Apparently Clare McAndrew’s annual report on the art market was published over the weekend by TEFAF. Although there is no link to the report itself on TEFAF’s site, the fair does publish some key points from the report, including the information that sales rose 7% in 2011 to €46.1bn (which is still 4% below the peak of 2007):
∎ The art market grew over 575% from its lowest point in 1991 (just under US$10 billion) to its highest in 2007 (US$66 billion/€48.1 billion).
∎ The Modern and Contemporary sectors combined to account for nearly 70% of the fine art market. Both continued a strong recovery in 2011, leading them to levels in excess of the boom of 2007-2008.
∎ The Chinese art and antiques auction sector was the strongest growing market worldwide with a dramatic rise of 177% in 2010 and a further 64% in 2011.
∎ The global art market continued to recover in 2011, increasing by 7% to €46.1 billion, an increase of 63% since the market crisis of 2009. The volume of transactions also increased by 5% to 36.8 million.
∎ China overtook the US for the first time in 2011 to become the largest art and antiques market worldwide with a share of 30% based on both auction and dealer sales.
China Overtakes US to Become World’s Largest Art and Antiques Market (TEFAF.com)