Clare McAndrew teases the high points of her TEFAF Art Market Report in The Art Newspaper. Her conclusion? Art is tied to economic growth around the world. Though when she talks about polarization, only one pole is mentioned:

Poor and variable economic growth along with political uncertainties encouraged investors to retreat to the safest and most low-risk areas of many asset markets over the past year, such as bonds and blue-chip stocks. In the art market, this was exemplified by cautious buying and selling in many areas leading to a strong polarisation of the market, with the best performance seen at the top end of the best quality works and the most well known artists.

US Retakes Top Spot in Art Sales from China (The Art Newspaper)