20 Years of Contemporary Art Market Review

Artprice Online Platform, an international art database published a report called “20 Years of Contemporary Art Market Review” (compiled by CEO Thierry Ehrmann). It combines the changes that the contemporary art market has gone through over the past 20 years. YiArt has summarized some key points and examples for readers, so that they can better understand some of the aspects of the contemporary art market, along the way.

The Contemporary Art Market Becomes Mainstream

Since the 21st century, the contemporary art market has undergone structural changes. What was once a niche surpassed 2 million USD in 2000, and has surpassed 2 billion USD within 20 years, with a growth rate of more than 2,100%. The number of participants and artworks are increasing. The number of artists have increased from 5,400 to 32,000, the works have increased from 12,000 to 123,000, and the number of countries with active auctions has increased from 39 to 64.

Changes in the Contemporary Art Market

Contemporary art, which accounted for only 3% of the art auction market 20 years ago is the biggest reason for the increase/influx of Chinese buyers. With the economic boom in recent years, entrepreneurs such as Jack Ma (founder of Alibaba), Adrian Cheng Chi-Kong (CEO of New World Development), and Lin Han (co-founder of MWoods) have become involved in art collecting and investing in art. In 2011-2012, Chinese sales were at $100,00, double of European sales. The contemporary art stage is no longer limited to the West. Not only is there value in the works of Chinese artists, but the prices of works by artists from India, the Middle East, and other regions have increased significantly.

2007 was a milestone year, with sales exceeding 1 billion USD for the first time. The contemporary art market experienced a brief decline during the 2008 financial crisis, but remained relatively stable. The works of famous post-war artists such as Claude Monet, Mark Rothko, and Lucian Freud were unaffected by the economic downturn, making art a safe haven in the field, and guaranteeing the price of the work.

Artists Make History

“Hanging Heart” by artist Jeff Koons sold for $23.5 million, the highest record at the time. In the years that followed, he rewrote the record seven times. Artists such as Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, and Peter Doig have also made surprise bids for auctioneers, completely upending appraisals.

The rise of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is a symbol of the rapid transformation of the contemporary art market. Still unknown in 2000, he was among the world’s top 10 annual turnovers, and the price of his sculpture “Mr. DOB” has increased tenfold from the late 1990’s to the early 2000’s. However, the top 100 artists accounted for 3 quarters of the market’s revenue. Although the total number of artists participating in the auction exceeds 30,000, 0.3% of the 100 artists determined the art market’s economic situation. Among them, Basquiat, Koons, Hearst, and Warhol are known as the “Big Four” in the market.

Basquiat’s “Red Rabbit” (1982) sold for $100,000 in 1998. Over the next 10 years, he broke the million-dollar mark, and 10 years later, he reached the 10 million dollar mark, a price that was higher than previous works by Monet and Picasso.

Different Types/Media in the Contemporary Art Market

Ever since Jeff Koons chose household appliances, toys, holiday supplies, and popular cultural icons (as represented by the hulk), as his themes, he has invented “luxury art”, one that is both popular and playful. It breaks away from traditional forms of creation and publication, and walks flexibly between art, industry, and commerce. Paintings account for 65% of the market, a main driving force that moves the market forward. The most expensive contemporary works come from pop art. Its successors, modern and contemporary American abstract art, street art, and Chinese and Japanese painters have also successfully entered the market at tens of millions of dollars. The most expensive works are usually superior in size, color, and artistic tension. Sculptures account for 16% of the global turnover and 10% of total transactions, second to paintings. There are some very incisive and controversial works within the contemporary sculpture market. Damien Hirst’s dismemberment of animals, and Martin Kippenberger’s crucified frog represents the most subversive, memorable, and expensive works.

Young contemporary photography only began to capture the hearts of collectors in the 1990’s, and the market’s attitude towards it has changed significantly. It reached a turning point in 2007, with annual auction sales soaring to 102 million USD. Sherman, Gursky, and Prince were photography pioneers that took photography to new heights.

