Karolina Prawdzik was kind enough to assemble these charts of the New York September Contemporary art sales over the last seven years. You might think of these charts as a boom-t-boom analysis of the mid-season sales. But something broader has been happening in the Contemporary art market. We have not returned to the peak years of 2007. Instead, we’re seeing an expansion of the Contemporary art market across the calendar.
The mid-seasons were formerly a different category of material. Now they’ve become an alternative window for works that could easily be sold during the art fair sales in October and March.
Across the board, there’s steady growth. Sotheby’s sale of the Joni Gordon estate had a strong effect on the overall volume there and the average price. We will have to wait until next year to see if these sales attract more single-owner collections or other featured lots.