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. Ultra-popular, these Americans, whose works typify made in Ame- Shepard FAIREY 660 $1,104,200 rica, illustrate the dominance of American Soft KAWS 622 $9,365,090 Power over the rest of the world. They are the Takashi MURAKAMI 594 $23,083,950 only artists to sell more than 600 works (each) this year, thanks to a totally globalised demand. In the BANKSY 550 $17,020,350 case of Shepard Fairey, 70% of his auction tur- Keith HARING 482 $41,205,058 nover since 2018 has been hammered in France. Damien HIRST 369 $26,018,800 Kaws, enjoyed a majority Asian demand over the © artprice com 12-month period, with 58% of his works traded in Yoshitomo NARA 339 $42,566,500 the East, compared with just 16% in the United Jeff KOONS 199 $111,860,500 States and 13% in France. Robert COMBAS 196 $5,316,100 Those who sell the most (both in volume and tur- Günther FÖRG 157 $10,800,600 nover) are prolifi c artists, whose popularity relies
AUCTION RECORDS FOR LIVING ARTISTS
Jeff KOONS Rabbit (1986) $91,075,000 [15 May 2019] David HOCKNEY Portrait of an Artist (1972) $90,312,500 [15 Nov. 2018]
Jeff KOONS Balloon Dog (1994-2000) $58,405,000 [12 Nov. 2013]
Gerhard RICHTER Lucian FREUD Domplatz, Mailand (1968) Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (1995) $37,125,000 [14 May 2013] $33,641,000 [13 May 2008]
Willem DE KOONING Gerhard RICHTER Interchange (1955) Abstraktes Bild $20,680,000 [08 Nov. 1989] $34,165,171 [12 Oct. 2012]
Jeff KOONS
Hanging Heart (1994-2006) ©artprice.com $23,561,000 [14 Nov. 2007]
1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
6 YOSHITOMO NARA White Night Cat (2002) - Mixed media on paper, 52 x 36 cm $160,000 - SBI Art Auction Co, Ltd, Tokyo, 27 April 2019 © Yoshitomo Nara are all champions of multiple productions that al- dable with 74% changing hands for under $5,000. low young collectors access to a famous signature at relatively low cost. The presence of Robert Combas and Günther Sculpture Förg in this top 10 ranking is due to their recent The second most-valued medium, sculpture, (and spectacular) price increase, which in turn has accounted for 15% of the turnover on the global stimulated their auction sales, leading to unprece- Contemporary Art auction market and 10% of its dented demand and lower unsold rates over the transactions. Of the 7,540 sculptures sold in the last two years. 12-month period, only 22 exceeded $1 million. The vitality of demand is also measured by unsold The top favorites in the medium were fi rst and rates. Repeated sales failures sometimes result foremost the Americans Jeff Koons and Kaws, from overly-optimistic price estimates and some- the Germans Martin Kippenberger and Thomas times from a simple lack of ‘market fervor’ for a Schütte and the Japanese Takashi Murakami and particular signature. On the other hand, a zero Yoshitomo Nara. unsold rate suggests an ‘ultra-motivated’ demand and/or a shortness of supply. The following is a list of Contemporary artists with 100% auction suc- Drawing cess rates in 2018/2019: In line with the long-standing ‘hierarchy of me- diums’ in the West, drawing was the third major Dana Schutz 15 lots sold medium of the Contemporary Art auction mar- ket accounting for 11% of its turnover and 19% Tomoo Gokita 54 lots sold of the lots sold (13,500). The most sought-after Henry Taylor 23 lots sold artists in this medium are the same as for painting Harold Ancart 21 lots sold and printmaking, with few Contemporary artists Rashid Johnson 17 lots sold working exclusively on paper… except in China. A number of Chinese artists, virtuosos in ink, are Kehinde Wiley 13 lots sold collected in Beijing (sometimes in Hong Kong), Martin Grelle 17 lots sold including Liu Guang (45th in the our global ran- Shara Hughes 16 lots sold king of Contemporary artists by auction turnover with two new ink-on-paper works fetching 7-digit Rodel Tapaya-Garcia 13 lots sold results in 12 months), Hao Liang (48th in the ran- king with three 7-digit records for his silk inks in The mo st commercial 2018/2019) and Wang Mingming (52nd in the techniques ranking). Strongly inspired by traditional Chinese art, these artists appeal to collectors in mainland Video art, photography, installations and other China, but do not export much. multimedia works are not very popular among col- lectors who are still showing a distinct preference for painting, sculpture and drawing. These three Prints essential media in the Contemporary Art Market Despite its small market share (2%), the market together account for 74% of the lots sold and above for Contemporary prints is not negligible as it re- all, 94% of the segment’s global turnover. presents the third most dynamic medium in terms of transactions. More aff ordable than painting or drawing, it accounts for 16% of Contemporary Art Paintin g auction transactions. The prints market also indi- Accounting for 68% of the Contemporary Art cates which artists are the most popular. Among auction turnover, from 44% of the lots sold, pain- the ‘most established’ Contemporary artists (i.e. ting is still by far the most popular medium of born over 50 years ago), three artists generated expression in the Contemporary art market and it results for prints above $200,000: Jean-Michel clearly dominates the ultra high-end market (7- or Basquiat, Wolfgang Tillmans and Keith Haring. 8-digit results). In 2018/2019, out of the 284 results These champions of the prints market are today above the million-dollar threshold, 244 were pain- subject to hot competition from the rising genera- tings. These 7 or 8 digit results represented just tion of under-50s and particularly from Banksy 0.8% of the number of paintings; the vast majority and Kaws, both crowned with a new record in this of Contemporary paintings are relatively aff or- medium in 2019.
8 Top 3 record results for prints (artists un- Kaws $159,250 - Blame Game (Edition of 100), der 50, 2018/2019) Phillips Hong Kong Banksy $382,000 - Avon and Somerset Constabu- Kaws $143,000 - Blame Game (Edition of 100), lary (Edition of 10), Sotheby’s Hong Kong Sotheby’s Hong Kong
PAINTING, THE DOMINANT MEDIUM (BY AUCTION TURNOVER)
Other 1 Drawin s 11
Photo raphs 3
Sculpture 15
Prints Paintin 2 68
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AFFORDABLE WORKS REPRESENT THE BULK OF THE CONTEMPORARY ART MARKET
$10 – 50 million $5 – 10 million $1 – 5 million $500,000 – 1 million $100,000 – 500,000 $50,000 – 100,000 $20,000 – 50,000 $5,000 – 20,000 $1,000 – 5,000