The Art Market in 2024:
Resilience, Recalibration,
and Record-Breaking Diversity
WORK IN PROGRESS
Executive Summary
The year 2024 marked a pivotal moment for the global art market, defined not by crisis, but by transformation. While overall auction turnover fell sharply—from $14.9 billion in 2023 to $9.9 billion in 2024, a drop of 33.5%—the number of lots sold reached a record-breaking 804,000. This paradox reflects a shifting landscape: while high-end transactions diminished, the broader base of affordable art sales expanded, signaling a more inclusive and diversified collecting environment.
This contraction at the top end was primarily due to a scarcity of blue-chip masterpieces and a cautious global economic climate, particularly across the United States, China, and the UK. Yet rather than retreating, the market recalibrated. Collectors turned their attention to emerging artists, editions, and affordable works under $10,000, which now represent 90% of all auction transactions. The surge in volume indicates sustained appetite—just redirected toward accessible price points.
The print market was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this shift. Works under $1,000 saw a 79% increase in sales since 2020, as collectors embraced editioned art as both an accessible entry point and a reliable investment. This trend was amplified by the continued growth of online platforms, which now play a central role in driving global demand and volume-based turnover. The democratization of collecting is no longer a trend—it is a permanent feature of the art economy.
Geographically, the market landscape was uneven. China and the U.S. both posted significant value declines—$3.1 billion and $1.4 billion respectively—due to reduced high-value transactions. However, Switzerland emerged as a standout performer, with an 80% increase in turnover powered by the landmark sale of the Kornfeld Collection. This success story underscores the importance of high-quality collections and curation in sustaining regional markets.
In a year of flux, female artists showed exceptional resilience. Their total auction turnover fell only 32%, slightly outperforming the market average. Notably, Leonora Carrington’s Dagobert’s Distractions fetched $28.5 million, surpassing many of her male Surrealist contemporaries. Other important results came from Yayoi Kusama, Joan Mitchell, Georgia O’Keeffe, and rising stars like Jadé Fadojutimi. However, only four women made it into the global top 50 by turnover, indicating that gender parity remains an ongoing challenge.
Another notable trend was the resurgence of Surrealism. Propelled by blockbuster exhibitions and a hunger for escapism, the genre dominated the auction headlines. René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières achieved the top sale of the year at $121.2 million, while underappreciated female Surrealists such as Marie Toyen and Dorothea Tanning shattered estimates. The renewed focus on Surrealism reflects a broader reevaluation of 20th-century art movements beyond Abstract Expressionism and Pop.
By contrast, the market for ultra-contemporary artists cooled significantly. Works by Loie Hollowell, Avery Singer, and Shara Hughes all saw steep declines in price and liquidity, with some marquee names failing to sell at auction. This recalibration suggests a market increasingly cautious about speculative spikes and more interested in long-term value and historical context.
Looking ahead, the 2024 art market should be seen not as a shrinking organism, but as one in metamorphosis. As tastes evolve and collecting becomes more global, digital, and democratic, a new generation of artists, buyers, and platforms is redefining what success looks like. With a record number of artists at auction and the rise of affordable, editioned works, the future of the art market lies not in fewer mega-sales—but in a broader, more inclusive base of engagement.
Key Take-Aways
1. 2024 Global Auction Turnover: USD 9.9 billion
a 33.5% drop as compared to 2023
This spectacular drop is entirely driven by a contraction of the high-end market. Indeed, the number of works selling for over USD 100,000 shows a drop of 17% as compared to 2023.
2. Number of Lots sold at auction in 2024: 804,000
An all-time high, an increase of 5% as compared to 2023
Half of the works sold at auction in 2024 sold for less than USD 600.
Top 10 Lots sold in 2024
#1. L’empire des lumières, 1954
Christie’s New-York: 19 November 2024
Estimate on Request
USD 121,160,000
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
RENE MAGRITTE (1898-1967), L’empire des lumières | Christie’s
RENE MAGRITTE (1898-1967)
L’empire des lumières, 1954
Oil on canvas
146×114 cm (57 1/2 x 44 7/8 inches)
Signed ‘Magritte’ (lower right)
Signed again, dated and titled ‘”L’Empire des Lumières” Magritte 1954’ (on the reverse)
Filled with a rich sense of mystery that confounds and beguiles in equal measure, René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières of 1954 is a powerful example of the artist’s extraordinary, mature Surrealist vision. Focusing on the juxtaposition of a landscape bathed in deep shadows with the blue expanse of a day-lit sky above, this seemingly impossible collision of day and night in a single moment quickly became one of his most celebrated and iconic subjects. Between 1949 and 1964, the artist created a total of seventeen versions in oil, with several more iterations in gouache, on the theme of the L’empire des lumières. Each subtly different from the next, with intriguing variations and diversions from canvas to canvas, these paintings demonstrate Magritte’s endless spirit of invention, as he probed the rich poetic potential of his deceptively simple subjects.
