Something new from the old company, via those bright kids at Blue Medium artnetSecond Quarter 2013 Global Art Auction Report New York, July 16, 2013—artnet announced today that auction sales of Fine Art in the United States were up 7% in the first half of this year, compared to performance during the same period in 2012. Data aggregated from the artnet Price Database, the most comprehensive archive of worldwide auction results since 1985, suggest that even amidst slow growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2013, strong sales in Q2 have helped the global art market slowly close the gap between 2012 and this year’s trailing performance. With the volume of art sold in China down almost 15% in the first half of 2013, strong spring sales in the rest of the world were left to bolster the global art market, enabling it to top US$7 billion by the end of Q2. France, Germany, and Hong Kong all witnessed 5–7% growth in volume sold so far in 2013, representing a combined market share of 10% of the global market. Sales in the United States in the first half of 2013 were responsible for almost one third of all art sold globally this year, supported in part by the unprecedented success of May postwar and Contemporary sales. Katharine Markley, artnet Analytics’ lead art market analyst, points out, “The American art market has matched the growth in other sectors of the US economy this year, with total volume sold up 7% in Q1–Q2 compared to 2012. This improvement comes at a time when the rest of the global market—and the Chinese art market in particular—is struggling to meet last year’s performance.” At Christie’s New York, the postwar and Contemporary Art sales fetched US$640 million in a single week, setting a new auction record for value sold at auction for any collecting category. The sale was led by the three most expensive works sold so far in 2013, each selling for over US$45 million and setting a new record for the respective artists: Jackson Pollock’s Number 19, selling for US$58.3 million; Roy Lichtenstein’s Woman with Flowered Hat, selling for US$56.1 million; and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Dustheads, selling for US$48.8 million. According to artnet Analytics, the artnet Contemporary C50TM Index has seen an annual growth rate of 17.7% over the past 10 years, compared to annual returns of only 4.9% for the S&P 500 over the same period. The top 10 artists in the first half of 2013, by value sold at auction, include Pablo Picasso (Q1–Q2 2013 sales: US$226.1 million), Zhang Daqian (US$180.3 million), Jean-Michel Basquiat (US$169.2 million), Qi Baishi (US$138 million), Andy Warhol (US$137.1 million), Gerhard Richter (US$123.1 million), Claude Monet (US$112 million), Roy Lichtenstein (US$101.5 million), Amadeo Modigliani (US$91.3 million), and Jackson Pollock (US$79.6 million). artnet Announces New Art Column with Chinese Business Journal CAIJING
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 20:40:19 +0000
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