Lowend Internet auctions upend art market: sectortracker Artprice
A boom in Internet sales has boosted the lower end of the art market and could ultimately doom showroom auctions, said the boss of sectortracker Artprice, which published its annual report Wednesday.
Artprice, a market analysis firm, said there were fewer blockbuster auctions in 2023 compared with the previous year, and the overall turnover of $14.9 billion was down 14%.
But the number of overall transactions hit a record high of 7,63,000, with “an explosion” at the lower end of the spectrum where there were 4,23,000 sales of art for under $1,000.
The market has clearly shifted to the Internet, driven by new buyers, says Artprice’s Ehrmann.
“The market has clearly shifted to the Internet, driven by new buyers whose average age has fallen from 63 to 41,” Artprice CEO Thierry Ehrmann told AFP.
He said even traditional auctioneers who suffered from “digitalphobia” for a
long time were now competing on the Internet. “Showroom auctions are doomed to disappear,” said Mr. Ehrmann.
With Asia fully emerging from pandemicera restrictions, highend sales were up in China and Hong
Kong, but there were fewer bigticket auctions in Western countries.
The U.S. market remained the leader with $5.2 billion in sales, but that was down 28% since there was no repeat of the huge private collection sales of recent years. It was followed by China at $4.9 billion and Britain with $1.8 billion, the latter continuing its postBrexit decline with sales down 15%.
Indian boom
India showed strong growth, with sales up 76% to a record $152 million.
A woman artiste, Amrita SherGil (19131941), holds its record for a single painting, with “The Story Teller” fetching $7.4 million.