Global Art Market Resilient: Art Basel/UBS Release Annual Report

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The art market has again bucked the trend remaining buoyant throughout the post-pandemic fiscal year. This was sighted in the 2022 Art Basel/UBS report released today. Read The Full Report Below.

The Art Market 2023 reveals the continued growth and resilience of the global art market in 2022, with sales exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

The seventh edition of The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report provides a comprehensive macroeconomic analysis of the state of the global art market in 2022. In addition, the Art Market 2023 looks closely at how the lingering effects of the pandemic continue to affect the market and forecasts critical trends for the year ahead. The Art Market 2023 is written by cultural economist Dr Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, and published by Art Basel and UBS.

Key findings of The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report include:

Global Sales: Global art sales continued upward, with 2022 increasing 3% year-on-year to an estimated $67.8 billion, bringing the market higher than its pre-pandemic level in 2019. However, performance varied by sector, region, and price segments, resulting in a more muted growth overall compared to 2021. One of the main drivers of growth in values across all sectors in 2022 continued to be sales at the high end of the market. The volume of transactions recorded very minimal growth of 1%, with the rise mainly coming from more dealer sales.

Art Basel 2023 Photo © Artlyst
Art Basel 2023 Photo © Artlyst

Leading Markets: The US retained its leading position in the global art market, with its share of sales by value increasing 2% year-on-year to 45%. The UK overtook China to move back into second place with 18% of sales, while China’s share decreased from 3% to 17%. France maintained its position as the fourth largest market globally with no adjustment to its global share of 7%.

The US has seen the most robust recovery from the pandemic of all the major art markets, with growth continuing in 2022 and sales recording an 8% uplift year-on-year to their highest-ever level of $30.2 billion. This growth was buoyed by a significant increase in the auction sector’s high-end and moderate dealer sales growth.

Despite another year of intense political and financial concerns, the UK maintained a stable growth momentum, recording a moderate rise of 5% to $11.9 billion. However, despite this growth, sales remained below their pre-pandemic level in 2019 of $12.2 billion.

After a strong recovery in 2021, Mainland China and Hong Kong reported a significantly more challenging year in 2022, with a steep decline in sales of 14% year-on-year. At $11.2 billion, sales in the region were still 13% above 2020 but their second-lowest level since 2009.

Dealer Figures: Dealer sales reached an estimated $37.2 billion in 2022, a 7% increase year-on-year, restoring the market to its value before the pandemic in 2019. Surveys of the sector revealed that dealers with the highest turnovers of over $10 million saw some of the most significant increases in average sales (at 19%),

While the smallest businesses struggled due to price-conscious and cautious buyers, escalating costs, and more stagnant sales, including a decline of 3% for those with a turnover of less than $250,000, the share of sales to new buyers declined in 2022 for all dealers with a turnover of more than $500,000.

Action Figures: While 2022 was headlined by solid sales in the auction sector, with many record prices achieved at the upper end, away from these headlines, overall figures were much more subdued. Total sales conducted by auction houses, including public and private sales, were estimated to have reached $30.6 billion, down 2% from the previous year ($31.2 billion in 2021) but still 11% higher than pre-pandemic 2019. Sales in the public auction sector dipped slightly by 1% to $26.8 billion, with growth mainly confined to the high-end of the market. In the fine art auction market, sales of works priced over $10 million increased by 12%, while virtually all other price segments experienced a drop in value year-on-year in 2022. With a much fuller auction calendar absorbing supply and some strong sales at the high end of the dealer sector, private sales also declined to just under $3.8 billion. The US, China, and the UK remained the dominant auction markets, with a combined share of 76% of public auction sales by value, stable in 2021.

NFTs: Following a surge of popularity in 2021 with sales of close to $2.9 billion, the frenzy surrounding art-related NFTs fell significantly in 2022. Sales on NFT platforms outside the art market fell to just under $1.5 billion, a decline of almost 50% year-on-year, although still over 70 times their level in 2020. Overall, the decrease in the value of sales of art-related NFTs was more significant than any other segment of NFTs, with art sales accounting for only 8% of sales on the Ethereum network in 2022 (compared to 24% in 2020). With significantly less focus on escalating prices and financial returns, attention in the art market has shifted to the longer-term impact of blockchain applications for the art trade and beyond.

Online Sales: As the event-driven market resumed its more regular schedule in 2022, both dealers and auction houses reported a further reduction in the

Share of their sales accounted for by e-commerce in 2022. Following two years of unprecedented growth, online-only sales fell to $11 billion in 2022, a 17% decline year-on-year from their peak of $13.3 billion in 2021, although still 85% higher than in 2019. Online-only sales accounted for 16% of the art market’s turnover in 2022, down from the peak of 25% in 2020. However, despite this decline, the market has not reverted to its pre-pandemic division of online versus offline sales. It seems unlikely to shortly, given the investment the art trade has made in digital strategies and the increasing acceptance of e-commerce by collectors.

