Auction sales of new art peaked at $2.9 billion in 2021 and fell to $0.9 billion in 2025
Postwar and contemporary works made in the previous twenty years sold at auction each year, in billions of dollars
$0.0bn$1.0bn$2.0bn$3.0bn$0.9bn
The numbers
| Year | Sales of works made in the previous 20 years |
|---|---|
| 2019 | $1.6bn |
| 2020 | $1.4bn |
| 2021 | $2.9bn |
| 2022 | $2.2bn |
| 2023 | $1.9bn |
| 2024 | $1.1bn |
| 2025 | $0.9bn |
Source: The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026 (Arts Economics), Fig. 3.22, from Winston Artory data.
From the report
From first show to mega-gallery, in charts
The 122 artists born since 1970 whom Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace and White Cube have signed since 2010, traced back to their first shows: who found them, who the mega-galleries took them from, how long the climb took, and what happened to the price of their work on the way up and since.
More from this report15
- From first show to mega-gallery, in numbers
- Their first solo shows were in 48 cities. Only 24 were in New York
- 21% of the artists’ first shows were at a gallery at Art Basel this year, against 54% of the galleries they joined a mega-gallery from
- A quarter of Gagosian’s younger artists came from other mega-galleries. A third of Pace’s came from galleries that closed
- Eight galleries each saw three or four of their artists go to a mega-gallery, and seventeen more saw two
- Of the artists signed since 2024, 20 of the 27 still have their old gallery too
- From first solo show to a mega-gallery took nine years at the median, and anything from none to 27
- Half the artists given a first show by a mega-gallery since 2011 were 47 or older. Ten were under 30
- The five signed 19 of these artists in 2022, the most in any year
- Anna Weyant’s prices rose 15-fold when she moved to Gagosian. Lauren Quin’s rose by a fifth
- A painting bought for $10,000 in 2016 sold at auction for $2.1m six years later
- Almost half the artists of the smallest galleries are emerging. More than half of the largest dealers’ are established
- The smallest galleries make 40% of their sales from a single artist
- Of artists whose first shows were at the most prestigious venues, 59% ended there. Of those who began at the least, 10% got there
- Twelve of the 37 artists in the mega-galleries’ solo shows this autumn have died