11 figures for 2011

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

2011 top results

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

Best auction results in H1 2011

Our Friday TOP! Every other Friday Artprice posts a theme-based auction ranking. This week we present the ten best auction results in the first half of 2011.

The first summer sales of London

In two days (21 and 22 June 2011), Sotheby’s and Christie’s posted more than £207m vs. £233m in 2010, £61.5m in 2009 and £246m at the market’s peak in 2008.

Prices rise in London

All the indicators are in the green before the London sales. Sotheby's and Christie's prestige Impressionist and Modern Art sales will compete on 21 and 22 June

Auction records at Phillips de Pury

Every fortnight Artprice posts a new or updated ranking in its Alternate-Friday Top Series. The theme of today's TOP article is the 10 best auction results generated by the auction company Phillips de Pury.

A wave of optimism at the London sales

Christie’s and Sotheby’s have won their gamble. The Impressionist & Modern Art sales on 2 and 3 February in London generated one global all-segment record and 29 results above £1m out of 87 lots offered. Christie's managed to sell 87.5% of its lots for £61m (est. £48m-69m) plus the £8.5m from its special session devoted to surrealist art.

Impressionist and Modern sales in London – unabashed confidence!

Since the peak in January 2008, the price index of Impressionist art has contracted sharply: down 39.3%. But for Christie’s and Sotheby’s – judging by the high estimates in the catalogues for their upcoming London sales – the price deflation is now over.

The New York sales at new highs

On 6 and 7 November the two key sales of the auction season will take place in New York. Sotheby’s and Christie’s have assembled for the occasion a selection of important works by Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Cézanne and even Franz Marc. To date, pre-sale estimates from the two auction houses have never been so high.

Top 10 artists

Each artist makes their own, large or small, contribution to the total market. And ranking them by auction turnover gives a good indication of market conditions, preferences and trends. Every year Artprice ranks artists by this criterion.

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.

Christie’s turns over USD 491.4 million from one sale

As expected, Christie's auction of Impressionist and Modern art has confirmed that the art market is running at historical highs. In a single evening session involving a total of 78 lots, the auction house generated the astonishing figure of USD 491.4 million, the highest ever turnover at a single sale, far higher than Sotheby's previous global record of USD 286 million notched up in May 1990.

Sale of the year…

The impressionist and modern art sales are the centrepiece of the New York auction season. As ever, Sotheby's and Christie's catalogues include some exceptional pieces.

Avalanche of records at auction

A massive 6,130 artists have set new records at auction in the 2006 spring/summer season alone. And no fewer than 102 have broken the million dollar barrier this year.

Klimt, Schiele, Moser, Kokoschka, Vienna 1900

Klimt, Schiele, Moser, Kokoschka is the title of the next exhibition organised by the Grand Palais in Paris and opening on 5 October 2005. Visitors will discover a selection of 50 paintings and nearly 100 works on paper on the core themes of the four Viennese masters: allegories, landscapes and portraits.

Egon SCHIELE (1890-1918)

A major exhibition opened on 25 March 2005 at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on the work of the Viennese Expressionist Egon Schiele (1890-1918). Nearly one hundred pieces, including some twenty paintings, are being featured at the Netherlands' first-ever retrospective of the artist.

The top artists from the London summer auctions

Sotheby’s and Christie’s held their London Impressionist and Modern Art auctions on 23-24 June. With over 80% lots sold and a turnover of GBP 63 million at two evening sessions, the auctions were encouraging without being spectacular.