Art News

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$25 Billion and Counting. By Eileen Kinsella. Art News. May 2008. 

excerpted text:

"Auction sales are what one dealer calls the 'visible part of the iceberg'. But how big is the rest of it? According to dealers, auction house experts , and other advisers, the private art market is exponentially larger - fueled by increasing demand from Russia, Asia, the Middle East, and other emerging markets."(Eileen Kinsella)

'Christie's and Sotheby's, which dominate the global auction business, reported more than $12 billion in combined sales last year. Christie's said that about four-fifths, or slightly more than $5 billion, of its $6.3 billion total came from fine-art sales." (Eileen Kinsella)

'It's impossible to know how big the private art market is. I would estimate that it's two to three times the auction market" (Arne Glimcher, Chairman of Pace Wilderstein)

"Hardly anyone spends $50 million on artwork and stops buying" (Arne Glimcher)

"In our view, the art business and the number of people around the world who buy works of art will continue to grow exponentially." (Marc Porter, President of Chritie's Americas)

"The United States has retained its leading share of the market over the past ten years." (TEFAF Report)

"One of the most significant developments in terms of market share has been the rise of China, now ' the world's fourth largest global art market, with 5 percent of world sales by value'". (Eileen Kinsella)

'These works can freely circulate, and this is incredibly important. Many people who bought Old Masters have switched to buying contemporary art". (Jonathan Mennell, Founder and Director of Sotheby's Rome).  

"Top collectors from the United Arab Emirates, Beirut, Jordan, and other Gulf states know most of the galleries in Dubai. They tend to focus on Arab art or art from the Gulf region, Iran, Lebanon." (John Martin, Director of Art Dubai Fair)

"What the auctions do for us is really solidify prices. It's much easier when there is some public record." (David Zwirner, New York dealer)

"When demand for an artist is so intense that there are gallery waiting lists, a 'premature secondary market' can develop, particularly at auction, with prices skewed to the high end" (Neal Meltzer, art adviser)