Seven in ten of the top 100 contemporary artists now have a gallery in Los Angeles. In 2000, one in ten did
Share of the artists on two rankings whose gallery had a space open in Los Angeles at the end of each year (2026: on October 3)
- Top 100 contemporary artists (Hiscox)
- Top-selling modern and contemporary artists (Artprice100)
0%20%40%60%80%71%46%
The numbers
| Year | Top 100 contemporary artists (Hiscox) | Top-selling modern and contemporary artists (Artprice100) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 11% | 13% |
| 2001 | 12% | 14% |
| 2002 | 12% | 14% |
| 2003 | 13% | 15% |
| 2004 | 14% | 15% |
| 2005 | 14% | 15% |
| 2006 | 17% | 18% |
| 2007 | 17% | 18% |
| 2008 | 18% | 18% |
| 2009 | 19% | 19% |
| 2010 | 20% | 18% |
| 2011 | 22% | 19% |
| 2012 | 25% | 20% |
| 2013 | 25% | 21% |
| 2014 | 26% | 21% |
| 2015 | 27% | 21% |
| 2016 | 32% | 31% |
| 2017 | 33% | 31% |
| 2018 | 35% | 31% |
| 2019 | 40% | 32% |
| 2020 | 40% | 32% |
| 2021 | 45% | 31% |
| 2022 | 52% | 40% |
| 2023 | 66% | 45% |
| 2024 | 72% | 46% |
| 2025 | 72% | 46% |
| 2026 | 71% | 46% |
An artist is counted from the year they joined the gallery, or first showed with it, and not before it had a space here. Rosters are today’s, so an earlier gallery an artist has left is mostly not counted. Sources: Hiscox Artist Top 100 (2025 edition); Artprice100 (2025 composition, the 91 artists born since 1860); the galleries’ rosters as read in October 2026.
From the report
The rise of the Los Angeles art scene, in charts
Seventy-five years of the city’s art world, counted: the galleries that opened and closed, the square feet they filled, the museums built, the prices paid, and how many of the world’s top-selling artists now have a gallery here.
More from this report15
- Los Angeles in numbers, October 2026
- The Los Angeles art world, 1951 to 2026: 105 openings, closings, shows and sales
- Galleries from elsewhere in Los Angeles: one in 2009, 26 in 2024, 16 today
- Forty galleries, from the year each opened in Los Angeles to the year it closed
- The leading galleries’ floor space grew eightfold in 24 years, then fell by a seventh
- Hauser & Wirth’s flour mill is nearly four times the size of any other gallery in the city
- Gagosian alone represents more than a fifth of the top 100 contemporary artists
- How many of the top 100 contemporary artists had a solo show in Los Angeles each year
- Two of the three costliest museum buildings in the city’s history opened in 2026
- LACMA’s attendance doubled, then halved while it rebuilt
- Pacific Standard Time has more than doubled its audience in three editions
- The highest auction prices for artists of Los Angeles
- Frieze Los Angeles peaked at 124 galleries in 2023 and has settled near 100
- Frieze Los Angeles is about a third the size of the largest art fairs
- The Arts District has more galleries than any other part of Los Angeles