Last updated on September 9th, 2024 at 03:45 pm
The current UBS Art Basel Report, written by cultural economist Clare McAndrew, contains a number of unexpectedly positive conclusions concerning the global art market and various degrees of national, post-pandemic revival.
While the art market in China was hit with lockdown-related pressures like cancelled sales and events, the data shows that the U.S. art market, in particular, has fared relatively well, as has the U.K.’s, which some may find surprising given all the talk of Brexit-related volatility and uncertainty in recent years.
Christl Novakovic, CEO of UBS Europe SE and head of wealth management for Europe, said that in 2022, “despite severe economic uncertainty and the return of war to Europe,” the art market “held onto its post-pandemic rebound and strengthened further.” Despite the economic downturn, art collectors remained dedicated to making purchases and attending shows, auctions, and fairs. When asked about the robustness of the art market in the wake of the pandemic, Novakovic said, “This cautious growth in the face of deep uncertainty is testimony to the strength of the post-pandemic art market and reason to believe in its resilience.”
McAndrew looked at NFTs (nonfungible tokens) for the second year in a row, using statistics provided by NonFungible.com, in addition to the normal breakdowns of auction sales, dealer sales, and leaders by area.
“In an ever more quantified, yet also the ever more complex world,” Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz wrote in an essay accompanying the report, “the merits of data-driven analytics in supplying transparency in the art market are paramount,” and “this latest report provides a clear view on how the industry has fared.”
According to the report, in 2019, worldwide art sales rose by 3 per cent to an estimated $67.8 billion, surpassing the market’s pre-pandemic high. Results were more variable in 2022, with variances in performance by sector, area, and price groups leading to more restrained growth after a robust 31% rebound from the low point in 2020.
In 2022, affluent consumers remained the market’s primary growth catalyst. At $26.8 billion, public auction sales are down 1% from a year ago. Only the category of works selling for more than $10 million increased, perhaps due to auctions like Paul Allen’s at Christie’s, which set new records. The dealer industry grew by 7%, reaching $37.2 billion, with higher-end dealers experiencing much more substantial sales growth than their lower-end counterparts.
The United States’ share of global sales by value remained at a dominant 45 per cent, up 2 per cent from the previous year. With 18% of sales, the United Kingdom has reclaimed the number two position, pushing China down to third place, down 3%. France is still in fourth place, although several galleries, including those from the United States, have opened locations there recently. Riding the wave of success from 2021, the country hit a new high of $5 billion in 2022, despite the decline in the euro’s value. 2022 also marked the first year of Art Basel’s Paris+ fair. Overall, the European Union grew by 5% from the previous year, reaching an estimated $8.8 billion in growth.
Sales in the United Kingdom increased by 5% in 2022, reaching $11.9 billion, despite a year of heavy economic and political difficulties. Although sales were lower in 2021 than in 2019, they were still higher than in the years before the pandemic.
Lockdowns slowed down activity, and sales and events were reduced or cancelled, making 2022 a far worse year for all of China, including Mainland China and Hong Kong. Despite 2021’s encouraging rebound, annual sales fell 14% to $11.2 billion, besting 2020’s total by a slim margin but still marking the market’s lowest levels since 2009.
Collectors revived their interest in in-person events and purchases last year, leading to a surge in the number and frequency of exhibitions, auctions, and fairs. It’s no surprise that e-commerce declined in 2022, as both retailers and auction houses noted: At $11 billion, online-only sales are 17% lower than their all-time high in 2021 but 85% higher than in 2019. The share of worldwide retail e-commerce, which remained at 20 per cent in 2022, was 4 per cent higher than the share of online sales in the art market, which was 16 per cent that year, down from a peak of 25 per cent in 2020.
According to the report, sales of art-related NFTs on platforms outside of the art industry peaked in 2021 at nearly $2.9 billion and have since dropped to just under $1.5 billion, a decrease of 49 per cent year over year. Sales dropped, although they were still more than 70 times higher than in 2020 (just over $20 million). Although art-related NFTs experienced a larger decline in value than other categories, they still only accounted for 8% of NFT sales on the Ethereum network in 2022. According to the paper, downloaded from Art Basel’s website, the conversation around blockchain uses in the art market has turned from short-term price increases and speculation to the technology’s potential long-term effects.
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