Methodology : The analysis of the Art Market presented in this report is based on results from Fine Art public auctions during the period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019. This report covers exclusively paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, prints, videos and installations by contemporary artists -herein defined as artists born after 1945-, and excludes antiques, anonymous cultu- ral goods and furniture. All the prices in this report include the hammer price and the buyer’s premium. They are indicated in US dollars. In commercial terms, the trade in Contemporary main trends that have swept the market over the artworks is today a veritable market within a mar- last twelve months. This Report therefore repre- ket. Our 21st Contemporary Art Market Report sents an essential reference for all players in this focuses on the over 70,000 Contemporary works Art Market, from art-lovers and young collectors to now bought and sold annually at auctions around market professionals and international institutions. the world. This is almost the same number as for It allows everyone to obtain a clear understanding the entire Art Market in the early 1990s. of their own collections based on the evolution of In order to optimise their objectivity and cohe- the Art Market and of all the social, economic and rency, our annual reports are based on exactly geopolitical tensions that affect it. the same standardization In an age when singularity methods and frames of is increasingly reproved and reference every year and censured, Contemporary Art therefore represent an abso- represents one of the last bas- lutely unique analysis of the tions of free and individual Art Market over the long expression. term. Moreover, our work For many art collectors, substantially contributes the art of collecting involves to enhancing the market’s acquiring the right work by transparency and fluidity the right artist at the right by actively contributing to moment. When these three the traceability of works and ‘criteria’ are clearly satisfied, the gradual and continuous the result is often a ‘histo- construction of artists’ prices rical transaction’. This was based on their auction his- the case last week (3 Octo- tories, supply and demand, ber) when Sotheby’s London and all the other available offered Devolved Parliament information and news. by anonymous artist Bank- The Contemporary Art sy, fetching a stunning new segment may be the market’s most volatile seg- record of $12 million (£9.9 million). The piece is ment, but it is not ‘speculative’ in the negative clearly a major work by an artist whose prices are sense of the word. Most Contemporary artists are rocketing… but it is also a painting that literally alive today, so the segment naturally generates the apes the British Parliament… and it was offered highest returns on investment because the value for sale at a critical moment in Britain’s history as of the works is itself being created, little by little, the British parliament finds itself in an untenable as the artists’ productions expands and each artist position over Brexit. finds his or her place in Art History. In an age when singularity is increasingly repro- Our Report presents a global, clear and precise ved and censured, Contemporary Art represents analysis of the Contemporary Art Market, which one of the last bastions of free and individual ex- complements the micro-and macro-economic re- pression. search and analysis tools offered by Artprice subs- criptions. It analyses all the health indicators of the thierry Ehrmann Contemporary Art Market and summarises the Founder and CEO of Artprice.com, by ArtMarket.com 2 KEHINDE WILEY Alegoria a lei do Ventre Livre (2009) - Oil on canvas, 183 x 153 cm $120,500 - Hôtel des Ventes Piguet, Geneva, 22 May 2019 © Kehinde Wiley A stunning new record for a living artist: Jeff GENERAL SYNOPSIS Koons reaches $91 million Sotheby’s leads global sales of Contemporary art with turnover of ($623 million) Only four female artists in the segment’s top Driven by growing demand, the total volume 100 auction results of auction turnover generated by the Contem- Half of the works sold for less than $1,000 porary Art auction segment worldwide has dou- Only 3% of the works sold fetched over bled over the past decade with the recent fi gures $100,000 showing strong sales right across the segment’s price spectrum. 