artnet AG: Artnet's Intelligence Report decodes 30 years of the art market

Artnet's Intelligence Report decodes 30 years of the art market

To commemorate their 30th Anniversary, artnet releases report tracking the rise of contemporary art, the current state of the auction business and globalism

Report also issues forecasts on African art market and the demise of auction guarantees
 

[September 13, 2019 NEW YORK, NEW YORK] Artnet releases its Intelligence Report culled from three decades as the leading supplier of intelligence to the art world. To mark its 30th anniversary, artnet has produced a special edition of its biannual artnet News Intelligence Report-one that documents tectonic shifts over the past three decades, and looks ahead to the trends that will be influencing buyers and sellers today and beyond. As the most trusted database of art prices, artnet offers an unparalleled wealth of information and insight that has created transparency and fueled the art market since its founding in 1989.

CEO Jacob Pabst states, "We trade in art market intelligence. Only artnet could author this report that traces the most significant trends over the past 30 years. We're proud to issue this special report, shed light on the macro currents in our industry and reinforce our position as the leading archive of insight for this dynamic business."

The report, available today on artnet.com, clarifies thirty years of evolution in the increasingly moneyed, mature, and global art industry. Insights also include an examination of the art market in 2019, including the 10 best-selling artists at auction by category, a report on the contemporary African art market, and an examination of the current state of third-party guarantees.
 

Data-backed highlights from the Report include:

The ascendance of contemporary artists:

- In 1989 there was little market for contemporary art, but sales of works by artists born after 1945 have grown 1,700 percent during the last 30 years.

- Contemporary art made its greatest gains during the same years that global art fairs permeated the marketplace.

- Postwar and contemporary art now capture more interest than any other segment of fine art. Of the top 150 artists most searched for in the last 30 years on artnet's database, only one is not a postwar or contemporary artist.

- The Brooklyn-based artist KAWS outsold Jean-Michel Basquiat, the far more established graffiti artist-turned-market phenomenon. Work by KAWS generated $70.6 million at auction in the first six months of 2019, compared to Basquiat's $65.6 million.
 

Auction results, 2019 edition:

- A grand total of $9.1 billion was spent on fine art, decorative art and design auctions in the first half of 2019-down 13.5 percent from the equivalent period one year ago.

- Weakness at the top of the market is driving this slump: Total auction sales of works over $10 million dropped by 35 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the first half of 2018.

- Figuration has officially displaced abstraction as the most desirable style of new art. Not one of the top 10 works sold at auction by ultra-contemporary artists in the first half of this year was abstract.

- The UK saw its auction sales plummet 24 percent in the first half of the year, while China only experienced a 10.5 percent dip, suggesting that the prospect of Brexit is having a more catastrophic effect on the market than the US-China trade war.
 

Over the last 30 years, the global taste for top artists has grown, especially in Asia:

- From 1991 to 2004, Sotheby's Hong Kong outpost sold 124 works by Western artists. In 2018, the same auction house sold 498 lots of Western artworks in a single year.

- Chairman of Sotheby's Hong Kong, Patti Wong, states that Asian collectors "no longer just follow the data but are part of making the data."

- This trend is also demonstrated by the new record prices set for painter Julie Mehretu and KAWS at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction in April.

"There's no question that the art market today would look very different if it wasn't for artnet and its Price Database, which for 30 years has provided the transparency necessary for the art market to grow vastly beyond what was once a boutique business-in other words, to scale. This report, a landmark collaboration between the Price Database's expert analysts and the artnet News team, convincingly tells the story of this extraordinary transformation in a way that hasn't been heard before. We hope our readers find it as stirring as we do," says Andrew Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief of artnet News.

This year, artnet is celebrating its 30th year in business as the industry's first and longest-lasting digital business and the market's most indispensable tool. In addition to developing the vital Price Database, artnet's other firsts include launching the original gallery network, establishing the first online art auctions, and introducing the world's most-read news publication dedicated to the art industry, artnet News.

Artnet's Intelligence Reports debuted in 2018 and are issued biannually. All report are available at www.artnet.com/artnet-intelligence-report.
 

About artnet
artnet is the leading online resource for the international art market, and the destination to buy, sell, and research art online. Founded in 1989 with the goal of bringing transparency to the art world, artnet's comprehensive suite of products offers a variety of art market resources to our audience of collectors, dealers, and art enthusiasts.

artnet AG is listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the segment with the highest transparency standards.

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