities, Seoul Auction Co. Ltd. continues to facilitate high-value transactions in the domestic premium art auction market. At last November’s Premium Evening Sale, Marc Chagall’s “Bouquet” sold for 9.4 billion won, and in March of this year, Yoshitomo Nara’s “Nothing About It” sold for 15 billion won, setting a new record for the highest price ever achieved at a domestic art auction. At the same auction, a work by Yayoi Kusama also sold for over 10 billion won, continuing the trend of high-value transactions.

Seoul Auction Co. Ltd. plans to continue this growth momentum through its regular auctions in the second half of the year. A company official stated, “Based on our differentiated ability to source artworks, the cumulative total of online and offline auction sales this year has more than doubled compared to the same period last year,” adding, “We expect to continue this growth trend in the second half of the year through large-scale regular auctions.”