Artprice.com has released their report, “The Art Market in 2022” and, at 72 pages, it is a comprehensive look at the global art market, which is especially interesting to professional advisors to collectors of Art. For those who do not have the time to read through the report, here are some of the high points:
THE GLOBAL ART MARKET:
Despite a 19% contraction of the S&P 500 Index in 2022 and a generally precarious global context in terms of public health and energy costs, more than one million artworks appeared at auctions in 2022, of which almost two thirds (65%) found buyers.
International fine art auction turnover rose slightly in 2022. Excluding China, the global art auction turnover reached its highest ever annual level with a total of $12.6 billion, i.e. 76% of the global art market. while the Chinese market is still experiencing a decline in turnover due to the pandemic, with the art auction market experiencing significant difficulties.
ART MEDIUMS:
Oil painting works by artists born in the 1970s and 1980s are in a bull market domestically and continue setting new auction records. Painting, which accounted for 70.9% of global turnover in 2022 (from just
just
37% of the transactions), remained the leading medium and the economic core of the art market. Driven by major works of European Modern art and American Post-War art, the auction turnover on paintings reached its highest-ever level, exceeding the annual ten-billion-dollar threshold.
Drawing, the second largest medium after painting, accounted for 14% of global art auction turnover and 21% of global art auction transactions.
The auction market for photography is less successful than ten years ago, although the number of transactions has accelerated. The market is less robust than in the past, although it is still capable of very high auction prices for works by ‘historical’ and Modern photographers, as we saw with the recent records for Edward Steichen (The Flatiron, 1904: $11.8 million) and Man Ray (Le Violon d’Ingres, 1924: $12.4 million).
The number of 7-digit transactions (in US dollars) in all mediums has been shrinking since 2015, and their number (249 in 2022) is roughly half what it was in the years between 2010 and 2017.
THE PAUL G. ALLEN COLLECTION SALE
The dispersal of a large collection, which often generates new auction records, is always a highlight for the global art market. Auction houses do not hesitate to take risks in order to capture their consignment, notably by ‘guaranteeing’ the works via financial commitments to the sellers. Christie’s owes 41% of its 2022 art auction turnover total to three collections.
In November, Christie’s hosted the sale of the Paul G. Allen Collection. It was the first-ever sale of a private collection to take in more than a billion dollars. Generating a total of $1.6 billion, the sale of the Paul G. Allen Collection has effectively turned a new page in art auction history. Totaling $1.62 billion, including five stunning results above $100 million, it set new auction records for Seurat, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin and Klimt. While the biggest collectors are ready to pay colossal sums for the best works of Modern Art, they are extremely cautious when it comes to less emblematic works.
The work by Jackson Pollock set a new auction record for the American artist at $61 million. In 2022, the high-end segment of the art market was fueled by the large collections discussed above, which generated no less than 24 results above the $50 million threshold versus a previous record of 15 in 2021.
AFFORDABILITY OF ART
The other reality of the art market is the phenomenal quantity of very affordable works sold around the world, more than half of which were acquired for under $800. Half of all artworks sold at auction fetched under $800. Works valued between $50,000 and $1 million represent approximately 12,000 lots, or less than 2% of the entire market.
The lower you go in the price ranges, the greater the volume of transactions: 5% of the lots fetched between $20,000 and $50,000; 11% fetched between $5,000 and $20,000; 25% represented sales between $1,000 and $5,000, and approximately 50% were transactions under the $800 threshold.
Today, works sold for less than $500 constitute the largest volume of transactions on the market (41%). If we include works sold between $500 and $1,000, with nearly 400,000 lots sold last year below the $1000 threshold, i.e. more than half of the total volume of global art auction transactions.
CHINA
The Chinese art auction market celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022, a year with achievements supported by China’s economic prosperity and growing national strength.
In the last decade, the Chinese economy has undergone stable growth, while its art auction market is ranked as one of the top markets worldwide. A bewitching bronze spider by Louise Bourgeois sold for $16.5 million, the best result ever hammered for a sculpture in Asia.
If the Chinese art market had not been considerably slowed by its Covid-19 situation, 2022’s global art auction turnover total would have been the highest in art market history.
Unfortunately, the public health context and the restrictions linked to their Zero-covid Policy temporarily undermined the formidable momentum of the Chinese market, whose annual turnover fell from $5.9 billion to $3.9 billion (-34%). The Chinese market posted a sharp contraction due to continued covid-related restrictions.
EUROPE
France also had the densest offering of artworks after the United States, with nearly 180,000 works put up for auction, and more than 106,000 lots sold. With an annual art auction turnover up 6% (on a stable number of transactions), Germany posted its best-ever annual total at more than $379 million.
JAPAN
In 2022, Japan ranked 7th in the global art market by annual auction turnover with a new annual record of $185 million (+11%) despite fewer transactions, which reflects an upward trend in prices and a fairly strong competitive spirit among Japanese bidders.
The top price was paid for a portrait of Liz Taylor by Andy Warhol, which set a new record for a work at public auction in Japan, at $20.8 million.
CHRISTIE’S, SOTHEBY’S, AND PHILLIPS
Faced with the temporary decline in the Chinese art market, Christies and Sotheby’s clearly dominate the high-end market, accounting for 90 of the 100 best results of the year. With an art auction turnover total of nearly $5.8 billion during 2022, Christie’s hammered more than a third of global art auction turnover (35%).
In third place, Phillips hammered a second annual turnover total (all activities combined) above the billion-dollar line, at $1.3 billion, of which $729 million were from art sales.
Consigned by Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, Phillips sold a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat to another Asian collector for $85 million, the best result the British auction house has ever hammered and a very significant milestone. Another memorable moment was their sale of Contemporary Art in November 2022 that totaled $140 million, including $41.6 million for a painting by Cy Twombly. Artcurial achieved their best year since its creation two decades ago with a total of $102 million from their Fine Art sales.
CONCLUSION
The Artprice report is worth studying. It shows that the art market is strong both at the high end and at the low end of the price range. China had been lagging but is coming back, and Christie’s and Sotheby’s continue to dominate the market, with Phillips following in third place. It reminds professional advisors that they need to inquire whether clients own artwork or collectibles and if so whether the art market has changed since the last time their plans were updated.
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