Latin American Art Hasn’t ‘Matured,’ Sotheby’s Just Needs More Contemporary Artists

This commentary on the Sotheby's inclusion of Latin American art in its Contemporary sales is available to AMMpro subscribers. Monthly subscriptions come with a free first month grace period. Subscribers are welcome to sign up for the service and cancel at any time before they are billed.

Artnet covered Sotheby's announcement that Contemporary Latin American art would be sold in the auction house's Contemporary art sales with a headline that exclaimed the move was, "signalling the sector's maturity."

The move recognizes the growing audience and appetite for work by Latin American artists and comes at a time when collectors and museums alike are beginning to seamlessly integrate Latin American work into their postwar art collections.

While the quote is undoubtedly true and has been part of a longer-term trend in the art market, the idea that Latin American art has matured is dismissive of, and condescending to, a broad range of artists who have been at the forefront of the art world for half a century.

There's also something else entirely taking place here. And it is all about the Contemporary art market. Let's take a step back.