For the art market, a year 2022 at the top despite the crisis

• Crisis ?

  What crisis?

  The art market is showing Olympic health, with record figures throughout 2022.

• Far from our problems of inflation, to you as to me, the works have never sold so well.

• But this excellent form of facade is not devoid of nuances.

Admittedly, the essence of art is to shake up codes, to play with paradoxes and to display solid counterpoints.

But all the same, it is enough to raise an eyebrow to see the art market being in such good shape, in the midst of an economic crisis and fear of a global recession.

2022 is a series of crazy figures: second biggest sale of a work (a portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol), double record for the most expensive collection ever sold, record for the number of works at more than 100 million... How to explain such a gap with the global economy as a whole?

The trend is actually nothing new.

Since 2010, artistic auctions have been on the rise every year, informs Audrey Doyen, anthropologist and specialist in the art market and sales.

Only two exceptions: 2018, "a weak year", and 2020 with the coronavirus.

“Even there, sales had collapsed in the first half, but there had been some catch-up in the other months”.

annual report

, released by Art Basel & UBS in May, reported revenue of $65.1 billion, surpassing the pre-pandemic level.

And just this Monday, Christie's and Sotheby's announced a record year (all sales combined).

In short, the market is in great shape, “with a speculative bubble that still hasn't burst, so the numbers are still going up,” sums up the specialist.

Divorce and death boost the market

But then, what is special about 2022?

Turnover is notably boosted by a few record sales, three of the ten largest auctions of all time having taken place in the last twelve months

“There has been a greater availability of works due in part to the death of Paul Allen*, co-founder of Microsoft, which led to the sale of his private collection.

Same for the divorce of the couple Macklowe **”, supports Léa Saint-Raymond, doctor in history of art.

The works owned by Paul Allen sold in November 2022 for $1.62 billion, smashing the old record for the most expensive collection at auction held by… the Macklowe's, sold for $922 million in the spring.

An increased supply, therefore, and a more substantial demand.

Léa Saint-Raymond develops: “There are more and more rich people in the world, and fortunes ready to spend a lot for works of art”.

Recession ?

Not know.

“Art is rather spared during economic crises.

On the contrary, it is seen as a safe haven,” continues Audrey Doyen.

"Clients want to diversify their assets to take advantage of the art and because they know that most works continue to increase in value over time," Adrien Meyer, co-president of the Impressionists and Art department, told AFP in November. Modern art at Christie's.

"There are more billionaires than masterpieces" available on the market, he summed up.

Towards too much hegemony?

But all is not rosy.

As we said, the year is boosted by big sales.

In detail, 52 works exceeded 30 million dollars, while the previous record stood at 36 in 2015, according to AFP;

24 works exceeded 50 million, erasing the record of 15 works in 2014. And the 100 million mark was crossed six times, whereas it had never been more than three times in the same year.

"The market is mainly based on the big operators and the big houses, mainly with contemporary art and fine art", insists Audrey Doyen.

Consequence: the situation is less glorious for the

"small" houses and other less popular currents, specifies the expert.

Impressionist, modern and contemporary art represent 89% of auctions at more than 30 million throughout history.

In 2022, this hegemony has increased further, to 94%, still according to AFP.

The stranglehold is also geographic: nearly 73% of auctions over 30 million

place in New York, mainly at Christie's and Sotheby's.

Count 80% in 2022.

The golden age before the fall?

Somewhere, the situation is reminiscent of that of the cinema, which relies more and more on a few record blockbusters to mask a much more nuanced economic health than it seems.

Will art still sell as well in the future?

"The market is benefiting from a return to the face-to-face, with numerous art fairs which attract fortunes from all over the world", adds Léa Saint-Raymond.

Seeing the works, going there, participating in major events, all this necessarily encourages more purchases than at a distance thanks to collective emulation.

But precisely, this model could come to an end because of the cataclysmic ecological balance of this kind of private travel around the world, notes the specialist.

The golden age is definitely here, but decline may be on the horizon.

Company

Seine-et-Marne: A marble statue sold for nearly 1 million euros at auction

Production

Maison Degrenne: sharing industry and tableware

* This collection includes

, by Paul Cézanne,

, by Vincent Van Gogh,

, by Paul Gauguin, and

by Claude Monet.

** For this collection, you will be entitled to

, by Jackson Pollock,

or

by Andy Warhol.

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