284 new 7-digit results The segment’s global average unsold rate remained stable at 39% The price index of Contemporary Art pro- K ey fi gures gressed 22% The fi gures for the 12-month period reveal a ma- Driven by a new phase of growth in 2018/19, the ture and dynamic market giving increasing sup- Contemporary Art market generated $1.89 bil- port to living artists while generating its own “clas- lion, its third best performance in auction history sics” with prices at the art market’s highest levels. after totals of more than $2 billion in 2013/14 and Global turnover ($1.89 billion) has doubled 2014/15. One of the most remarkable develop- in 10 years ments this past year was the record number of lots sold: 71,400, an average of 195 works per day. This The United States and Asia account for 66% total has risen by 131% in the past ten years and by of the global market 480% since 2000. Record number of Contemporary artworks And… as market demand for Contemporary Art sold (71,400) has expanded – both numerically and geogra- 21,996 Contemporary artists sold vs. 10,243 phically – so its share of the total art market has ten years ago risen... with its price index posting a 22% increase Nearly 20,000 new artists records over the 12-month period in question. MARKET SHARE OF CONTEMPORARY ART VS. OTHER PERIODS OF CREATION Old Masters 8 Contemporar art 15 19th Centur 10 Post-war art 24 Modern art m .co 43 ice tpr ©ar 4 A growing share of the total are producing results equal to, or better than, the results for top-quality Modern masterpieces. We market only have to compare the $33 million total ham- Contemporary Art now accounts for 15% of the mered on 1 May 2019 at Christie’s Old Masters global secondary Art Market compared to only sale with the $538.7 million total (16 times more) 3% in 2000. It is now the third largest period of generated by its Post-War & Contemporary Art creation by global auction turnover ($1.89 billion) sale (of which $122.6 million for Contemporary behind Modern Art (43%) and Post-War Art (24%). works) 15 days later. Much more dynamic than 19th Century Art and Meanwhile, art created by artists still alive today the Old Masters segment, the Contemporary Art is becoming more expensive and the renewal of market represents a land of inexhaustible discove- their auction records has accelerated. The record ries, constantly fueled by new works. In fact, for for a living artist has been beaten twice in recent certain Contemporary artists, their production is months. First for the British artist David Hockney running at full capacity in response to an unprece- (born 1937) whose canvas Portrait of an Artist fetched dented level of popularity. $90.3 million on 15 November 2018 at Christie’s, and then for a sculpture by Jeff Koons (Rabbit) which fetched over $91 million on 15 May 2019. A rt by living artists becoming Koons’ personal record is now higher than the personal records of a number of the principal icons more expensive of Modern Art. It is almost $10 million above the The constant growth of the Contemporary Art current Van Gogh record ($82.5 million for Por- segment is being driven by a spectrum of diff erent trait du Docteur Gachet) and $30 million above that factors including the emergence of a whole new of Paul Cézanne ($60.5 million for Rideau, cruchon generation of art collectors. This phenomenon et compotier). may well be responsible for the recent promotion Only 11 artists in auction history have reached a (sharp price increase) of certain works created in higher price than Jeff Koons: Leonardo da Vinci, the 2nd half of the 20th century to the rank of Picasso, Modigliani, Bacon, Qi Baishi, Munch, “classic” masterpieces. We had already seen Post- Monet, Basquiat, Warhol, Lichtenstein and Hop- war & Contemporary Art sales producing better per. Indeed, the promotion of Koons’ iconic Rab- results than Old Masters sales (despite the increa- bit to the rank of a “classic” of Contemporary Art sing rarity of the segment’s iconic pieces). Now they represents a milestone for the Art Market as a A RECORD YEAR IN TERMS OF LOTS SOLD $2,500,000,000 80,000 Auction turnover Sold lots 70,000 $2,000,000,000 60,000 50,000 $1,500,000,000 40,000 $1,000,000,000 30,000 20,000 $500,000,000 10,000 $0 ©artprice.com 0 2000/012001/022002/032003/042004/052005/062006/072007/082008/092009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/182018/19 5 whole. It marks the moment the market literally as much on branding (notoriety) as on the ‘demo- dropped its attachment to notions of historical hie- cratic’ dissemination of their works via a broad rarchy: the market now values the most sought-af- range of high-volume limited editions. The Ame- ter Contemporary artists at the same levels as the ricans Keith Haring and Jeff Koons, the Japanese confi rmed ‘monuments’ of Art History. artists Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, and the British artists Banksy and Damien Hirst TOP 10 CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS BY NUMBER Th e most sought-after artists OF SOLD LOTS (JULY 2018 – JUNE 2019) Shepard Fairey and Kaws now top the list of the Auction world’s most in-demand and top-selling artists in Artist Sold lots turnover the Contemporary Art segment.