INSIDE THE ART MARKET
With its signature Market Performance Reports, Artnet takes raw data -- 3,000,000 sales records for 180,000 artists in the Artnet Fine Arts Auction Database -- and turns it into a series of charts that make sense of market trends. Or at least give some food for thought.
The reports cover the auction performance of over 4,300 artists, ranging from Nobuyoshi Araki (b. 1940) to Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664). The data spans more than 18 years, dating back to before the big bubble and bust of 1989-90 and coming up to the present. What's more, the six-month update is due in a few weeks, which adds information on transactions for the first half of 2006.
With the art market, it's anyone's guess what's next -- but the charts do show some notable trends. For instance, sales activity can show interest, though that interest can be positive or negative. Prices are in turn tied to volume -- the number of lots offered and sold. As prices increase, the total number of lots can also increase, with people thinking it's a good time to sell and, curiously, that it might be a good time to buy as well. As prices decrease, sales can slow, as wealthy owners tend to hold onto their property. Typically, sales by the wealthy are said to be prompted by "the three Ds" -- death, debt and divorce.
Herewith, a sampling of some of the data taken from the Artnet Market Performance Reports. These figures are from 2005, and are presented for their intrinsic interest. To see trends over time, readers may purchase the reports for $50 each (with discounts for volume purchases). For more info, see Market Trends.
Artist |
Total lots offered * |
Total |
Average sale price |
Mean estimate |
Top lot |
Total dollar volume |
Claude Monet |
28 |
21 |
$3,272,844 |
$2,808,278 |
$18,608,000 |
$68,729,729 |
Henri Matisse |
110 |
73 |
$442,906 |
$435,169 |
$10,936,000 |
$32,332,172 |
Pablo Picasso |
946 |
788 |
$192,347 |
$142,960 |
$14,016,000 |
$164,722,381 |
Arman |
323 |
230 |
$24,291 |
$15,389 |
$498,384 |
$4,586,984 |
Andy Warhol |
222 |
170 |
$494,262 |
$415,460 |
$12,616,000 |
$84,024,555 |
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Louise Bourgeois |
14 |
10 |
$441,020 |
$302,100 |
$3,040,000 |
$4,410,200 |
Ed Ruscha |
43 |
37 |
$278,488 |
$209,029 |
$1,584,000 |
$10,304,073 |
Carl Andre |
17 |
15 |
$104,591 |
$96,586 |
$363,200 |
$1,568,868 |
Julian Schnabel |
18 |
15 |
$93,173 |
$71,879 |
$329,600 |
$1,397,603 |
Paul McCarthy |
21 |
17 |
$113,059 |
$78,325 |
$856,000 |
$1,922,014 |
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Romare Bearden |
8 |
7 |
$50,691 |
$28,214 |
$111,000 |
$352,840 |
Robert Mapplethorpe |
141 |
111 |
$31,083 |
$20,846 |
$352,000 |
$3,432,366 |
Thomas Ruff |
111 |
76 |
$33,963 |
$26,715 |
$150,000 |
$2,581,211 |
Karen Kilimnik |
10 |
8 |
$20,283 |
$11,805 |
$37,226 |
$162,264 |
* excluding prints
