Thierry Ehrmann

5Contemporary art will always be the enfant terrible of the Art Market… constantly accused of speculation, inconsistency, lack of meaning and God knows what other sins.
Why so much animosity? Reality is so simple.

For nearly a century we have measured the level of market speculation by looking at the unsold rates at public sales. Unfortunately for the market’s critics, Artprice has calculated the current global unsold rate at 37%, corresponding to a high level of market selectiveness, i.e. an environment in which only irreproachable works find buyers.

In a speculative environment, the unsold rate drops because demand is so strong almost anything sells. This is definitely not the case today.

However, from a historical perspective, with the help of Artprice, one particularly remarkable fact concerning Contemporary art stands out: it is now the primary locomotive of the entire Art Market, a position previously occupied by Modern art.

Aside from this observation, the sociological relationship between Contemporary artists and the market has clearly changed, both on the production and the demand side, resulting in a much more mature market.

The clichéd notion of the ‘wretched’ artist living in poverty seems completely outdated and the old saying “only a dead artist is a good artist” is now itself a relic of the past. This ninth report (2014/2015) digs deep into the heart of these fascinating historical developments.Another observation worth celebrating is that Contemporary artists are again playing the role so well defined by the philosopher Giorgio Agamben: “A Contemporary artist is someone who accepts to look directly into the obscure beam of his era.”In the modern world’s standardised and globalised village, the Contemporary artist adds that extra depth of soul and breadth of consciousness that we are all constantly seeking.5