The relative market weight of the different creative periods

In 2023, an exceptional quantity of artworks changed hands in all segments of the market (notably Old Master Art, 19 Century Art, Modern Art, Post-War Art, Contemporary Art). This excellent transaction dynamic suggests that supply was well balanced with strong demand.

On the other hand, sales revenues were down because the market presented fewer major works than last year. Only the Old Masters segment progressed versus 2022 with an annual result up 18% versus the previous year, notably thanks to the sale of works by Goya and Rembrandt and two paintings by Rubens, which gave Sotheby’s the world leader position on Old Masters last year.

Geographical distribution of Fine Art and NFT auction turnover by creative period (2023)

 

Old Masters

Artists born before 1760

The world’s best result in the Old Masters segment this year was hammered for an ink drawing made more than 600 years ago by Wang Meng #a-272234. It was not a record for this artist (a larger work having reached $62.1 million in 2011 in Beijing), but it marked the strong return of top quality works on the Chinese market.

In the West, Rubens #a-25189 was the dominant signature with his Salome Presented With the Head of John the Baptist #l-29086641 (1609) from the Fisch Davidson Collection, and his Portrait of a Man as the God Mars #l-30210378  (c.1620). The former had not appeared at auction since 30 January 1998 when it sold for $5.5 million (Sotheby’s NY). Fetching $26.9 million on 26 January 2023, its value grew more than $21 million in a quarter of a century. The latter work also substantially re-valued: acquired for $6.8 million at Sotheby’s in 2002, it fetched $26.2 million last year. These two results – plus seven others – allowed the master of Flemish baroque art to post an annual turnover of $62 million, Rubens’ third best-ever annual total.

Top 10 results for Old Master works sold at auction in 2023

 

After the two Rubens works, the year’s third best result in the OM segment was hammered for a work by the Chinese artist Zhao Mengfu  #a-90265, a great scholar of the Yuan dynasty, whose calligraphies are veritable treasures for Chinese collectors. The one offered in July by Poly International in Beijing, Calligraphy in regular script (1302/1322), fetched $25 million, in line with sums paid for the artist’s very best works. One of the surprises of the year was the appearance of Michiel Sweets #a-22821 among the segments top results. This Flemish artist, who was largely forgotten after his death, is currently being reconsidered as one of the most creative artists of the 17th century. In 2023, his new auction record at $16 million (four times its high estimate), put him ahead of his contemporary Rembrandt.

 

19th Century Art

Artists born between 1760 and 1860

In 2023, it was unlikely that 19th Century Art would be as fully represented at auction as it was in 2022 when the segment generated over two billion dollars for the first time largely thanks to the dispersal of the Paul G. Allen collection. In 2022, that sale generated the majority of the segment’s remarkable auction results, notably with George Seurat’s Les Poseuses at $149.24 million, Paul Cézanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire at $137.79 million, Vincent Van Gogh’s Verger avec cyprès at $117 million, Paul Gauguin’s Maternity II at $105.7 million, Claude Monet’s Waterloo Bridge, soleil voilé at $64.5 million and Édouard Manet’s The Grand Canal in Venice at $51.9 million. Without a collection of this caliber in 2023, it wasn’t surprising that the 19th Century Art segment only generated half its previous year’s result, with its share of global art auction turnover shrinking from 14% to 8%, to the benefit, notably, of Modern Art, which remained 2023’s most dynamic market segment.

Top 10 results in 19th Century Art (2023)

 

New York hammered the year’s ten best results for 19th Century Art, all for famous French artists. As usual, Claude Monet #a-20093 dominated this market with four works selling above $10 million, including Le Bassin aux nymphéas (c.1917/19) which, at $74 million, was the third highest art auction result of the year 2023. This large canvas, one of the most beautiful in Monet’s Water Lilies series, was kept in the same family collection for fifty years.

The segment’s second best result of the year was hammered for a work by Le Douanier Rousseau #a-25083 titled Les Flamants #l-30172599 (1910), a painting that sold at double its low estimate for a breathtaking $43.5 million. At ten times the artist’s previous record, this was a new auction record for the self-taught painter who was misunderstood by his contemporaries, but admired by the ‘avant-garde’ artists of the 20th century.

The third best result in the 19th Century segment came from Paul Cézanne #a-5218’s Fruits et pot de gingembre (1890/93) which fetched $38.9 million. The buyer of this important painting seems to have got a very good deal since the work was estimated by Christie’s at up to $55 million.

 

Modern Art

Artists born between 1860 and 1920

Accounting for 41% of the value of the global art auction market, the Modern period is the most prosperous segment. It is the basis of the American market (40% of US turnover), the UK market (39%), but also several European countries, including France (48%) and Germany (46% ) and it accounts for 35% of Hong Kong’s art auction turnover. Even in the absence of exceptional private collection sales, this segment held up well in 2023 generating several new records. Gustav Klimt (new record), Picasso (second best-ever result) , Kandinsky (new record), Magritte, Bacon, Rothko and Modigliani… they all attracted the best results of the Modern Art period (and indeed of the entire art auction market) ranging from $34 million to $139 million.

