In 2024, the Top of the Art Auction Market Came Down to Earth
Looking back at this year’s biggest artwork sales, we saw comparatively modest prices for a modest market.
Staff members hold a painting by René Magritte, L’ami Intime (The Intimate Friend), during a photo call at Christie’s auction house.
Photographer: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future PublishingThere’s no sugarcoating it. However bad the art market was this year (and it was, by all accounts, pretty bad), the top of the auction market was worse. Whereas in previous years we saw a bevy of sales of individual works that easily cleared the $50 million mark (in 2023 there were at least 6, and the year before had at least 19), this year there were just 3. Across the board, the total value of the 10 most expensive artworks was down more than 22% from a year earlier and roughly 55% from 2022.
It’s tempting to dismiss the very peak of the market as a meaningless sideshow to the meat-and-potatoes business of art fairs and auctions and galleries. After all, no one looks to vintage Ferrari auctions for indicators about where global auto sales are going. And yet the art market is uniquely attuned to the vicissitudes of perception. No one needs a painting like they might need a car. Art is an entirely discretionary purchase reliant on taste, trends and desire. Sales beget more sales, and giant prices at auction undoubtedly have a halo effect, however unquantifiable that might be.