Geographical Changes in the Contemporary Art Market

In the early 2000’s, the art market was committed to developing new stages, new artists, and new clients in China, Russia, India, Brazil and BRICS countries of the Middle East. No longer focused on the west, non-Western artists who were unknown 20 years ago had the chance to leave their mark. Since 2013, Hong Kong has attracted many top western galleries, large international auction houses and the famous Art Basel Fair. Over the past 20 years, many Western artists have achieved great successes at major auctions in Hong Kong. In 2019, American artist Julie Mehretu’s “Ink Scenery (Deep Light)” sold for 5.6 million USD, more than double the estimate. Not only is the partnership and co-prosperity of iconic artists from Asia and the West a new strength in Hong Kong’s large-scale auctions, but also a new strength in China’s market. The Shanghai government is determined to build Shanghai into a bustling cultural metropolis. Private museums are emerging in an environment that is good for the development of artistic activities. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of museums nearly doubled, from 30 to more than 70. 2019 was an important year for Shanghai’s art world. There was the large-scale Yayoi Kusama exhibition held at Fosun Arts Center, the retrospective exhibition of Zhou Chunya at Long Museum, the opening of a gallery owned French founder Perrotin, and the 5th West Bund Art and Design Fair. 2019 brought together all of the world’s top galleries.

In the Arabian Peninsula, Dubai and Abu Dhabi plan to turn themselves into significant global and cultural destinations. As a result, a number of art fairs have emerged in the area. Abu Dhabi has also built the Louvre (designed by Jean Nouvel, the Guggenheim Museum (designed by Frank Gehry), the Art and Design Center (designed by Zaha Hadid), and the Maritime Museum (designed by Andō Tadao). In 2013, Julie Meretto’s oil painting “Rising Down” sold for 3 million USD and Donald Judd’s “Bernstein Bros. Inc. 90-01” sold for 3.5 million USD. Egyptian artist Chant Avedissian’s “Icons of the Nile” sold for 1.5 million USD, setting a record for the highest auction price for an Arab artist.

New Elements of Contemporary Art: Women, African Americans, New Generation Artists

In 2015, American collectors, Lubel and his wife, held a female artist’s work exhibition “No Man’s Land”, aimed at empowering women in the contemporary art world. Research published by Maura Reilly (female curator and author), indicates that since the 1970’s, art collections have exposed the neglect of women in them. It showed that only 29% of solo exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York (between 2007 and 2014) were by women, 25% at Tate Modern in London, 20% at MoMA, and 16% at Pompidou Center in Paris.

One of the major trends of our time is to give African American artists the space in order to make up for neglecting them. Museums and collectors began to value African American artists, renewing the traditional western approach in art history, and re-examining the influence of art created by African American artists and its influence on the world.

Demand for art is in short supply, and artists can increase the likelihood of success by joining well known galleries. Artists also bring a lot of contemporary awareness. For instance, Irish artist Genieve Figgis was highly regarded by galleries after his work was posted online, as well as the success of young artists such as Julie Curtiss, Harold Ancart, Lucas Arruda, and Jonas Wood. 10 years ago, they were still very much unknown and now, they are among the top 100 artists of 2020. Many are confident that prices will continue to rise.

Top 10 Online Auctions of Contemporary Works

Basquiat (1960-1988) 《Untitled (Head)》(1982) $15.2 million
Basquiat (1960-1988) 《Untitled》(1983) $2.9 million
Matthew Wong (1984-2019) 《The Realm of Appearance》(2018) $1.8 million
George Condo (1957) 《Woman With Golden Hair》(2018) $1.6 million
Takashi Murakami (1962) 《Flower Matango A》(2001-2006) $1.4 million
Sean Scully (1945) 《If》(1986) $1.3 million
Richard Prince (1949) 《Untitled (Cowboy)》(2015) $1.3 million
George Condo (1949) 《Untitled (Cowboy)》(2015) $.13 million
Christopher Wool (1955) 《Untitled》(1988) $1.2 million
Zhang Xiaogang (1958) 《天堂四號》(2010) $1.1 million

Top 100 Contemporary Artists in the World (2000-2020)

1.Jean-Michel BASQUIAT (1960-1988)

2.Jeff KOONS (b. 1955)

3.Damien HIRST (b. 1965)

4.Christopher WOOL (b. 1955)

5.ZENG Fanzhi (b. 1964)

6.Richard PRINCE (b. 1949)

7.Peter DOIG (b. 1959)

8.ZHANG Xiaogang (b. 1958)

9.Yoshitomo NARA (b. 1959)

10.Keith HARING (1958-1990)

11.CHEN Yifei (1946-2005)

12.ZHOU Chunya (b. 1955)

13.Rudolf STINGEL (b. 1956)

14.Martin KIPPENBERGER (1953-1997)

15.Takashi MURAKAMI (b. 1962)

16.Anselm KIEFER (b. 1945)

17.George CONDO (b. 1957)

18.LIU Ye (b. 1964)

19.KAWS (b. 1974)

20.Mark GROTJAHN (b. 1968)

