In 2023, auction sales of works of art worldwide reached $14.9 billion, a drop of 14% compared to 2022. The results of the annual report of the company Artprice, published this Wednesday 6 March, is still positive: the art market is running at full speed, particularly for female artists, mainly thanks to online sales, which have set a record.
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While auction sales are falling for most countries, China is an exception. It is the only country among the first five powers of the art market – which total 89% of the global result – to record an increase. However, the American market remains the leader with more than five billion dollars in sales, ahead of China and the United Kingdom, closely followed by India.
At the same time, the annual report emphasizes the performances of women artists. The number of transactions involving them has tripled in ten years. Furthermore, for the second year in a row, the Japanese visual artist Yayoi Kusama ranks among the ten most successful artists in the world, all periods of creation combined – right between René Magritte and Gustav Klimt.
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Rise of digital
The art market has shifted to the internet, with a 285% increase in online transactions. Since the pandemic, dematerialization has accelerated, with Covid-19 helping to considerably expand the circle of buyers. The latter, whose average age has fallen from 60 to 40, prefer online auctions, to the detriment of in-person sales which are doomed to disappear.
Another notable phenomenon: the return of NFT certificates, these kinds of titles of ownership of digital works of art. After recording a spectacular fall in 2022 following the crash of cryptocurrencies, this NFT market rebounded to reach $23 million, an increase of 64%.
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