Lauren Quin, A Leaf Is Not An Arrow (2021). Courtesy of Sotheby's.
Lauren Quin, A Leaf Is Not An Arrow (2021). Courtesy of Sotheby's.

2022’s tempestuous economy was mirrored pretty directly in the art market. During other periods of fiscal duress—say, for example, the 2008 recession—the art market tends to maintain its singularity and thrive while other markets struggle. This was not one of those years. Despite Paul Allen‘s glittering treasures at Christie’s, the November auction season in New York was marked by a lack of fireworks, as most houses’ total take from their marquee auctions notched well below those of last year’s, and the once-booming Asian market for contemporary saw a 30% drop in sales during the auction season this summer. All this to say, it was a year of more considered activity and holding on to your assets. 

That’s not to say that the wheels ground to a full-on halt, though. According to internal data on the most-searched artists in Artnet’s Price Database, reliable names like Pablo Picasso and David Hockney are still obsessed over, interest in Jean-Michel Basquiat is waning, and the heat around a handful of hot, young artists is only ramping up. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

Lauren Quin

Lauren Quin, A Leaf Is Not An Arrow (2021). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

The 30 year-old abstract painter has been on a fast track since she graduated from Yale’s MFA program in 2019. Since then, her high-energy, kaleidoscopic paintings have become an auction smash, with paintings regularly sailing past their earnest estimates and bringing in six-figure sums (her current record is £441,000, or about $533,000, achieved at Phillips London). This year, the artist gained official representation from Blum & Poe, and had her first solo show with the Los Angeles gallery over the summer just before her first museum exhibition, at Kansas’ Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2021, the artist was not searched at all in the price database—but, tellingly, this year she had 730 searches, making her the most-searched name among those who also had zero searches last year. 

 

Albert Willem 

Albert Willem, The nightlife area 3 (2020). Courtesy of Dodd Waterhouse.

Albert Willem’s meteoric rise seems to have come out of nowhere, as even he admitted to Artnet News earlier this year, “This being the 21st century, a lot of crazy things happen in the world. I guess this is just another.” That crazy thing he’s referring to is his auction debut at Sotheby’s this year, where his kitschy painting Pilgrim Street 8 (2021) carried a $8,000-to-$12,000 estimate and sold for a staggering $69,000. The buck didn’t stop there, either. Of the 14 works that sold at auction this year by the Belgian painter, half have hammered for over $150,000 on estimates in the range of $10,000 to $15,000.

Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones, SMIIILLLLEEEE (2021). Photo: Eva Herzog. Courtesy of Thaddaeus Ropac.

Another standout from the list of artists who got zip searches in 2021 and hundreds of them in 2022 is British painter Rachel Jones. Aside from Albert Willem, all top five of the artists in this category are young female painters who deal in colorful abstraction (Lucy Bull and Antonia Showering also among them), Jones included. The artist, who is represented by Thaddaeus Ropac, uses abstraction to convey ideas of Black identity by way of elaborately composed mouths, teeth, and flowers. The artist graduated from the prestigious Royal Academy Schools in 2019, and since then, her work has been collected by the Tate, the ICA Miami, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. 

 

Doron Langberg

Doron Langberg, Joe and Edgar (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.

Don’t get it twisted: figuration is still hot, hot, hot. Israel-born, New York-based Doron Langberg is a new voice in the generation of figuration, and his depictions of queer intimacy are gaining popularity, putting his name in the same conversation with Jenna Gribbon, Lou Fratino, and Salman Toor. Langberg is another graduate of Yale’s MFA program, and his work is currently on view at the Rubell Museum, which is practically an honorary degree in its own right for emerging artists. The artist’s auction record was set this April at Phillips in London, with Amy in Her Studio selling for £164,000 (about $198,000 adjusted to current conversion rates) on its £30,000-to-£50,000 estimate.

 

