Fine art auctions, driven by contemporary art, hit a new record high in 2021 at $17.08 billion, up 60% from 2020 and 28% from last year. 2019, according to Artprice's annual report published on Monday.
For two years, “
the health crisis dramatically accelerated the dematerialization of the art market.
87% of the 6,300 auction houses monitored by Artprice now have all the back-office facilities for online auctions
,” Thierry Ehrmann, head of this company, the world leader in market information, told AFP. art.
With 111,240 lots sold worldwide (artists born after 1945, paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, photographs, prints, videos, NFT...), "
contemporary art now represents 20% of the market compared to 3% in 2000
”, he specifies.
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China, world market leader
With a total of 5.95 billion dollars in sales, China (mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong) represents 35% of the world art market overall, just ahead of the United States which totals 5.79 billion dollars, i.e. 34% of the market, according to Mr. Ehrmann.
With a total of 1.99 billion dollars, the United Kingdom, on the other hand, recorded a 10% drop in sales compared to 2019. The first effects of Brexit were reflected in the postponement of London sales in Paris, according to this expert.
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With 91,699 works sold, France is in second place after the United States, even if it remains in fourth place in terms of total cumulative sales, exceeding for the first time the billion dollars.
The German market retains its fifth place in the world and has attracted Sotheby's to Cologne.
South Korea multiplies its sales revenue by four and weighs 237 million dollars.
Among the auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's concentrate 49% of the market with respectively 4.4 and 4 billion dollars.
Ketterer is the leading auction house in continental Europe with $97 million in sales and Artcurial the leading French auction house with $91 million.
The very low unsold rate reached 31% for the first time in its history, which "
shows that a draconian sorting has taken place with ruthless auction houses in their sales choices and the virtual impossibility of 'dealing with counterfeiters
,' according to Ehrmann.
He explains it by “
improving the traceability
” of the works and the “
quality of the technologies used in terms of expertise
”.
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