#2. Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half, 1964
Christie’s New-York: 19 November 2024
Estimate on Request
USD 68,260,000
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
ED RUSCHA (B. 1937), Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half | Christie’s
ED RUSCHA (B. 1937)
Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half, 1964
Oil on canvas
65 x 121 1/2 inches (165.1 x 308.6 cm)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”STANDARD STATION, 10¢ WESTERN BEING TORN IN HALF” 1964 Edward J. Ruscha’ (on the stretcher)
“I don’t have any River Seine like Monet,
I’ve just got U.S. 66 between Oklahoma and Los Angeles.”
Painted in 1964, Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half is a defining painting in the canon of American postwar art. This monumental canvas presents two visions of America, one that celebrates the pioneering spirit of the Wild West and another in which the car has replaced the cowboy as a symbol of America’s future. Combining the realism of Edward Hopper, the inscrutability of Surrealism, and the bold audacity of Pop, Ed Ruscha’s striking painting represents a seismic shift in the artistic landscape in much the same way that Claude Monet’s paintings of Argenteuil came to represent a new, modern, Impressionist France in the nineteenth century.
#3. Nymphéas, circa 1914-17
Sotheby’s New-York: 18 November 2024
Estimate on Request
USD 65,500,000
Nymphéas | A Legacy of Beauty: The Collection of Sydell Miller Evening Auction | 2024 | Sotheby’s
CLAUDE MONET (1840 – 1926)
Nymphéas, circa 1914-17
Oil on canvas
175 x 135.4 cm (68 7/8 x 53 3/8 inches)
Stamped with the signature Claude Monet (on the reverse)
Stamped again (on the stretcher)
Executed in a kaleidoscopic palette of jewel-toned purples and luscious blues, energized by the touches of white, pink and yellow used to describe the namesake flowers, the present Nymphéas is an exceptional example of Monet’s deft ability to translate fleeting atmosphere and the protean effects of light into paint. Nymphéas stands as the forerunner of a specific series of water lilies typified by more elaborate backgrounds featuring the nuanced reflections of trees along the opposite bank of the pond. It is precisely on account of the way Monet uses the pond as a technical device to blur the boundary between the real and the reflected that the work takes on its distinctly modern inflection. In its close cropping and all-over painterly effect, the work likewise marks a radical, early foray into abstraction, one which would prove a decisive stylistic inroad for the Abstract Expressionists who, following in Monet’s footsteps, would come to transform the idiom of modern art thirty years later.
#4. Untitled (ELMAR), 1982
Phillips New-York: 14 May 2024
Estimated: USD 40,000,000 – 60,000,000
USD 46,479,000
Jean-Michel Basquiat – Modern & Contempor… Lot 5 May 2024 | Phillips
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Untitled (ELMAR), 1982
Acrylic, oilstick, spray paint and Xerox collage on canvas
68 x 93 1/8 inches (172.7 x 236.5 cm)
Signed “Jean-Michel Basquiat” on the reverse
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s monumental painting, Untitled (ELMAR), created in 1982, is a paradigmatic representation of the artist’s genius, making its auction debut after remaining in private hands for four decades. At nearly eight feet wide, this tour-de-force is a cornerstone of Basquiat’s golden year, during which he transitioned from street art to gallery success. Emblematic of Basquiat’s best works, Untitled (ELMAR) is rich with historic and mythical iconography, intertwined with the artist’s invented symbols and graphic marks that accentuate the physical, gestural nature of his creative process. Boasting an equally impressive provenance and exhibition history, the present work was exhibited at Gagosian Los Angeles in 1998, as part of a memorial exhibition commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the artist’s death. Untitled (ELMAR) was notably featured on the cover of the accompanying catalogue. More recently, the work was prominently exhibited in the artist’s historical 2018 retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. This sale marks the first time that this important work is being offered publicly.
#5. L’ami intime, 1958
Christie’s London: 7 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 30,000,000 – 50,000,000
GBP 33,660,000 / USD 42,680,880
RENÉ MAGRITTE (1898-1967)
L’ami intime, 1958
Oil on canvas
72.6 x 64.9 cm (28 5/8 x 25 1/2 inches)
Signed ‘Magritte’ (lower left)
The anonymous man in a bowler hat is one of the most familiar icons of René Magritte’s art. A totemic figure, usually seen from the back and therefore faceless and mysterious, he functions in Magritte’s paintings as a pictorial cipher: an apparently banal, metropolitan image of the norm and the everyday. He is, in one sense, the epitome of the generic and the commonplace. His smart, uniform, bourgeois attire signifies an ordinary, mundane humanity or what Magritte once described as ‘the unity of man.’ In another sense however, his faceless presence, standing in apparent contemplation of the scenes set before him, signifies the realm of the hidden and of something forever unknowable about Magritte’s strangely familiar worlds of mystery.
#6. Portrait of Fräulein Lieser, 1917
imKinsky Vienna: 24 April 2024
Estimates on Request
EUR 30,000,000 (Hammer)
EUR 35,525,000 / USD 37,999,335
Gustav Klimt (Lot 0019), The Gustav Klimt Sale | im Kinsky auction house
GUSTAV KLIMT (Wien 1862 – 1918 Wien)
“Portrait of Fräulein Lieser“, 1917
Oil on canvas
140 x 80 cm
A portrait of a woman dating from Gustav Klimt’s late creative period, previously believed to be lost, stands as a major work in its own right. No matter where in the world and at which auction, the sale of such a painting is regarded as something special on the international art market. The fact that this rediscovered masterpiece of Austrian Modernism isn’t going to London or New York to be sold but is being auctioned in Vienna is a real sensation and sends out a clear signal to the German-speaking world. The “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” is one of Gustav Klimt’s last works. For many decades, it remained hidden in private Austrian ownership. The portrait is documented in the most important publications on Gustav Klimt’s oeuvre and was hitherto only known to experts from a black-and-white photograph. Thus up to now, it has only been possible to imagine the intense colours and painterly freedom of the painting, which make this one of the most beautiful portraits of Klimt’s final creative period.