1 Pablo Picasso Spanish Male 1881 1973
2 Andy Warhol American Male 1928 1987
3 Yayoi Kusama Japanese Female 1929
4 Marc Chagall French/Russian Male 1887 1985
5 David Hockney British Male 1937
6 Joan Miró Spanish Male 1893 1983
7 Gerhard Richter German Male 1932
8 Damien Hirst British Male 1965
9 Alexander Calder American Male 1898 1976
10 Keith Haring American Male 1958 1990
11 Roy Lichtenstein American Male 1923 1997
12 Jean-Michel Basquiat American Male 1960 1988
13 Banksy British Unknown 1974
14 Henri Matisse French Male 1869 1954
15 Yoshitomo Nara Japanese Male 1959
16 Salvador Dalí Spanish Male 1904 1989
17 Ed Ruscha American Male 1937
18 George Condo American Male 1957
19 Pierre-Auguste Renoir French Male 1841 1919
20 Lucio Fontana Argentine/Italian Male 1899 1968
21 Claude Monet French Male 1840 1926
22 Henry Moore British Male 1898 1986
23 Jean Dubuffet French Male 1901 1985
24 René Magritte Belgian Male 1898 1967
25 Alberto Giacometti Swiss Male 1901 1966
26 Alex Katz American Male 1927
27 Wayne Thiebaud American Male 1920 2021
28 Willem de Kooning American/Dutch Male 1904 1997
29 Rembrandt van Rijn Dutch Male 1606 1669
30 Sam Francis American Male 1923 1994
31 Joan Mitchell American Female 1925 1992
32 Zao Wou-Ki Chinese/French Male 1920 2013
33 Edgar Degas French Male 1834 1917
34 Cy Twombly American Male 1928 2011
35 KAWS American Male 1974
36 Helen Frankenthaler American Female 1928 2011
37 Fernand Léger French Male 1881 1955
38 Tom Wesselmann American Male 1931 2004
39 Richard Prince American Male 1949
40 Bernard Buffet French Male 1928 1999
41 Frank Stella American Male 1936
42 Robert Rauschenberg American Male 1925 2008
43 Georg Baselitz German Male 1938
44 Fernando Botero Colombian Male 1932
45 François-Xavier Lalanne French Male 1927 2008
46 Alighiero Boetti Italian Male 1940 1994
47 Francis Bacon British Male 1909 1992
48 Jasper Johns American Male 1930
49 Pierre Soulages French Male 1919 2022
50 Auguste Rodin French Male 1840 1917
51 Man Ray American Male 1890 1976
52 Josef Albers American/German Male 1888 1976
53 Takashi Murakami Japanese Male 1962
54 Jeff Koons American Male 1955
55 Robert Motherwell American Male 1915 1991
56 Cecily Brown British Female 1969
57 Max Ernst German Male 1891 1976
58 Cindy Sherman American Female 1954
59 Jonas Wood American Male 1977
60 Günther Förg German Male 1952 2013
61 Sigmar Polke German Male 1941 2010
62 Louise Bourgeois American/French Female 1911 2010
63 Sol LeWitt American Male 1928 2007
64 Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita French/Japanese Male 1886 1968
65 Albrecht Dürer German Male 1471 1528
66 Shara Hughes American Female 1981
67 Pierre Bonnard French Male 1867 1947
68 Donald Judd American Male 1928 1994
69 Camille Pissarro Danish/French Male 1830 1903
70 Victor Vasarely French/Hungarian Male 1906 1997
71 Bridget Riley British Female 1931
72 Wassily Kandinsky Russian Male 1866 1944
73 Chu Teh-Chun Chinese/French Male 1920 2014
74 Paul Klee German Male 1879 1940
75 Yves Klein French Male 1928 1962
76 Francis Picabia French Male 1879 1953
77 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec French Male 1864 1901
78 Stanley Whitney American Male 1946
79 Nicolas Party Swiss Male 1980
80 Ellsworth Kelly American Male 1923 2015
81 Robert Indiana American Male 1928 2018
82 Karel Appel Dutch Male 1921 2006
83 Raoul Dufy French Male 1877 1953
84 Christopher Wool American Male 1955
85 Lee Ufan Korean Male 1936
86 Frank Auerbach British/German Male 1931
87 Paul Gauguin French Male 1848 1903
88 Lucian Freud British Male 1922 2011
89 Jim Dine American Male 1935
90 Georges Braque French Male 1882 1963
91 Ayako Rokkaku Japanese Unknown 1982
92 Barbara Hepworth British Female 1903 1975
93 Christo and Jeanne-Claude American Both
94 Wolfgang Tillmans German Male 1968
95 Rashid Johnson American Male 1977
96 Antony Gormley British Male 1950
97 Paul Cézanne French Male 1839 1906
98 Tracey Emin British Female 1963
99 Albert Oehlen German Male 1954
100 Jean (Hans) Arp French/German Male 1886 1966
101 Mark Rothko American Male 1903 1970