21.Anish KAPOOR (b. 1954)

22.YUE Minjun (b. 1962)

23.Mark BRADFORD (b. 1961)

24.Andreas GURSKY (b. 1955)

25.Cindy SHERMAN (b. 1954)

26.LIU Wei (b. 1965)

27.Albert OEHLEN (b. 1954)

28.LUO Zhongli (b. 1948)

29.LIU Xiaodong (b. 1963)

30.FANG Lijun (b. 1963)

31.Cecily BROWN (b. 1969)

32.WANG Yidong (b. 1955)

33.Maurizio CATTELAN (b. 1960)

34.Sean SCULLY (b. 1945)

35.Mark TANSEY (b. 1949)

36.Miquel BARCELO (b. 1957)

37.HE Jiaying (b. 1957)

38.BANKSY (b. 1974)

39.Marlene DUMAS (b. 1953)

40.Antony GORMLEY (b. 1950)

41.7WANG Guangyi (b. 1957)

42.AI Xuan (b. 1947)

43.Kerry James MARSHALL (b. 1955)

44.Adrian GHENIE (b. 1977)

45.John CURRIN (b. 1962)

46.Thomas SCHÜTTE (b. 1954)

47.YANG Feiyun (b. 1954)

48.Wade GUYTON (b. 1972)

49WANG Mingming (b. 1952)

50.CAI Guoqiang (b. 1957)

51.Hiroshi SUGIMOTO (b. 1948)

52.Günther FÖRG (1952-2013)

53.ZHU Xinjian (1953-2014)

54.Mike KELLEY (1954-2012)

55.Jenny SAVILLE (b. 1970)

56.LIU Dawei (b. 1945)

57.AI Weiwei (b. 1957)

58.Robert GOBER (b. 1954)

59.Julie MEHRETU (b. 1970)

60.Glenn BROWN (b. 1966)

61.YAN Pei-Ming (b. 1960)

62.SHI Guoliang (b. 1956)

63.Jonas WOOD (b. 1977)

64.LENG Jun (b. 1963)

65.Neo RAUCH (b. 1960)

66.Glenn LIGON (b. 1960)

67.HUANG Jiannan (b. 1952)

68.Urs FISCHER (b. 1973)

69.Thomas STRUTH (b. 1954)

70.FANG Chuxiong (b. 1950)

71.Juan MUÑOZ (1953-2001)

72.Robert LONGO (b. 1953)

73.Vik MUNIZ (b. 1961)

74.Julian SCHNABEL (b. 1951)

75.Elizabeth PEYTON (b. 1965)

76.Robert COMBAS (b. 1957)

77.XUE Liang (b. 1956)

78.I Nyoman MASRIADI (b. 1973)

79.Félix GONZALEZ-TORRES (1957-1996)

80.Robert MAPPLETHORPE (1946-1989)

81.CHEN Danqing (b. 1953)

82.Tony CRAGG (b. 1949)

83.William KENTRIDGE (b. 1955)

84.Marc QUINN (b. 1964)

85.REN Zhong (b. 1976)

86.Chris OFILI (b. 1968)

87.LI Chen (b. 1963)

88.Thomas RUFF (b. 1958)

89.Subodh GUPTA (b. 1964)

90.Sterling RUBY (b. 1972)

91.Luc TUYMANS (b. 1958)

92.XU Bing (b. 1955)

93.YIN Zhaoyang (b. 1970)

94.Ronald VENTURA (b. 1973)

95.HE Duoling (b. 1948)

96.Ugo RONDINONE (b. 1964)

97.Rosemarie TROCKEL (b. 1952)

98.Beatriz MILHAZES (b. 1960)

99.Joe BRADLEY (b. 1975)

100.XU Lele (b. 1955)

Article reference link:

20 Years in Review of Contemporary Art Market / Thierry Ehrmann

https://zh.artprice.com/artprice-reports/zh-the-contemporary-art-market-report-2020/20-years-of-contemporary-art-auction-history-zh

Photo 2, left of the second row：The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991 Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2012

Photo 2, right of the second row：Orange, Red, Yellow, (1961) by Mark Rothk 2012年5月以 8688萬美元成交

Photo 2, left of the third row：Lucian Freud, Reflection with Two Children (Self-portrait), 1965. Oil on canvas. 91.5 x 91.5 cm. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. © The Lucian Freud Archive / Bridgeman Images

Photo 2, right of the third row：Balloon Flower mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating 113 1/8 x 131 7/8 x 105 1/8 inches 287.5 x 335 x 267 cm © Jeff Koons