#7. Flowers, 1964
Christie’s New-York: 14 May 2024
Estimated: USD 20,000,000 – 30,000,000
USD 35,485,000
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987), Flowers | Christie’s (christies.com)
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987)
Flowers, 1964
Acrylic, fluorescent paint and silkscreen ink on linen
82×82 inches (208.3 x 208.3 cm)
Signed twice and dated later ‘Andy Warhol Andy Warhol 65’ (on the overlap)
A towering achievement of Pop Art, Andy Warhol’s Flowers epitomizes the seismic effects of the twentieth-century’s most significant art movement. Bringing together the essential elements of Warhol’s oeuvre, this monumental painting displays the artist’s bold aesthetic vision alongside his deeply considered conceptual rigor. Measuring 82” square, this is among Warhol’s largest canvases and was one of just three Flowers of this size to be included in the seminal exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery which unveiled this body of work to an astonished public. Later selected for inclusion in the 2020 Warhol retrospective at Tate Modern, Warhol’s Flowers marks a pivotal point in the artist’s career, as he shifted from his powerful Death and Disaster series into a more seemingly palatable subject, but one that nonetheless retained the ability to rock the art world.
#8. Meules à Giverny, 1893
Sotheby’s New-York: 15 May 2024
Estimate on Request
USD 34,804,500
Meules à Giverny | Modern Evening Auction | 2024 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
GUARANTEED
CLAUDE MONET (1840 – 1926)
Meules à Giverny, 1893
Oil on canvas
65.5 x 100.2 cm (25 7/8 x 39 1/2 inches)
Signed Claude Monet and dated 93 (lower right)
In 1893, at the height of the hay-making season, Claude Monet set up his easel in the meadow just to the south of the site of his future water-lily pond and painted Meules à Giverny. Infused with light, shadow, color and movement, this oil exemplifies the best of Monet’s bucolic Impressionism, taking as its subject one of the artist’s most beloved—that of the haystack. Unlike any paintings on this subject he had executed before, the present work and two directly related compositions (W. 1363 and W. 1364) make full use of the revelations in surface handling that Monet discovered in his series focused on Rouen Cathedral, which he began in 1892 and finished in 1894. It was with this desire that Monet set out to paint Meules à Giverny and it is this deep sense of fulfilled longing and homecoming that suffuses every brushstroke of the present work.
#9. Coin de jardin avec papillons, 1887
Christie’s New-York: 16 May 2024
Estimated: USD 20,000,000 – 30,000,000
USD 33,185,000
VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890), Coin de jardin avec papillons | Christie’s (christies.com)
GUARANTEED / IRREVOCABLE BID
VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890)
Coin de jardin avec papillons, 1887
Oil on canvas
50.4 x 61.4 cm (19 3/4 x 24 1/4 inches)
Painted in May-July 1887
Determined to leave Antwerp, where he had been living and working as an art student since November of the previous year, Van Gogh arrived in the city ready “to produce and to be something.” Dazzled by the latest artistic developments of the Parisian avant-garde, most notably the radical brushwork and light-filled canvases of the Impressionists and the precise techniques of Pointillism advocated by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, Van Gogh entered a period of intensive experimentation that would ultimately transform his painterly style. Leaving behind the dark, earthy tones of his realist paintings, he embraced a brighter palette and his handling lightened, becoming more refined and delicate. Nature and the landscape became a central focus, preempting the scenes that would come to the fore when he moved to Arles two years later.
#10. Untitled (Yellow and Blue), 1954
Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 11 November 2024
Estimated: HKD 225,000,000 – 275,000,000
HKD 252,500,000 / USD 32,474,530
MARK ROTHKO (1903 – 1970)
Untitled (Yellow and Blue), 1954
Oil on canvas
95 5/8 x 73 1/2 inches (242.9 x 186.7 cm)
Executed in 1954, Mark Rothko’s resplendent Untitled (Yellow and Blue) is the first major work to be offered by the artist in Asia and an unequivocal masterpiece of twentieth-century art history. A glowing aurora of shimmering color and light, the present work confronts us as the summation of its creator’s deeply philosophical practice, wherein he staged some of the most moving, transcendent, and simply breathtaking unions between material and support ever realized in the grand tradition of oil paint on canvas.
Top 10 Artists sold in 2024
#1. Rene Magritte
BELGIAN (1898-1967)
Turnover: USD 310,337,360
# Lots: 47 lots
Top Lot: USD 121,160,000
23 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 257,654,362.
