Another year in the spotlight…

Contemporary art requires a different approach from Modern or Impressionist art.

Although the choice is colossal (Artprice counted 49,000 Contemporary artists on the auction market), the market still seems fi xated by the same signatures… particularly at its ultra-high end, where mimetism has a strong infl uence. In fact, the fi gures reveal an astonishing reality: 68% of global auction revenue from Contemporary art (totalling $1.2 billion) is generated by 100 artists and 35% by just ten artists. The price infl ation is thus continuing for the same ‘trophy’ signatures that inspire both generosity and ferocious competition in collectors.

Among the most remarkable examples in the past 12 months, Peter Doig’s new record for Swamped, which fetched $25.9 million in 2015 after $455,000 in 2002, and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Orange Sports Figure which fetched $8.8 million on 1 July 2015 at Sotheby’s after $66,000 at the beginning of the 1990s¹.

Moreover, 18% of global auction turnover from Contemporary art was generated by three artists! The leading triumvirate has remained unchanged for three consecutive years: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Christopher Wool and Jeff Koons (in descending order). In fact the insolent health of the New York market is largely underpinned by the turnover generated by these three artists who account for roughly half the total US turnover from Contemporary art. In the 12-month period under study, the triumvirate generated $320.5 million², i.e. nearly ten times the total amount invested in Contemporary art in France over the same period ($35.6 million).

The only difference this year is the remarkable ascension of Christopher Wool, whose turnover doubled compared with the previous 12-month period, overtaking Jeff Koons by $37million and posting a new auction record just under $30 million³. Christopher Wool is also the top-ranked living artist in the Contemporary art turnover ranking. However, Gerhard Richter (born in 1932, and therefore not “Contemporary”) is still the strongest living artist in the world in terms of auction turnover⁴.

During our reference period, 16 works of Contem-porary art changed hands for sums above $10million⁵. In this price range it’s not surprising to find the artists who were already generating 8-digit results the previous year, i.e. the leading trio of Basquiat, Wool and Koons. There are two very strong newcomers: Peter Doig and Martin Kippenberger ⁶, the only artists to cross the $20 million threshold this year. Indeed, Peter Doig and Martin Kippenberger are both on a strong auction price ascent.

There was also another newcomer to the $10 million class who deserves mention: Yang Yan, a Chinese artist born in 1958, whose price index crossed another threshold this year when a set of 18 monumental drawings fetched $10.7 million⁷. So far, Yang Yan has not reached Western auction rooms, but he amply illustrates the vitality of the Chinese market for masterpieces (relatively few last year), as well as the repositioning of Chinese buyers onto ink drawings.