The Art Market 2023 – A Year in Review

• Analyst: Lindsay Dewar
• Pages: 26
• Access: Analyst

Lower sales value, but higher volume, as more buying activity takes place at the lower end of the market

It was always going to be a challenging task to match or exceed last year’s record auction sales, particularly as both economic and geo-political headwinds have continued throughout 2023. The auction sales results for Old Masters, Impressionist, Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips, ended up at $5.76 billion in 2023, down 27% from 2022 and 12% lower than 2021, but 5.8% higher than 2019.  The weaker results this year has largely been driven by a 30% fall in the number of $10m+ lots entering the market in 2023. However, the lower end of the market remained very active, with a 18% increase in the number of artworks sold below $50,000 this year.

We are delighted to present ArtTactic’s The Art Market 2023 – an annual review that captures some of the key art market trends and moments over the last 12 months. In this report we take a close look at the global auction market in 2023 and some of the key trends emerging across different artist generations.

This analysis is based on auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips between 2016 and 2023. The analysis covers Old Masters, Impresssionist, Modern, Post-War and Contemporary auction sales in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris, Milan, Shanghai and Singapore. Our definition of artists’ categories are defined by the artist’s birth date. Old Masters (pre-1819), Impressionist (1820 – 1879), Modern (1880 – 1909), Post-War (1910 – 1929), Contemporary (1930 – 1977) and Young Contemporary (1978 Onwards).