With only 1 lot failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 96%. L’empire des lumieres, a painting dated 1954, from the artist’s most celebrated series sold at Christie’s in New-York on 19 November 2024 for USD 121,160,000, a new auction record for the artist. 4 lots sold for more than USD 10 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 192,514,880, representing 74.7% of the total turnover for 2024.
2024 Top 3 Lots
24 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 52,770,385.
With only 1 lot failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 96%. L’empire des lumieres, a gouache dated 1956, from the artist’s most celebrated series sold at Christie’s in New-York on 19 November 2024 for USD 18,810,000, a new auction record for a gouache of the artist. 13 lots sold for more than USD 1 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 50,419,635 representing 95.5% of the total turnover for 2024.
2024 WOP Top 3 Lots
READ ABOUT RENE MAGRITTE
#2. Claude Monet
FRENCH (1840-1926)
Turnover: USD 287,357,783
# Lots: 24 lots
Top Lot: USD 65,500,000
24 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 287,357,783.
With not lot failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 100%. Nympheas, a painting dated 1914-1917 sold at Sotheby’s in New-York on 18 November 2024 for USD 65,500,000, the highest price paid for a painting by Claude Monet in 2024. 8 lots sold for more than USD 10 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 207,971,958, representing 72.4% of the total turnover for 2024.
2024 Top 3 Lots
READ ABOUT CLAUDE MONET
#3. Pablo Picasso
SPANISH (1881-1973)
Turnover: USD 223,195,610
# Lots: 2,488 lots
Top Lot: USD 24,800,000
23 Paintings sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 152,894,330.
With 6 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 79%. The highest price has been achieved at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 18 November 2024, for La Statuaire, a painting dated 1925, that sold for USD 24,800,000. 6 lots sold for more than USD 10 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 98,602,845, representing 64.5% of the total turnover for 2024. 20 lots sold for more than USD 1 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 150,240,120, representing 98.9% of the total turnover for 2024.
2024 Top 3 Lots
READ ABOUT PABLO PICASSO
#4. Jean-Michel Basquiat
AMERICAN (1960-1988)
Turnover: USD 182,145,740
# Lots: XXXX lots
Top Lot: USD 46,479,000
10 paintings sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 170,509,250.
With 1 lot failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 91%. The highest price achieved in 2024 was for Untitled (ELMAR), a painting dated 1982, that sold at Phillips in New-York, on 14 May 2024, for USD 46,479,000. We have chosen to include the record-breaking work on paper sold by Christie’s on 21 November 2024 for USD 20,050,000 within this section. 6 lots sold for more than USD 10 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 144,514,850, representing 84.8% of the total turnover for 2024. Only one lot sold in Hong-Kong this year.
2024 Top 3 Lots
16 WoP sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 11,636,490.
With 3 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 84%. The highest price has been achieved at Sotheby’s in New-York on 20 November 2024, when Untitled, a drawing executed in 1981, sold for USD 2,100,000. 4 lots sold for more than USD 1 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 7,241,000, representing 62.2% of the total turnover for 2024.
2024 Top 3 Lots
READ ABOUT JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
#5. Andy Warhol
AMERICAN (1928-1987)
Turnover: USD 183,332,870
# Lots: 1,817 lots
Top Lot: USD 35,485,000
89 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 121,153,232.
READ ABOUT ANDY WARHOL
#6. Yayoi Kusama
JAPANESE (Born 1929)
Turnover: USD 158,456,780
# Lots sold: 811 lots
Top Lot: USD 6,826,000
101 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 139,563,444.
With 7 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 93.5%. The highest price was achieved at Christie’s in New-York on 21 November 2024, when Pumpkin, a large sculpture dated 2022 sold for USD 6,826,000.
44 lots sold for more than USD 1 million generating a cumulative turnover of USD 113,862,645, representing 83% of the total turnover for 2024.
2024 Top 6 Lots
READ ABOUT YAYOI KUSAMA
#7. David Hockney
BRITISH (Born 1937)
Turnover: USD 152,641,170
# Lots sold: 812 lots
Top Lot: USD 28,585,000
READ ABOUT DAVID HOCKNEY
#8. Ed Ruscha
AMERICAN (1928-1987)
Turnover: USD 130,424,090
# Lots: 269 lots
Top Lot: USD 68,260,000
16 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 121,291,810.
With 2 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 89%. Standard Station, Ten Cent Western Being Torn in Half, a major painting dated 1964 from the artist’s celebrated Gas Station series, sold for USD 68,260,000, at Christie’s in New-York on 19 November 2024, a new world auction record for the artist. 3 paintings sold for more than USD 10 million, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 96,695,000, representing 79.7% of the total turnover for 2024.