102 Tiffany Studios American Unknown 1878 1938
103 Arman American/French Male 1928 2005
104 Sam Gilliam American Male 1933 2022
105 Richard Serra American Male 1938
106 Louise Nevelson American Female 1899 1988
107 Hans Hartung French/German Male 1904 1989
108 Diego Giacometti Swiss Male 1902 1985
109 Amedeo Modigliani Italian Male 1884 1920
110 Claude Lalanne French Female 1924 2019
111 Robert Mapplethorpe American Male 1946 1989
112 Egon Schiele Austrian Male 1890 1918
113 Philip Guston American Male 1913 1980
114 Kenneth Noland American Male 1924 2010
115 Antoni Tàpies Spanish Male 1923 2012
116 Maurice de Vlaminck French Male 1876 1958
117 Aboudia Ivorian Male 1983
118 Lynn Chadwick British Male 1914 2003
119 Anselm Kiefer German Male 1945
120 Giorgio de Chirico Italian Male 1888 1978
121 Vincent van Gogh Dutch Male 1853 1890
122 Richard Diebenkorn American Male 1922 1993
123 A.R. Penck German Male 1939 2017
124 Peter Doig Scottish Male 1959
125 Roberto Matta Chilean Male 1911 2002
126 John Baldessari American Male 1931 2020
127 Kees van Dongen Dutch/French Male 1877 1968
128 Jordy Kerwick Australian Unknown 1982
129 Ansel Adams American Male 1902 1984
130 Milton Avery American Male 1885 1965
131 Robert Longo American Male 1953
132 Jean-Paul Riopelle Canadian Male 1923 2002
133 Georges Mathieu French Male 1921 2012
134 Leonor Fini Argentine/French Female 1908 1996
135 Niki de Saint Phalle French Female 1930 2002
136 L.S. Lowry British Male 1887 1976
137 Claes Oldenburg American Male 1929 2022
138 Günther Uecker German Male 1930
139 Agnes Martin American/Canadian Female 1912 2004
140 Anish Kapoor British/Indian Male 1954
141 Sean Scully American/Irish Male 1945
142 Howard Hodgkin British Male 1932 2017
143 Julian Opie British Male 1958
144 Le Pho French/Vietnamese Male 1907 2001
145 Maurice Utrillo French Male 1883 1955
146 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner German Male 1880 1938
147 Francisco Goya Spanish Male 1746 1828
148 Eugène Boudin French Male 1824 1898
149 Irving Penn American Male 1917 2009
150 Edgar Plans Spanish Unknown 1977
151 Barbara Kruger American Female 1945
152 Hiroshi Sugimoto Japanese Male 1948
153 Amoako Boafo Ghanaian Male 1984
154 Brice Marden American Male 1938
155 Joseph Beuys German Male 1921 1986
156 Emil Nolde German Male 1867 1956
157 Édouard Vuillard French Male 1868 1940
158 Ernie Barnes American Male 1938 2009
159 Wifredo Lam Cuban Male 1902 1982
160 Kenny Scharf American Male 1958
161 Giorgio Morandi Italian Male 1890 1964
162 Lynne Drexler American Unknown 1928 1999
163 Paul Signac French Male 1863 1935
164 Edvard Munch Norwegian Male 1863 1944
165 Hans Hofmann American/German Male 1880 1966
166 John Chamberlain American Male 1927 2011
167 Ben Nicholson British Male 1894 1982
168 Javier Calleja Spanish Male 1971
169 Vik Muniz Brazilian Male 1961
170 Serge Poliakoff Russian Male 1906 1969
171 Kazuo Shiraga Japanese Male 1924 2008
172 Mark Grotjahn American Male 1968
173 James Rosenquist American Male 1933 2017
174 Mario Schifano Italian Male 1934 1998
175 Rudolf Stingel Italian Male 1956
176 Gustav Klimt Austrian Male 1862 1918
177 Marino Marini Italian Male 1901 1980
178 Rufino Tamayo Mexican Male 1899 1991
179 Raymond Pettibon American Male 1957
180 Zeng Fanzhi Chinese Male 1964
181 Invader French Unknown 1969
182 Diego Rivera Mexican Male 1886 1957
183 Adrian Ghenie Romanian Male 1977
184 Thomas Hart Benton American Male 1889 1975
185 Romare Bearden American Male 1911 1988
186 William Kentridge South African Male 1955
187 Elizabeth Peyton American Female 1965
188 Mark Bradford American Male 1961
189 Tony Cragg British Male 1949
190 Jackson Pollock American Male 1912 1956
191 Franz West Austrian Male 1947 2012
192 Matthew Wong Canadian Male 1984 2019
193 Max Beckmann German Male 1884 1950
194 André Derain French Male 1880 1954
195 René Lalique French Male 1860 1945
196 Robert Ryman American Male 1930 2019
197 Georgia O’Keeffe American Female 1887 1986
198 Eddie Martinez American Male 1977
199 Chuck Close American Male 1940 2021
200 Peter Beard American Male 1938 2020
