Market trends since last summer

The structure of the world’s art market has continued to mutate over the last 12 months or so. Though the climate that offers little prospect of growth, a few countries have been able to grab market share. A drift away from the US and towards France and the UK was first apparent in 2001, and has continued unabated in the last year.

Art market overview weights countriesAuction sales turnover July 1st 2002 – June 30th 2003 / wieght by country The US hosted just 40.9% of the global art market’s turnover in the year to 30 June 2003. This is a 3 percentage point fall on the previous year and a 7 point fall since the euro was launched. US auction sales were down by 23% on the previous year as volume sales slumped by 31%. May’s evening sales of impressionists brought in USD 100 million less than last year. And the top-grossing auction so far this year is Christie’s contemporary art sale on May 14, where USD 62 million (EUR 54 million) went under the hammer. (see ArtMarketInsight May, 21 2003).

The US’s closest rival, the UK, captured 31.5% of global market turnover in the same period, 26,000 lots knocked down for a total of EUR 700 million. But EUR 70 million of this came from the one-off record sale of Peter Paul Rubens’ Massacre des Innocents, and we expect the UK’s market share to dip somewhat once this bid slips out of the yearly comparison base. Rubens apart, London’s most successful sale was Sotheby’s GBP 33 million (EUR 47 million) auction, held on June 23 2003.(see ArtMarketInsight July, 22 2003).

France, the third-largest market, with 10% of the global auction market, has consolidated its position by being one of the few countries to maintain its sales. Turnover at auction over the last 12 months was unchanged on the preceding twelve months at EUR 223 million, but this is still a considerable gain on the less than 7% that France commanded before the auction reforms. By opening up, the Paris market has put itself in the spotlight again. Top lots in the last few months were the modernist works taken from the Breton inheritance, sold for slightly over EUR 23 million at Calmels-Cohen.(see ArtMarketInsight April, 18 2003).

Outside the top three, a few other rankings have changed over the period. Switzerland was the world’s number six auction location in 2002, but has now dropped to number 11 with just 0.8% of the market. Heading in the other direction, Austria has climbed into the top ten and Italy has taken advantage of a weak German market to move up to fourth.