A Look Back at the 2011 Art Market

As 2011 comes to a close, it becomes a time for reflection in the art market for the past years events, fairs and sales. As these year end reports and reflections are published I will try to post on some of the more interesting articles.

Colin Gleadell writing in the Telegraph has a good, quick recap of the art market in 2011.  Although the article is short, it touches on the increase in art sales by 12.2% over the past year to $4.9 billion and the increasing reliance of the major auction houses on private sales. He also mentions the failure of the Degas bronze at Christie's and judging on when the Chinese will bid on items.

The Telegraph reports

It has been an uneven year for the art market, starting like an express train, but finishing slightly out of puff. The auction houses will not produce their annual sales reports until next year, but figures on Sotheby’s website indicate that there has been a 12.2 per cent rise in its worldwide auction sales to $4.9 billion. However, while sales up to the end of July were generally meeting and sometimes exceeding expectations, since September, in Europe and the UK, they have consistently fallen below their estimates. Although there are exceptions, the trend suggests that the eurozone crisis has taken its toll.

In addition to auction sales, there will also be private sales, an increasingly popular part of the auctioneers’ business that takes place behind closed doors. Last year, private sales accounted for 10 per cent of business at Sotheby’s and Christie’s at $1 billion. During the first six months of this year, Christie’s increased its private sales by 57 per cent, and Sotheby’s by 114 per cent, as it recorded its best first six months ever. In spite of the private sale of four Matisse bronzes for an estimated $120 million in November, it is uncertain whether Sotheby’s will reach the record $6.2 billion for a year, achieved in 2007, but it will be close. The biggest money spinners, as ever, have been modern and contemporary art, but whereas blue-chip Impressionist and modern art dominated the recessionary period of 2009 and early 2010, the market this year has seen a swing back to post-war and contemporary art, especially in New York, where contemporary art sales have surged ahead.

Source: The Telegraph, click HERE to read the full article.