Art notches up dazzling sales
GLOBAL art sales set a fresh record last year, driven by acquisitions from new museums, while China maintained its place at the top of the market, data firm Artprice said this week.
Works worth $15.2-billion (about R175-billion) sold at auction during the year, an increase of 26% on 2013, Artprice said in its annual report, produced with China’s Artron.
A record number of 1 679 sales worth $1-million or more were recorded over the year, four times more than a decade ago.
Thierry Ehrmann, the CEO of Artprice, described the figures as “an amazing result, an increase of 300% in a decade”.
He said the boom was not being driven by speculators, with 37% of lots going unsold in the West and 54% in China.
Last year, 125 artworks sold for $10-million or more, not including commission, compared with 18 in 2005.
Greater China — the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan — maintained its market leader status, accounting for $5.6-billion in sales, followed by the US.
Artprice said the upper threshold for works could soon scale new heights, reaching the $1-billion mark.
The $100-million ceiling for a single work was first breached in the 2000s.
In February, a work by Gauguin sold privately for $300-million, The New York Times reported.
“Demand is constant and aggressive on every continent . . . notably from museums,” said Ehrmann.
“More museums were created between 2000 and 2015 than during the entire 19th and 20th centuries,” added Wang Jie, president of Artprice.com and Artron group. —