With both evening sales over, the overall news for the art market is positive–at least as far as the Impressionist and Modern market is concerned. With a combined total for the Evening sales of £96m, the Winter 2009 season holds the sale volume above the 2005 high water mark.

Far more important as far as the overall market is concerned, average prices actually rose for the Evening sale year over year. This chart shows the average price for the last 11 sales. Focusing on the Winter sales, one can see a consistent positive trend line since the Winter 2005 sales.

(All figures are in £)