In the United States, the Artprice Global Index is now higher than the peak of 1990

Artwork prices in New York are now higher than they were in 1990. Inflation in the New York art market has accelerated considerably over the last few months. After rising by 18.5% in 2004, prices have exploded by 41% since the beginning of the year. They are now 33% higher than the summer 1990 levels when the speculative bubble that had boosted the market finally peaked. A few months later, the bubble burst and prices fell by 38% between July 1990 and October 1993!

Following this recent surge, and whatever the category: Impressionists and Modern Art, Photography or Contemporary Art, sales organised in the United States have never been as profitable and records have been repeatedly broken.
Total proceeds from Fine Art public auctions in the United States over the first 11 months of the year have reached USD 1,635 million, i.e. USD 260 million more than 15 years ago. At the time, 223 art works were selling for more than a million dollars in New York, a first for the art market. This year, with one more month of sales left to go, 247 artworks have already hit this figure! The highest sales of the year include USD 20 million for Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s La blanchisseuse, USD 21,250,000 for Cubi XXVIII, a monumental sculpture by David Smith and the USD 24.5 million for Constantin Brancusi’s Oiseau dans l’Espace, an absolute record for a sculpture.

As prices are now higher than in 1990, many collectors are returning to the market with works they bought 15 years ago for prices that seemed outrageous at the time. Works on offer include a version of Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (1907), which was bought for USD 10.5 million in 1989 and found a buyer at USD 12.5 million in November. Another MONET, Le Grand Canal, sold for USD 11.5 million on 2 November, a million more than its previous selling price. A Maurice Utrillo lithograph entitled Pour le bal de l’A.A.A., sold for USD 9,000 in May 1990 and then for USD 22,500 last April. Ancient Scientist, a Jean-Michel Basquiat acrylic, which was bought in after a low estimate of USD 250,000 in 1990, went for USD 575,000 this year.

London has followed the trend with prices that average 20% higher than in July 1990 but prices in Paris are still almost 50% lower over the same period.