2024 Top 3 Lots
READ ABOUT ED RUSCHA
Notable Artists’ Auction Records
#1. L’empire des lumières, 1954
Christie’s New-York: 19 November 2024
Estimate on Request
USD 121,160,000
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
RENE MAGRITTE (1898-1967), L’empire des lumières | Christie’s
RENE MAGRITTE (1898-1967)
L’empire des lumières, 1954
Oil on canvas
146×114 cm (57 1/2 x 44 7/8 inches)
Signed ‘Magritte’ (lower right)
Signed again, dated and titled ‘”L’Empire des Lumières” Magritte 1954’ (on the reverse)
Filled with a rich sense of mystery that confounds and beguiles in equal measure, René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières of 1954 is a powerful example of the artist’s extraordinary, mature Surrealist vision. Focusing on the juxtaposition of a landscape bathed in deep shadows with the blue expanse of a day-lit sky above, this seemingly impossible collision of day and night in a single moment quickly became one of his most celebrated and iconic subjects. Between 1949 and 1964, the artist created a total of seventeen versions in oil, with several more iterations in gouache, on the theme of the L’empire des lumières. Each subtly different from the next, with intriguing variations and diversions from canvas to canvas, these paintings demonstrate Magritte’s endless spirit of invention, as he probed the rich poetic potential of his deceptively simple subjects.
#2. Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half, 1964
Christie’s New-York: 19 November 2024
Estimate on Request
USD 68,260,000
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
ED RUSCHA (B. 1937), Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half | Christie’s
ED RUSCHA (B. 1937)
Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half, 1964
Oil on canvas
65 x 121 1/2 inches (165.1 x 308.6 cm)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”STANDARD STATION, 10¢ WESTERN BEING TORN IN HALF” 1964 Edward J. Ruscha’ (on the stretcher)
“I don’t have any River Seine like Monet,
I’ve just got U.S. 66 between Oklahoma and Los Angeles.”
Painted in 1964, Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half is a defining painting in the canon of American postwar art. This monumental canvas presents two visions of America, one that celebrates the pioneering spirit of the Wild West and another in which the car has replaced the cowboy as a symbol of America’s future. Combining the realism of Edward Hopper, the inscrutability of Surrealism, and the bold audacity of Pop, Ed Ruscha’s striking painting represents a seismic shift in the artistic landscape in much the same way that Claude Monet’s paintings of Argenteuil came to represent a new, modern, Impressionist France in the nineteenth century.
Les Distractions de Dagobert, 1945
Sotheby’s New-York: 15 May 2024
Estimated: USD 12,000,000 – 18,000,000
USD 28,485,000
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
Les Distractions de Dagobert | Modern Evening Auction | 2024 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
GUARANTEED | IRREVOCABLE BID
LEONORA CARRINGTON (1917 – 2011)
Les Distractions de Dagobert, 1945
Tempera on Masonite
29 3/4 x 34 1/4 inches (75.6 x 87 cm)
Signed Carrington and dated 1945, September (lower right)
Leonora Carrington’s oeuvre reveals, over the course of seven decades, a realm of infinite possibility in constant flux. The divine and the terrestrial, flora and fauna, man and machine, entangle with one another; gleaming deities and fanciful hybrid creatures (part-human, part-animal, part-plant) engage in impenetrable rituals and joyful exploration. Painted at the height of her career and unparalleled in the richness of its imagery, the finesse in each minute detail and the explosive vibrance of its tonality, Les Distractions de Dagobert is the apotheosis of Carrington’s dynamic career. Here, she offers a manifesto of the visual world that unfolds over her production that followed. Quoting iconography and ideas from sources ranging from medieval European history and contemporary scientific literature to Irish and Mexican myth, she presents an inventive, humanist vision of a universe not as it is, but as it could be.
Le Melon entamé, 1760
Christie’s Paris: 12 June 2024
Estimated: EUR 8,000,000 – 12,000,000
EUR 26,730,000 / USD 28,980,000
JEAN SIMÉON CHARDIN (PARIS 1699-1779), Le Melon entamé | Christie’s
JEAN SIMÉON CHARDIN (PARIS 1699-1779)
Le Melon entamé, 1760
Oil on oval canvas
57 x 51.5 cm (22 7/16 x 20 1/4 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Chardin 1760.’ (center bottom)
One of the signal masterpieces of Chardin’s late career, The Cut Melon has for almost two centuries belonged to just two families, the Marcille and the Rothschild dynasties, each of which gathered through succeeding generations the greatest and most celebrated collections of Chardin’s paintings ever assembled. Acquired with its former pendant, The Jar of Apricots (The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto), by François-Martial Marcille (1790-1856) sometime between 1816 and 1836, the pair of pictures passed by descent after François’s death to his son, Camille Marcille (1816-1875), before appearing in Camille’s estate sale in 1876 – remembered as one of the most spectacular auctions of 19th-century Paris. The paintings were acquired at that sale on behalf of Baroness Nathaniel, Charlotte de Rothschild (1825-1899), with both pictures passing by descent through members of the family until 1951, when The Jar of Apricots was sold by Baron James de Rothschild; the present painting remains in the Rothschild family to the present day, its provenance uninterrupted since its creation. Still in a nearly perfect state of preservation, its fame in France in the second half of the 19th century was instrumental in the rehabilitation of Chardin’s reputation, some years before the splendid ensemble of paintings by the artist in the La Caze collection entered the Louvre and made his art widely available to a general public. Exceptionally large in size, monumental in design, elegantly poised yet dynamic in composition, richly colored and executed in dazzling layers of powdery glazing, striking in its mellow and enveloping qualities of light and atmosphere, The Cut Melon displays every facet of Chardin’s virtuoso genius in the final and most accomplished phase of his creative maturity.