Post-War Art

Artists born between 1920 and 1945

The second most lucrative period after Modern Art was Post-War Art, which accounted for a quarter of global art auction revenue from a quarter its transactions. The year 2022 was excellent for this period, generating $3.8 billion for the first time, including the $195 million result for Andy Warhol’s iconic Shot sage blue Marilyn from the Thomas and Doris Ammann Collection. A pillar of this creative period, in 2022 Warhol was the world’s top-selling artist with a record annual turnover of $590 million. In 2023 this total was reduced by 66%, taking $392 million away from the segment’s total turnover. Add to this the slowdown in the annual turnover totals of David Hockney, Cy Twombly and Lucian Freud, and the shortfall becomes $553 million compared with 2022.

But whereas certain pillars of the market contracted, others moved onto higher price levels. The most notable result in this segment was Richard Diebenkorn #a-7696’s new auction record at $46.4 million (adding $20 million to his previous record hammered in 2021 for a painting from his Ocean Park series). The painting that set his latest record is a tribute to Henri Matisse, titled Recollections of a visit to Leningrad #l-31856253 (1965) and it reached a price commensurate with that of large 1955 painting by Mark Rothko sold the same day, Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange).

Breakdown by creative period of global Fine Art and NFT sales turnover (2023)

 

Contemporary Art

Artists born after 1945

In 2023, the overall volume of art auction turnover from Contemporary Art was stable compared with the previous year, generating more than $2.2 billion and accounting for 17% of the global market. In geographical terms, North America was the leading market for Contemporary art with more than 30,000 lots sold compared with 18,000 in the UK and 11,000 in France. Contemporary Art was also a key segment in Hong Kong accounting for 32% of total art auction turnover, and in Belgium with 22% of the total turnover and 35% of lots sold in the country.

In 2023, Basquiat #a-1608 remained the Contemporary segment’s leading artist with an even better performance than the previous year, up 7% to $238 million. He was also the second top-selling artist in the world after Picasso. His works accounted for the three best results in the Contemporary segment this year, including one at $67.1 million for The Great Show (The Nile) #l-30185019 (1983), the price of which increased thirteenfold after eighteen years of ownership. Another work, Self-Portrait as a Heel (Part Two) #l-31895364 (1982) also generated a multi-million dollar value accretion when it fetched $42 million at Sotheby’s in November compared with an acquisition price of $772,500 in 1999 at Christie’s.

The other 18 Contemporary artists who featured among the global Top 100 (in terms of annual auction turnover) did not all benefit from the same energy. While the annual totals of Mark Tansey and Mark Bradford were multiplied by three and those of Zhou Chunya and Richard Prince by two, those of Banksy and Damien Hirst shrank sharply (-47% and -37% respectively). The works of some Contemporary Blue Chip artists even lost value, like Jeff Koons’ sculpture Jim Beam – J.B. Turner Train (1986), a large polished steel train whose price has halved in almost a decade. Sold for $33.7 million at Christie’s in 2014, the work peaked at $16.9 million in 2023. Works by Christopher Wool #a-8759 also fell short of expectations, notably Untitled (Please) (1988), which sold for $8.37 million at Sotheby’s compared with more than double ($17.1 million) in 2017 at Christie’s.

NFTs

The year 2023 marked the anchoring of NFTs in major museums around the world, starting with the LACMA, the MoMA and the Pompidou Center, which exhibited its first collection of NFTs in May. The auction houses have also further developed their strategies in this segment: in July, Christie’s carried out an entirely on-chain partnership with the Italian fashion house Gucci (and digital artists like Claire Silver, Tyler Hobbs, Emily Xie and Zach Lieberman) while Sotheby’s opened its first generative art platform with 500 works from the latest series of NFTs by Véra Molnar, a great pioneer of digital art who died last December, shortly before her centenary.

This year, the 32 sales sessions offering NFTs posted an overall success rate of 87% and generated several new records. Generative art elicited the seven highest bids in the segment for creations by Tyler Hobbs and Dmitri Cherniak #a-1023654, including the Ringers #879 (The Goose) (2021) which reached $6.2 million. Among the other remarkable works in 2023, five digital creations created by Keith Haring #a-12810 were put on sale as NFTs by his eponymous foundation and each found a buyer at prices ranging from $250,000 to $350,000 at Christie’s in September.

Top 10 artists by NFT auction turnover (2023)

 

Sotheby’s stood out as the most active auction operator in this market, regularly organizing sales dedicated to this medium while including NFTs in general sessions as well. Its strong commitment to this innovative market segment allowed it to hammer 82% of the $22.7 million generated by NFTs at auction last year. In 2023, the global turnover on this segment was also up 65% compared with 2022, but it is clear that buying was much less speculative than in previous years, allowing digital art to settle peacefully in the international cultural and economic environment.