«I LIKE MONEY ON THE WALL»

Over the first six months of 2013, the U.S. art market generated some of the best auction results in its history, primarily through Post-War & Contemporary art sales. New York stands out as the absolute capital of the global high-end art market. Between 2007 and 2013, the world’s seven best-ever auction results in Contemporary art were all recorded in New York, and, not surprisingly, at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The two firms’ May sales are generally the most record-breaking events of the year (accounting for 5 of the 7 best results) despite the high quality of their November sessions. Between 2007 and 2012, the best sales turnover figures ranged from $294 million to €363 million; but on 15 May 2013, Christie’s buried the previous record by more than $130 million with a turnover figure of $495 million. 

Indeed that historic sale on 15 May 2013 clearly demonstrated how globalized demand on the high end of the art market is constantly pushing up the top limits: 94% of the lots sold (only 6% of the 70 lots offered were bought in) and 9 works sold above the $10 million threshold. These figures reflect not only the hegemony of the United States in terms of its sales strength at the high end of the market, but also the incredible capacity of the U.S. market share to constantly raise the value of its own artists: the top three auction results in 2013 were generated by Jackson POLLOCK, Roy LICHTENSTEIN and Jean-Michel BASQUIAT - each adding several million to their previous records. The top 3 results in 2012 gave a slightly more balanced picture of the art market’s global forces, rewarding works by the EuropeanEdvard MUNCH, the American Mark ROTHKO and the Chinese artist, Keran LI.

-Art Price