The best results over the summer holidays

During the summer, the art market was still active: more than 60,000 artworks found buyers during your vacations! Discover which countries hosted sales and which artists caught the eyes of buyers.

The months of July and August often see a slowdown in the art auction market, with an offer reduced by half compared with peak periods. Nevertheless, between 1 July and 15 August 2024, Artprice recorded more than 60,000 artworks sold around the world, an impressive average of 10,000 lots per week! The art market was thus able to maintain real momentum, especially in Europe and the United States, where several new records were hammered.

Summary

1. The most dynamic countries during the summer months
2. Is the market more affordable than usual?
3. The three best results include two new auction records
4. Focus on Titian’s record work

1. The most dynamic countries of the summer: a quick look at the market leaders

The United States, the United Kingdom and France stand out as the summertime champions. These three nations dominated the market, accounting for well over half of the global transactions.

More than a quarter of the lots were sold in the United States, another quarter in Europe and almost 20% in the UK. In contrast, the Chinese market posted a much less dynamic level of art market activity.

Italy also posted an excellent level of activity with 4,000 lots and it hammered a new world record for Kurt SELIGMANN thanks to a Surrealist work titled Game of Chance No.2, which fetched $622,000 at Wannenes in Milan against a high estimate almost ten times lower!

Remember… 2024 marked the centenary of the Surrealist Manifesto, an excellent opportunity for buyers and sellers of historical Surrealist art.
 

2. Is the market more affordable than usual?

This summer, only thirteen works crossed the million-dollar threshold, and most of these were hammered in Christie’s and Sotheby’s London sales of Old Masters at the beginning of July. Other 7-digit results were nevertheless achieved for works by Amedeo MODIGLIANI and Yayoi KUSAMA in India, ZAO Wou-Ki in China, and Brett WHITELEY in Australia.

After the excitement of the London sales, the high-end market entered a dormant mode, while tens of thousands of works were accessible for prices under $5,000, notably in online sales where the bidding is spread over several days, providing time to adjust bids.

Distribution of works sold this summer by price range:

• Under $5,000: 89%
• Between $5,000 and $50,000: 9%
• Over $50,000: 1.4%

With 89% of lots selling at prices under $5,000, the auction market was proportionately more affordable during the summer than during the rest of the year. Drawings, prints, photographs and paintings were all offered and there was even an NFT, Holiday Romance !#5 (2024) by Roope RAINISTO, which fetched $4,410 at Christie’s.

Distribution of lots sold by category between 1 July and 15 August 2024:

• Painting: 40%
• Print: 25%
• Drawing: 20%
• Sculpture: 8%
• Photography: 2.5%

3. The three best results of the summer included two new records

The summer saw several record art auction results in London. At the beginning of July, London’s Old Masters sales constituted one of the highlights of the year, hence the presence of museum quality works worth over 10 million dollars.

Christie’s dominated the results, fetching two new auction records. The star of the sales was a rare and early work by TITIAN, titled The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, painted when the artist was in his twenties.

Selling for $22.2 million, this work far exceeded the low estimate of three million dollars and established a new record for the artist, surpassing the $16.9 million obtained in 2011 for Sacred Conversation at Sotheby’s in New York.

Another remarkable result was hammered when the Getty Museum submitted enthusiastic bidding to acquire a masterpiece by Quentin METSYS for more than $13 million, shattering the Flemish painter’s previous record of $1.9 million set four years ago at Lempertz in Germany.

The famous The Madonna of the Cherries had already been the subject of an auction at Christie’s in 2015 when it reached $391,000 even though it was then considered a ‘workshop’ painting.

Now authenticated as an original work by Metsys, its spectacular rise in value proves the potential of the Old Masters art market where masterpieces are constantly being rediscovered.

4. Focus on Titian’s record work

Titian, a prodigy of Italian painting at the beginning of the 16th century, painted Rest during the flight into Egypt when he was in his twenties.

Young, but already a visionary, he revolutionized painting by introducing a naturalist dimension into the heart of a religious subject, a completely innovative audacity for the time.

This painting is not only exceptional in its historical importance, it is also extremely rare on the auction market.

But the history of this work is just as fascinating. Stolen in the 1990s from the 4th Marquess of Bath, Rest during the flight into Egypt was found by an art detective seven years later, hidden in a bag at a bus stop in southwest London. An incredible adventure, which adds a captivating dimension to this artistic treasure!