ArtPrice has released it’s annual Contemporary art report showing a dramatic rise in the first half of 2013 for auction sales of Contemporary art. That’s overall sales volume. Other charts in their report show the price levels to be below the 2008 peak which suggests a market with more transactions. In other words, a broadening market rather than just one increasing in price.
Below is their list of the top 50 Contemporary artists. You’ll notice that Richter is not on this list because ArtPrice uses artists born after 1945 as their definition of Contemporary as opposed to PostWar art.