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Christie’s London: 2 July 2024
Estimated: GBP 15,000,000 – 25,000,000
GBP 17,560,000 / USD 22,243,320
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
TIZIANO VECELLIO, CALLED TITIAN (PIEVE DI CADORE C. 1485/90-1576 VENICE)
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Oil on canvas, laid on panel
46.2 x 62.9 cm (18 1/4 x 24 3/4 inches)
16:10, 2020
Sotheby’s New-York: 13 May 2024
Estimated: USD 500,000 – 700,000
USD 1,814,500
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
16:10 | The Now Evening Auction | 2024 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
LUCY BULL (b. 1990)
16:10, 2020
Oil on linen
93 1/8 x 53 7/8 inches (236.5 x 136.8 cm)
Signed and dated 2020 (on the reverse)
Crackling with dynamic energy, Lucy Bull’s 16:10 from 2020 fluctuates between a surrealist dreamscape, a synesthetic painterly composition, and a psychedelic experience. Rippling tessellations of brilliant vermillion, neon yellow, and fluorescent orange induce the viewer into a trance-like state, coalescing into a disorientating and meditative plane of experience. At nearly eight feet tall, the verticality of 16:10 engulfs the viewer, transporting one to a prismatic, otherworldly plane. In recent years, the young LA-based artist who is represented by David Kordansky Gallery has distinguished herself as a contemporary paragon of abstract art.
Insights from the ArtPrice Report
The 2024 edition of Artprice’s global art market report paints a complex picture of contraction and resilience. While headline numbers reveal a sharp decline in global turnover, a deeper look shows an increasingly accessible, digitally driven, and culturally diverse art market — where prints, female artists, and affordable works are gaining unprecedented traction.
Market Contraction – But Not Collapse
The global art market saw a significant correction in 2024, with public auction turnover falling by 33.5%, from $14.9 billion in 2023 to $9.9 billion — its lowest point since 2009. Yet paradoxically, the number of lots sold reached a record 804,000, signaling continued enthusiasm for art, particularly at lower price points.
The contraction is largely attributed to a shortage of major masterpieces, compounded by macroeconomic caution and geopolitical instability across the United States, China, and Europe. Despite these headwinds, the market is showing signs of structural adaptation rather than collapse.
A Shift Toward Affordability and Volume
While high-end sales declined, demand for affordable artworks has soared.
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Half of all lots sold in 2024 were priced under $600, and
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90% of sales fell below $9,225.
This reflects a democratization of the market, supported by the continued expansion of online sales platforms.
The print market in particular is booming. Sales of prints under $1,000 have grown 79% since 2020, proving that editioned works are not only accessible entry points for new collectors but increasingly viable investment vehicles.
Regional Insights: Decline at the Top, Growth at the Margins
The United States and China remained the dominant markets, but both experienced significant value declines:
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U.S. turnover fell by $1.4 billion, while
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China’s dropped by $3.1 billion, with high-value works seeing particularly sharp reductions.
China’s classical segment, however, stayed robust, with ancient painting and calligraphy continuing to perform well despite the contemporary market’s volatility.
Switzerland bucked the trend entirely, posting an 80% increase in turnover and reaching a national record of $221.6 million — largely driven by sales from the prestigious Kornfeld Collection, featuring works by Giacometti, Matisse, and Seurat.
Women Artists Make Major Gains
In a year of overall decline, female artists outperformed the market average, with turnover falling just 32% compared to the 33.5% global dip. Noteworthy achievements include:
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Leonora Carrington’s Dagobert’s Distractions selling for $28.5 million, outpacing the top prices of male Surrealists like Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí.
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Strong results for Diane Arbus, Jadé Fadojutimi, and Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun confirm rising institutional and market recognition.
Still, only four women ranked among the Top 50 artists by turnover: Yayoi Kusama, Joan Mitchell, Carrington, and Georgia O’Keeffe — underscoring both progress and the persistent gender gap.
The Surrealist Renaissance
2024 witnessed a major resurgence of Surrealism — not only in exhibitions and scholarship but in the auction room.
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René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières topped the year with a $121.2 million result.
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Lesser-known figures like Marie Toyen and Dorothea Tanning outperformed expectations, helping to expand the Surrealist canon beyond its male-dominated center.
This renewed interest reaffirms Surrealism’s appeal in times of uncertainty and its enduring resonance with new generations of collectors.
Speculation Cools on Young Contemporaries
The speculative frenzy surrounding ultra-contemporary artists took a sharp downturn:
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Loie Hollowell dropped from $10.8M in 2022 to $1.7M in 2024 (-84%)
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Avery Singer fell by 73% over two years
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Shara Hughes saw no million-dollar results in 2024, with multiple works left unsold
The market appears to be recalibrating expectations, emphasizing depth and longevity over hype.
Expanding Participation, Digital Evolution
Despite the value dip, the number of artists at auction reached 187,632, a 6% increase from 2023 — highlighting the broadening of the market’s cultural and geographic scope.
