11 figures for 2011

The last page in our review of 2011 crystallises the art market’s main trends in 11 key figures.

Contemporary art defies the market…

The art market is proving its extraordinary capacity for surprise. After the very disappointing Impressionist & Modern sales in New York, the outlook for the Contemporary and Post-War Art sales was not particularly good

Contemporary art’s extraordinary success in London

Post-War and Contemporary art sold particularly well last week in London (28 and 29 June).

The best 2011 auction results!

Every fortnight Artprice posts a new or updated ranking in its Alternate-Friday Top Series. The topic of today's TOP article is the 10 best auction results in 2011.

Contemporary art 2011: a new lease of life!

The austerity imposed by the crisis has been relegated to a distant memory. Collectors are back in the market, not just as observers but as active participants.

Contemporary Art sales in February: a bold selection with records expected

The big Contemporary Art sales begin just a few days after the Impressionist & Modern Art sales in London.

Paris / London – forthcoming Impressionist & Modern Art sales

Before the art world settles down to a quiet summer, we can look forward to some profitable auction results in London at the sale of the Polaroid collection (to pay its debts) on 21 and 22 June, the Impressionist & Modern Art sales of 23 and 24 June and the Contemporary Art sales of 28 and 29 June.

Contemporary Art sales in London

Christie’s and Sotheby’s apparent price optimism for their Impressionist and Modern sales on 2 and 3 February 2010 is equally visible in the catalogues for their Contemporary Art sales on 10 and 11 February. The two majors are expecting a combined total of £69m from their evening sales, a figure which would represent a 54% more than February 2009 high estimate.

Contemporary Art in convalescence

While London’s auctioneers congratulate themselves on the healthy sold rates at their June Contemporary Art sales (92.5% at Sotheby’s, 88% at Christie’s and 75% at Phillips de Pury & Company), bidders are continuing on a path of caution and sobriety.

Venice Biennial Art Fair: the Golden Lion prize

The 53rd Venice Biennial Art Fair opens to the public on 7 June 2009. For six months it presents a panorama of global contemporary art in pavilions representing the artists and countries invited. Launched in 1895, the Venice biennial has a long tradition of selecting a handful of artists to receive its prestigious prizes. Do the Golden Lions - awarded parsimoniously over the years - constitute an accelerator for the price indices of the artists that receive them?

Artprice’s TOP 10 ranking: the art market heavyweights in 2008

Every year Artprice publishes its ranking of artists based on auction revenue. At the end of 2007 the figures were remarkable: the market’s Top 10 had generated a combined total of $1.8bn, up no less than 50% on the previous year’s total. In 2008 the total was $100m lower than for 2007 at $1.7bn, a figure representing 20% of the total global art auction market on 1.5% of its transactions.

The Middle Eastern market – Sotheby’s arrives in Doha

In August 2008, the Art Market Insight published an overview of the boom in Iranian art. The United Arab Emirates, the new eldorado of cultural tourism, is building its Louvre in Abu Dhabi and its Guggenheim in Dubai, the city that has established itself, in two years, as the new capital of the Middle Eastern art market. In 2008, auction revenues in Dubai amounted to USD 34.9 million, a +70% increase on 2007.

Results of the Contemporary art sales: seriously off the boil

A week of sales in London Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips de Pury & Co tested the resilience of the contemporary art market which has been the most speculative and volatile compartment of the market over the last few years.

Contemporary art loses its shine

The market for contemporary art, the most speculative segment of the art market (+108% since 2003), has not withstood the shocks of the current financial turmoil. The results of the prestigious November sales in New York organised by Sotheby’s and Christie’s on 11 and 12 November are most discouraging.

The New York miracle

The gloomy financial climate of the beginning of the year fuelled fears of a rapid deflation of the speculative bubble the art market has been enjoying over recent years. These fears seemed all the more justified as European art prices contracted by 7.5% in the first quarter of the year. With the dollar weak, it remained to be seen how the New York art market would react -particularly in the high-price segments. Not surprising therefore that the Impressionist & Modern Art sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s of 6 and 7 May, followed, a week later by the Contemporary Art sales, were observed with much interest, particularly by investors who had watched Sotheby’s stock price reduce to less than 30 dollars at the start of the year.

‘Contemporary Art – evenings sales’ in London: £140 million

Having achieved a historic result in this sector on 16 May last in New York ($384,654,400), Christie’s opened the ball of the London contemporary art sales on 20 June with sale proceeds of £67,470,800 in 83 lots. The following day, Sotheby’s outstripped its competitor, selling 66 lots for a total of £72,427,600. In 2006, the total London proceeds of the two auction houses’ contemporary art evening sales amounted to close to £56 million.

London - European auction capital

Traditionally in February, it is London that kicks off the season of European public auctions with major sales organised by Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

Contemporary photography: +35% in 2004

In the mid-1990s, paintings were the only medium in the art market that investors considered of any speculative interest. But recently, with growing demand and a wave of artistic renewal, other creative formats have proved as, or more, lucrative than paintings. The photography market has been expanding rapidly for the past five years and is today one of the art world’s fastest-growth segments.

How do the art market heavyweights measure up?

The world’s top ten artists by turnover (see rankings) generated USD506 million at auction in 2002. With only 1.7% of total transaction volumes they represent 20% of the art market.

Contemporary art in London: works by Andy Warhol disappoint

At the year’s first big auction of contemporary art, Andy Warhol’s lots did not come up to expectations. Generally, few catalogue items in the February 5 and 6 evening sales were bought in — Christie’s had 21% no sales and Sotheby’s 12% — but turnover was modest, given the level of expectation.