201 Jean Royère French Male 1902 1981
202 Helmut Newton Australian/German Male 1920 2004
203 Aristide Maillol French Male 1861 1944
204 Ugo Rondinone Swiss Male 1964
205 Marlene Dumas South African Female 1953
206 Katherine Bernhardt American Female 1975
207 Flora Yukhnovich British Unknown 1990
208 Lyonel Feininger American/German Male 1871 1956
209 George Grosz German Male 1893 1959
210 Liu Ye Chinese Male 1964
211 M.C Escher Dutch Male 1898 1972
212 Martin Kippenberger German Male 1953 1997
213 Alfred Sisley French Male 1839 1899
214 Andreas Gursky German Male 1955
215 Georges Rouault French Male 1871 1958
216 Richard Hamilton British Male 1922 2011
217 Bruce Nauman American Male 1941
218 César French Male 1921 1998
219 Line Vautrin French Female 1913 1997
220 Mr Doodle English Unknown 1994
221 Sonia Delaunay French/Ukrainian Female 1885 1979
222 Julie Mehretu American Female 1970
223 Leonora Carrington British/Mexican Female 1917 2011
224 Dana Schutz American Female 1976
225 Harland Miller British Male 1964
226 Richard Avedon American Male 1923 2004
227 Jean Prouvé French Male 1901 1984
228 Lynette Yiadom-Boakye British Female 1977
229 Diane Arbus American Female 1923 1971
230 Eduardo Chillida Spanish Male 1924 2002
231 Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot French Male 1796 1875
232 Piet Mondrian Dutch Male 1872 1944
233 Enrico Castellani Italian Male 1930 2017
234 Etel Adnan Lebanese Female 1925 2021
235 Isamu Noguchi American Male 1904 1988
236 André Butzer German Unknown 1973
237 Tamara de Lempicka Polish Female 1898 1980
238 Odilon Redon French Male 1840 1916
239 Alice Neel American Female 1900 1984
240 Sanyu Chinese/French Male 1901 1966
241 Gustave Loiseau French Male 1865 1935
242 Caroline Walker Scottish Unknown 1982
243 Loie Hollowell American Female 1983
244 Hilary Pecis American Unknown 1979
245 Jadé Fadojutimi British Unknown 1993
246 Erich Heckel German Male 1883 1970
247 Glenn Ligon American Male 1960
248 Elisabeth Frink British Female 1930 1993
249 Thomas Schütte German Male 1954
250 Louis Valtat French Male 1869 1952
251 Albert Marquet French Male 1875 1947
252 Mary Cassatt American Female 1844 1926
253 Arnaldo Pomodoro Italian Male 1926
254 Christo Bulgarian Male 1935 2020
255 Julian Schnabel American Male 1951
256 Marcel Duchamp French Male 1887 1968
257 Alberto Burri Italian Male 1915 1995
258 David Shrigley British Unknown 1968
259 Robert Frank American/Swiss Male 1924 2019
260 Imi Knoebel German Male 1940
261 Jenny Holzer American Female 1950
262 Ai Weiwei Chinese Male 1957
263 Robert Mangold American Male 1937
264 Michelangelo Pistoletto Italian Male 1933
265 Hernan Bas American Male 1978
266 Jesús Rafael Soto Venezuelan Male 1923 2005
267 Nicolas de Staël French/Russian Male 1914 1955
268 Édouard Manet French Male 1832 1883
269 Manolo Valdés Spanish Male 1942
270 Henri Cartier-Bresson French Male 1908 2004
271 Lynda Benglis American Female 1941
272 Alexej von Jawlensky Russian Male 1864 1941
273 Salman Toor Pakistani Unknown 1983
274 Gio Ponti Italian Male 1891 1979
275 Richard Pettibone American Male 1938
276 Gustave Caillebotte French Male 1848 1894
277 Pierre Alechinsky Belgian Male 1927
278 André Masson French Unknown 1896 1987
279 Marie Laurencin French Female 1883 1956
280 Le Corbusier French/Swiss Male 1887 1965
281 Hermann Nitsch Austrian Male 1938 2022
282 Moïse Kisling French/Polish Male 1891 1953
283 Zhang Xiaogang Chinese Male 1958
284 Peter Paul Rubens Flemish Male 1577 1640
285 Robert Nava American Male 1985
286 Francesco Clemente Italian Male 1952
287 Joseph Mallord William Turner British Male 1775 1851
288 Franz Kline American Male 1910 1962
289 Harold Ancart Belgian Male 1980
290 Maximilien Luce French Male 1858 1941
291 Mel Bochner American Male 1940
292 Peter Halley American Male 1953
293 Olafur Eliasson Danish Male 1967
294 Pat Steir American Female 1940
295 Adolph Gottlieb American Male 1903 1974
296 Wade Guyton American Male 1972
297 Balthus French Male 1908 2001
298 Lee Krasner American Female 1908 1984
299 Mr. Brainwash French Male 1966
300 Anna Weyant Canadian Female 1995