Introducing the Intelligence Report: Mid-Year Review 2024

What are the signs that we’re in a market reset?

It might be that Art Basel swapped its free champagne for a pop-up gift shop, or that fewer private jets clogged the airways above Monaco during the principality’s Art Week. Despite stock market highs, the wealthy are tightening their Hermès belts. And that’s a clear clue that the reset has begun.

Punishing interest rates, ongoing geopolitical tremors, and the melodrama of a U.S. presidential election have collectors rethinking their splurges. The primary market feels overpriced, driving bargain hunters to auctions—yet even there, sales are down by a staggering 29 percent.

This mid-year edition of the Intelligence Report dives deep into the market effects and responses to this unsettled and unsettling time.

Katya Kazakina’s investigation is a must-read, chronicling the sharp drop in resale values for once-coveted works. Her data-driven narrative reveals a market in free fall, with speculators fleeing the scene and galleries shuttering or scrambling to adapt. Kazakina surveys innovative responses across the industry, like fresh sales tactics, a new spirit of collaboration, and a slowdown in production. Everyone is thinking about how to remain afloat amid strong currents of change.

Elsewhere in this issue, Eileen Kinsella talks to Sotheby’s rainmaker Phyllis Kao, who shares how auction houses are navigating these choppy waters, as her house slashes buyer’s premiums and sets up shop in Hong Kong’s luxe Central district.

And in a joint effort with Morgan Stanley, we analyze the shifting landscapes in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Paris over the past decade, as auction houses and other market players have coped with a world in upheaval.

Margaret Carrigan brings it all together, offering a no-nonsense breakdown of auction stats and trends. Her insights cut through the spin, delivering the cold, hard facts you need to stay ahead.

In a reset like this, there’s a silver lining: true aficionados now have a chance to reconnect with art’s intrinsic value. But, as always, be ready to adjust your sails—these waters are anything but steady.

—Naomi Rea, Editor-in-Chief of Artnet News

Marketplace

– By the Numbers: Ready, set, reset.

– Zero to Hero: All of the sudden, these artists are making waves in the market.

– Top Searched Artists: Which stars are rising? Which are dimming?

– The Best-Seller Lists: Experts analyze the trophy lots across six categories.

Art Market Reset: Riding the Waves of Change
by Katya Kazakina

As secondary prices slump and galleries shutter, some are fleeing the market. But other brave souls are rethinking how they do business.

Five Questions With…
by Naomi Rea, Eileen Kinsella, and Annie Armstrong

– Clément Delépine dishes on Art Basel’s big bet on Paris, and offers advice for applicants.

– Phyllis Kao reveals how Sotheby’s is dealing with the downturn, and discusses her newfound fame.

– Sarah Calodney talks up the advantages of collaboration, and urges her peers to consider cultivating new markets.

Data Dive
by Margaret Carrigan

– Lifting the curtain on what really happened in the art market this year.

– Which segments of the market are holding strong—and which are shrinking.

– Who are today’s most bankable artists?

A Tale of Four Cities
by Artnet News and Morgan Stanley

The past decade has seen massive shifts in auction business in four key cities—London, Paris, Hong Kong, and New York. What does the data say? And what is next for those metropolises?

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