Art Fairs: Fairs returned in force in 2022, with collector travel picking up and galleries exhibiting at the same number of fairs as in 2019 on average. Sales at in-person art fairs rose significantly from 27% of total dealers’ sales in 2021 to 35% in 2022, though still below pre-pandemic levels of 42% in 2019. Most prominent dealers reported the most significant shares, including 40% for those turning over more than $10 million, with the majority at international fairs. Just over half (51%) of dealers predicted fair art sales would increase (down from 65% in 2021), 13% expected a decline, and the remaining 36% thought they would remain stable.

Outlook: Looking forward to 2023, 45% of dealers expected an improvement in sales, with 10% predicting a significant improvement. Maintaining relationships with existing collectors, attending art fairs, and online sales remain the top priorities for dealers in the next five years, with the need to widen the geographical reach of their client base in close fourth position as a future priority. In the auction sector, surveys of mid-tier businesses revealed that 48% Forecasted improvement in their sales, 24% predicted a downturn, and 60% expected their online sales to increase. In comparison, only 4% anticipate a decline. Most (77%) HNW collectors likewise remained optimistic about the outlook for the global art market, and a majority (55%) planned to buy art in 2023, including shares as high as 65% in significant art markets such as the US.

Clare McAndrew, Founder of Arts Economics, said: ‘After two years of disruption from the global pandemic, 2022 started as the first year of a more regular momentum for art market sales and activities. The year was marked by exceptional sales in both the auction and the dealer sectors; however, performance varied significantly across regions and value segments, resulting in more muted growth overall. Businesses at the higher end performed significantly better than the rest of their peers, creating a denser concentration at the top and leaving hierarchies unchanged. The post-pandemic art market has significantly changed in other ways, though. New working practices have emerged after the crisis, boundaries between traditionally distinct segments have continued to blur, and there has been an accelerated shift to online sales, which, despite moderating in 2022, appears to have permanently settled at a higher level alongside the enthusiastic return to a fuller schedule of events.’

Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, said: ‘The global art market continued to grow in 2022, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. This was largely catalysed by the return of the event-driven cycle of art fairs, gallery openings, and auctions, as well as gains at the highest end of the value spectrum. Although ongoing economic and sociopolitical uncertainties and increased regulations on international trade pose challenges to the art business, and even though the overall shape of the market’s recovery has been uneven coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s report once again underlines the dynamism that continues to underpin the industry, as well as the resilient demand for art on a global basis.’

Paul Donovan, Chief Economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said: ‘While we continued to face economic challenges in 2022 with inflation staying high, rising interest rates and the fall of growth expectations, collectors demonstrated a steady pursuit for art with global sales up by 3%. The global art market proved its resilience. However, in the context of the global economy, 2023 will be a year of inflexions as we navigate turning points for inflation, interest rates, economic growth, and financial markets against a complex global geopolitical backdrop.’

Arts Economics is a research and consulting firm focused exclusively on research and analysis of the fine and decorative art market for private and institutional clients. The company was founded by Clare McAndrew in 2005. Dr McAndrew is a cultural economist specialising in the arts, antiques, and collectables markets. She completed her PhD in economics at Trinity College Dublin in 2001, where she also lectured and taught economics for four years. In 2002, Clare joined US firm Kusin & Company, a boutique investment banking firm specialising in art investment, as chief economist. After three years in the United States, Clare returned to Europe in 2005 and continued her work in the art market in a private research and consulting capacity for a global client base. She set up Arts Economics in 2005 to focus on art market research and analysis. She works with a network of private consultants and academic scholars in different regions worldwide, providing research and consulting services to the global art trade and financial sector.

About UBS and Contemporary Art

UBS has a long history of supporting contemporary art and artists. The firm has one of the world’s most influential corporate art collections. It seeks to advance the international conversation about the art market through its global lead partnership with Art Basel and as co-publisher of the ‘Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report.’ UBS also supports the world’s most important art institutions, events, and fairs. In addition, UBS provides its clients with insight into the art market, collecting, and legacy planning through its UBS Collectors Circle and UBS Art Advisory. For more information about UBS’s commitment to contemporary art, visit ubs.com/art.

Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique. It is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. In addition, art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art fairs through new digital platforms and several new initiatives such as the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report and Intersections: The Art Basel Podcast. For further information, please visit artbasel.com.

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