The Current State of the Art Market

Artworks going for $20 million plus comprised half of the art sold at auction between 2018 and 2022. This Botticelli, for example, sold for $92.2 million at Sotheby’s in London in 2021. Click here.

Auctions of modern and contemporary art continue to post record-breaking sales. When it comes to Old Masters, there are some record prices here and there. But at a recent auction at Sotheby’s, a third of the Old Master lots were left unsold, including a pair of small views of Venice by Canaletto, made towards the end of the 1720s. They were purchased for 2.1 million pounds (about $2.7 million), well under the guaranteed low estimate. Click here.