Almost half the artists of the smallest galleries are emerging. More than half of the largest dealers’ are established
The artists shown by dealers who sell new work, by the stage of their careers, by the dealers’ sales in the year, 2020
- Emerging
- Mid-career
- Established
The numbers
| Dealers’ sales in the year | Emerging | Mid-career | Established |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $250k | 48% | 35% | 17% |
| $250k–$500k | 39% | 38% | 23% |
| $500k–$1m | 41% | 39% | 20% |
| $1m–$10m | 29% | 42% | 29% |
| Over $10m | 18% | 28% | 54% |
The survey gives no definitions: each dealer placed its own artists in the three stages, and the report warns that a large dealer may call an artist emerging whom a small one would not. Source: The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2021 (Arts Economics), Fig. 2.15.
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
- Auction sales of new art peaked at $2.9 billion in 2021 and fell to $0.9 billion in 2025
- 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
- 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