Meanwhile, AI and digital tools continue to enhance transparency and access, especially in the domains of:
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Authentication
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Virtual exhibitions
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Online sales acceleration
Insights from the UBS & Art Basel Report
To Download the Art Market Report 2025
The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025 | UBS Global
Executive Summary
It is this time of the year… The newly released Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report. 2025 analyses the major trends of the Art Market in 2024. By all appearances, the art world in 2024 dipped its brush into a more muted palette. But beneath the surface, a vibrant recalibration is underway, maybe less about fireworks, and more about finesse. The 2025 Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report offers a detailed snapshot of an art market in flux. After years of pandemic-driven rebound and a supercharged 2022, the market cooled slightly in 2024, with sales falling by 12% to an estimated $57.5 billion. A pause, yes, but certainly not a collapse. On the contrary, what we are observing is a quiet reshuffling of priorities: a rise in accessibility, a rebalancing of geographies, and a healthy injection of new blood.
1. Value Down, Volume Up: A Market in Motion
In pure dollar terms, yes, the market took a step back. But the number of transactions tells a more compelling story: 40.5 million art sales were made in 2024, a 3% increase over the previous year. If high-end sales, particularly those over $10 million, saw sharp declines, down 45% at public auction, works priced under $50,000 experienced a quiet boom. The lesson? The art world’s velvet ropes are loosening, and more collectors are stepping in. This “more affordable” segment is where the action, and optimism, lies.
2. The Geography of Taste: Shifting Powers
The U.S. remains the reigning superpower of the art market, claiming 43% of total sales. But that crown is looking a bit heavy: sales declined by 9% to $24.8 billion, partially due to political uncertainty around the upcoming election (nothing like a presidential race to send billionaires back to their bunkers). Meanwhile, the U.K. staged something of a comeback. Despite post-Brexit woes and other economic tremors, the British market fell only 5% and climbed back into second place globally, at an 18% share. China’s once-torrid pace cooled dramatically, falling 31% to $8.4 billion. A sluggish economy and a floundering property sector appear to be dragging its art market down to its lowest level since 2009. France retained its fourth-place global ranking, despite a 10% dip, followed by South Korea and Japan, where the latter quietly bucked the trend with a 2% increase. In short, the global art map is in flux. One could say it is undergoing a bit of curatorial revision…
3. Dealers: The Smaller, the Mightier
The dealer sector, which accounts for more than half of total market value, proved impressively resilient. Sales dropped 6%, but the pain was unevenly distributed. The giants (dealers with turnovers above $10 million) are the most impacted, with 64% reporting lower sales. But those with under $250,000 in annual turnover enjoyed a hearty 17% boost. It looks like a tale of David and Goliath, though in this case, both are wearing expensive shoes… The small and mid-tier galleries proved to be nimbler, more adaptive, and more attractive to new buyers. Notably, 44% of clients in 2024 were new, with the highest share among small dealers (50%). This bodes well for the future. If the market is to grow, it needs new faces, and the small galleries seem to be the right entrance door.
4. Auction Houses: Back to Earth
After an euphoric 2022, auction houses came back down to earth. Sales dropped by 25%, driven largely by waning demand for ultra-high-value works. Auctions for artworks priced over $10 million fell sharply for a second consecutive year, down 45%. The mid-market fared better, and some houses smartly pivoted to private sales and hybrid formats. Still, the auction scene is clearly undergoing a moment of soul-searching…
5. Art Fairs: Still the Belle of the Ball
Despite dire predictions during the pandemic, art fairs have roared back, especially abroad. Overseas fairs drove growth, and sales through fairs rose to 31% of total dealer sales (up from 29% in 2023). Among top-tier galleries, the fair scene is thriving: 34% of their sales came from fair booths in 2024. Interestingly, fairs also continue to function as Tinder for collectors and dealers: 31% of dealers found their newest clients at these events. Swipe right for a Basquiat, anyone?
6. The Online Market: No Longer the Future, Just the Norm
Online sales fell 11% to $10.5 billion, making up 18% of total global sales. Still, that represents a whopping 76% above pre-pandemic levels. Online platforms are here to stay, even as the frenzied digital euphoria of 2021 and 2022 settles into something more sustainable. Collectors increasingly bounce between IRL and URL experiences. A painting might be discovered on Instagram, inquired about by email, negotiated via WhatsApp, and finally purchased in person at an art fair. Welcome to the new normal.
7. So, what is the takeaway from the 2025 Art Market Report?
While the headlines may shout “decline,” the subtext whispers “diversification.” The art market is expanding laterally: more price points, more buyers, more voices, and more formats. A $30 million Rothko might not find a home in 2024, but a $15,000 print by a rising artist almost certainly will. In a world grappling with economic uncertainty and shifting generational tastes, the art world is discovering a quieter, more inclusive rhythm. It’s less boom-and-bust, more buy-and-hold. And maybe this is just the kind of sustainable, human-centered market the future needs… Because, after all, the art market is not just about numbers, it is also about narratives. And this year’s story? A little less glamour, a lot more grit.
Market Overview
In 2024, the global art market contracted by 12%, bringing total sales down to $57.5 billion—a notable decline for the second year in a row. This downward trend was driven by a cooling of high-end sales, macroeconomic uncertainties, and cautious buyer behavior.
Sales in the Global Art Market (2009-2024)
However, volume increased by 3% to 40.5 million transactions, indicating growing activity at lower price points, and demonstrating continued dynamism and sustained interest from collectors worldwide
Whilst overall sales value decreased, transaction volume increased by 3% in 2024, reflecting a shift in market behavior. Growth in more accessible price segments suggests that the collector base expanded, contributing to a more multifaceted market.
