US art market overtakes China’s as contemporary art boom signals a ‘historic development in art history’

US$110m sale of Basquiat painting in New York in May was one sign of a change in attitudes towards contemporary art, while the US pipped China in total turnover for the first half of the year, according to report from Artprice

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A Sotheby’s official with “Untitled”, the 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat that sold for US$110.5 million in May, setting a new auction record for the US artist. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:34pm, 7 Aug 2017Updated: 5:31pm, 9 Aug 2017

The art market is entering a “new era of prosperity” driven for the first time by rising prices for contemporary art, according to a report by Artprice, the world’s biggest art market index.

The US$110.5 million paid for a painting in May by the black New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat at a Sotheby’s sales was no flash in the pan, Artprice says.

Japanese billionaire pays US$110m for Basquiat painting, a record for a US artist

The stratospheric price “illustrates a profound change in market attitudes”, it says in its half-year report, and shows that “collectors are now perfectly willing to pay equivalent sums for contemporary and historical masterpieces alike”.

Basquiat, who began as a graffiti artist and died at 27 from a heroin overdose, is now the sixth most expensive artist ever.

He has joined a very select club of greats including Picasso, Francis Bacon, Modigliani, Giacometti and Edvard Munch whose work has sold for more than US$110 million.

“The new era of prosperity that the art market has entered is, for the first time in history, driven by contemporary art,” the report adds. “This represents a historic development in art history and an undeniable indicator of art market confidence in living artists.”