At Aste Bolaffi we bid farewell to 2025 remembering it as a two-sided year: intense and exciting in terms of results, yet also deeply marked by a serious loss within the company.

It was the year in which my father, Alberto Bolaffi, passed away. He was the one who founded the auction house in 1989 and, with braveness and foresight, positioned Aste Bolaffi alongside the family’s historic commercial activity, active since 1890. By a cruel twist of fate, he was unable to celebrate with us the record year of 2025, which closed with a total turnover of € 49,054,477. This result has allowed us, for the third consecutive year, to consolidate our position as the leading Italian auction house (Source: Plus 24 – Il Sole 24 Ore, 10 January 2026).

This milestone, which represents our all-time record, was achieved thanks to numerous small transactions, several more significant ones, and two top lots. Indeed, on two occasions during the year Aste Bolaffi set a new internal record for a single lot: in the spring with Fernand Léger’s Nature Morte (Contrastes de Formes), sold for € 2,142,750 (buyer’s premium included), and, a few months later, with a Bulgari ring featuring a 3.18 carat fancy intense pink diamond, sold for € 2,260,750 (buyer’s premium included). Two incredible results that make us particularly proud and that set new and ambitious challenges for the future. I point out with satisfaction, however, that these two sales account for less than 10% of the auction house’s total turnover, demonstrating the strength of our house in its traditional business of creating value through a wide variety of objects.

The year 2025 also marked the opening of two additional departments, Asian Art and Music Memorabilia, further enriching an offering designed to meet, in a specialized way, the needs of consignors and buyers. The opening of a second office in Rome, in Piazza San Claudio, alongside our historic location in Via dei Condotti, also is driven by desire to offer an ever more comprehensive and sophisticated service to the public of the City of Rome and to Central Italy in general. In the new office, some specialists work on site — such as those in the fine jewels department — while others are available for valuations by appointment, in spacious and prestigious premises that provide the level of privacy that has always distinguished us.

The new year also promises to be full of important events and challenges. I carefully observe geopolitics and macroeconomic trends which, sometimes directly and more often indirectly, influence our markets. For example, the most recent one, in chronological order, concerns Venezuela, apparently a distant and marginal country for the art market, yet an event that brings with it disruptive effects that are destined to have significant consequences on how global wealth will be redistributed, part of which also flows into the auction circuit.

The global process of “de-dollarization,” clearly under way for some time but now more intense than ever, not only affects the prices of precious metals — directly involved in some of our auctions — but also creates pressure on other hard assets, which suddenly shift from being purely collectible objects to also becoming investment assets.

Financial markets are at historic highs and have generated an immense amount of wealth, part of which has flowed into assets that do not necessarily rest on solid structural demand. These assets therefore risk being, or soon becoming “in a bubble,” with valuations that could fall sharply and suddenly in 2026.

These are just some considerations that may seem remote, but which both those wishing to sell an object and those wishing to buy one must carefully take into account and at Aste Bolaffi we have the tools to provide the right advice. What has just been outlined at a global level may appear distant from the day-to-day reality of domestic collecting, which, being local and involving marginal volumes, is indeed not directly affected. However, in an increasingly globalized world and with Aste Bolaffi generating around 50% of its turnover with foreign buyers it would be illusory to believe we are immune to the dynamics of the international context.

For 2026, therefore, I feel a mix of concern about the risk of some disruptive global event that could suddenly affect the market, and optimism, aware that turbulence always brings opportunities. Historically, in fact, collectible objects have represented a lifeline for those forced to sell them in difficult times and a safe haven for those who have invested their wealth in them.

As Italy’s leading auction house with an international presence — both through our “sister” companies in the UK and Spain and through privileged relationships with international partners — we are well positioned to assist any potential need of our stakeholders. We nevertheless hope that such a disruptive event will not occur and that, in the new year as well, we may work smoothly and achieve ever better results thanks to your trust.

Happy 2026 and happy bidding,
Filippo Bolaffi
C.E.O. – Aste Bolaffi S.p.A.