Combining all sales of auction houses (both private and public), the auction sector accounted for around 41% of total sales by value in 2024, down by 4% on 2023, while the share of dealers and galleries (including all online and offline retail sales of art and antiques in the primary and secondary markets) was 59%.
Global Market Shares by Country
Despite the increasing globalization of the art market over the last 30 years, sales by value were still dominated by the three largest markets – the US, the UK, and China – with a combined share of 76% in 2024.
The US remained the leading global art market, recording sales of USD 24.8 billion, accounting for 43% of sales by value, up by 1% in share year-on-year. The market lost one-quarter of its value during the pandemic in 2020, but had one of the strongest recoveries of all the major art markets, with values increasing by 34% over 2021 and a further 8% in 2022 to reach a record high of USD 30.2 billion. The strength of the high end of the market in these recovery years helped to drive growth, with the US remaining the key center worldwide for sales of the highest-priced works.
The UK is also an important hub for the international art trade and was the world’s second-largest art market, a position it regained in 2024, accounting for 18% of global sales by value, up by 1% year-on-year. Sales in the UK reached USD 10.4 billion, down by 5% year-on-year, but with relatively better performance than China, ensuring its second place in the global ranks.
2024 Global Art Market Shares by Value
China, including Mainland China and Hong Kong, fell to third place with a share of 15% of global sales by value, down by 4% year-on-year. China’s market has followed a slightly different trajectory to its peers; it was one of the fastest growing in the very early 2010s, but this pace slowed considerably around 2015, and it experienced three years of falling values, reaching a low of USD 9.9 billion in 2020, their lowest level in 10 years.
Outside these major hubs, many markets also experienced a more subdued year in terms of sales values. In Europe, sales in France fell by 10% to USD 4.2 billion, accounting for a stable 7% of global sales by value, retaining its position as the fourth-largest market worldwide and the largest in the EU. After declining by 30% in 2020 during the pandemic, the French market experienced an exceptional recovery, with sales growing by over 60% to reach a peak of just under USD 5.0 billion by 2022. Sales fell by 7% in 2023 and with the further drop in 2024 were just below their 2019 level (USD 4.4 billion).
Dealer Market: Resilient but Pressured
Sales in the dealer sector continued to show mixed results in 2024, with aggregate values declining by 6% to USD 34.1 billion. Reflecting the wider market trend, dealers at the highest end reported some of the largest declines in value, as transactions continued at a level pace but with most activity concentrated at relatively lower price levels.
The smallest dealers with turnover of less than USD 250,000 reported the largest increase in sales (17%), their second year of growth and a market turnaround for this segment which had seen the weakest recovery in 2021 and 2022. Dealers with turnover of between USD 1 million and USD 5 million were also up by 10%, however, the higher turnover segments reported declines, with the USD 5 million to USD 10 million segment down by 3%, and the USD 10 million-plus segment down by 9%, the second year of slowing values for each.
2024 Dealers Sales by Price Point
Some dealers were successful in reaching new buyers, with 44% of the buyers they sold works to being new to their business in 2024. The share of sales to new buyers also increased to 38%, up by 5% from 2023. The share of new buyers was highest for the smallest dealers (50%) and to the extent that some of these may be new to the art market and starting off at lower price points highlights the importance of smaller galleries in expanding the market to a wider audience.
2024 Dealers Sales by Medium
Online sales accounted for 22% of total dealer sales in 2024, down by 1% from 2023 but still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels (13% in 2019). The main growth area in online sales has been through dealers’ own websites and online channels, which have more than doubled in share since 2019, reflecting substantial investments in upgrading
internal platforms. The share of online sales to new buyers increased to 46%, from 35% in 2023.
Auction Houses: A Market Shift
Sales in the auction market fell for the second consecutive year in 2024, with combined public and private sales by auction houses dropping by 20% to USD 23.4 billion, their lowest level since 2020. This decrease followed a strong post-pandemic recovery and was significantly impacted by weakness at the high end of the market, with double-digit declines in the value and volume of sales in the USD 10 million-plus segment. Public auction sales declined by 25% year on-year, while private sales through auction houses countered this trend with a 14% increase to $4.4 billion.
Global Auction Sales (2019-2024)
The three largest public auction markets in 2024 remained the US, China, and the UK, with a combined share of 70% of sales by value, down by 4% year-on-year. The US regained its premier position after equalizing with China in 2023, maintaining a stable share of 31%. China was the second-largest market, with a decline in share of 6% year-on-year to 25%. The UK remained the third-largest market with an increased share of 14% (up by 2% year-on-year), ahead of France in fourth place with 10%.
2024 Public Auction Sales by Geography
Post-War and Contemporary art remained the largest sector of the fine art auction market in 2024, with a 52% share of global sales values and 54% by volume. Aggregated sales in the sector totaled USD 4.6 billion, down by 28% year-on-year, marking the sector’s third consecutive year of declining values from the 2021 peak of USD 8.5 billion. The volume of transactions increased by 5% year-on-year, reaching their highest level to date.
2024 Public Auction Sales by Segment
