Paris (AFP)

The burgeoning contemporary art market, with New York and Hong Kong leading the sprint, lagging behind Paris, has seen 284 million-dollar auctions while offering half of the works at less than $ 1,000 in the past 12 months, according to the annual report of Artprice.

Between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019, a record 71,400 lots, or 195 works per day, were sold in a public auction of "Fine Art".

21,996 contemporary artists were sold, against 10,243 ten years ago, says this report sent exclusively to AFP by this world leader in information on the art market.

"With the decline in growth, but also the poison of protectionism, it is rare to see a market as optimistic, mature and stable as the contemporary art market," says AFP the president of Artprice, Thierry Ehrmann.

"Fine Art" - paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, photographs, prints, videos of artists born after 1945-- is on the rise with 15% of the global art market behind modern art (43%) and post-war art (24%).

In a turnover of $ 1.89 billion that doubled in ten years for contemporary art, the United States and Asia share 66%. The price index rose + 22% and the unsold rate was stable at 39%.

The three economic pillars of the market remain three Americans: Basquiat, Koons and Kaws, sharing 19% of the global result.

Shepard Fairey and Kaws, typical artists of "Made in America", are among the most sought-after artists, having each sold more than 600 works.

Then come Americans Keith Haring and Jeff Koons, the Japanese Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, the British Banksy and Damien Hirst, "champions of these multiple works allowing young collectors to access a famous signature at a lower cost."

- Women on a par -

Only twelve women are in the top 100 in sales, including American Jenny Saville, the British-American Cecily Brown, the American artist born in Ethiopia Julie Mehretu. Shy reactions emerge as when Sotheby's tested an exclusively female online sale.

Video art, photography, installations and multimedia works are little sought after. Painting, but also sculpture and design, accounted for 94% of the world's turnover. Many drawings (more than 13,500) have been sold.

The high-end is focused on the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, China (with Beijing) which account for 89% of the global turnover. European performances are very much in the minority. No European work has exceeded one million dollars.

France, where "social disputes have discouraged many collectors" and "whose performance is now 10 times lower than the British", represents 2.3% of this market, followed by Germany 1.1%, note The report.

New York, London and Hong Kong are home to Sotheby's (32.9%), Christie's (25.4%) and Phillips (11.9%), which account for 70% of the contemporary art market. . Globally, these three houses "sell little, but well, winning 85 of the top 100 auctions," notes the report.

The French house Artcurial holds the 14th place worldwide.

- New York and Hong Kong -

New York (95% of the American contemporary art market) is in top form, generating 17 times the turnover of Paris and three times that of Hong Kong or Beijing.

The Hong Kong market, which is rising sharply, is becoming more and more prestigious, with 46% of this market in Asia and 14% of the world market.

Hong Kong in full political turmoil remained the third most efficient city in this segment after New York and London, followed by Beijing and Tokyo.

The United Kingdom is declining, accounting for less than a quarter of the world market for Contemporary Art (30% last year). But this market in London holds well in the turbulent context of Brexit.

After twenty years of more or less fruitful attempts, the African creation finally finds an echo among international collectors, with artists like El Anatsui and Malick Sidibé, note Artprice.

© 2019 AFP