Brazilians heats up cautious global artwork market
Brazilian collectors are leading in artwork purchases in 2024, according to an Art Basel and UBS report, which surveyed over 3,660 high-net-worth individuals from 14 markets. The country was also among the most active in the number of transactions in the past two years.
Shopping spree. Wealthy Brazilians bought an average of 15 artworks in the first half of 2024, while the global average was 11. That comes after purchasing an average of 17 works in both 2022 and 2023. This year, most purchases were over USD 100,000, including nine pieces of fine art.
- Brazilians seem to have concentrated their purchases in the first half of the year, however, with only 33 percent reporting further buying plans (as opposed to 70 percent in China, for instance).
- On average, Brazilian collectors have 39 artworks, smaller collections than their counterparts in the U.S. and Mexico.
State of play. The report describes the global art market this year as a “cautious buying environment” — attributed to an economic backdrop of high interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and trade fragmentation. The overall market dropped by 4 percent in 2023 to USD 65 billion.
Brazil. Tamara Perlman, a director at SP-Arte, which organizes Latin America’s biggest…
