Displaying items by tag: global art market

Gagosian, one of the world's leading art dealerships, is opening a new gallery in London's smart Mayfair district, its third outpost in the British capital and its 15th worldwide.

With the global art market rising 7 percent in 2014 to some 51 billion euros ($57.74 billion), according to a report by the European Fine Art Foundation, there is more and more competition among top end galleries.

New industry figures have revealed that the international art market has grown by 17% to $7 billion in the first six months of 2014. The French company Artprice stated that art sold at the major auction houses have totalled $7.15 billion ($5.22 billion euros). This has increased from the $6.11 billion figures crunched in the first half of 2013.

Thierry Ehrmann, from Artprice stated, "We have gone from 500,000 collectors in the post-war period to nearly 70 million 'art consumers' art lovers and collectors -- worldwide," he added; 2013 was a record year for art with sales worth $12.17 billion following a drop in 2012 linked to a contraction in the Chinese market. Ehrmann said museums and art centres, both public and private, were springing up all over the world, in particular in the Asia Pacific region and to a lesser extent in South America and the Middle East.

According to a report by Arts Economics, global sales of art and antiquities fetched $65.9 billion in 2013, an annual growth of 8 percent. The report, which was published by the European Fine Art Foundation in Maastricht, Netherlands, showed that the global art market is almost on par with the pre-recession years.

The sale of postwar and contemporary artworks has increased by 11 percent from 2012, led mainly by sales in the United States, which increased by 25 percent in 2013. Last year, astronomical auction records were set for Andy Warhol ($105.4 million), Francis Bacon ($142.4 million), and Roy Lichtenstein ($56.1 million). The report solidified the U.S.’ role as the international art market leader, representing 38 percent of the market by volume, a 5 percent increase from 2012.

China accounted for 24 percent of the market, a slight decline from 2012, while the U.K. represented 20 percent.