Here Are the 300 Most-Searched Artists on Artnet’s Price Database in August 2021—and the Fast-Rising Talents Poised to Break in Soon

See who's up, who's down, and who's up next.

Auctioneer Danielle So at Phillips. Courtesy of Phillips.

The season’s marquee evening auctions will not take off in earnest until next month—but there was plenty of market activity behind the scenes that kept art professionals searching the Artnet Price Database. 

The search queries aren’t free, which means those running them have skin in the game, and changing rankings can offer a snapshot of business interests and activity in particular artists, especially on the secondary market. Below, we bring you the list of the top-searched artists on the Artnet Price Database in August 2021. (Those who had the same number of searches are listed as tied; all final prices include buyer’s premium, while estimates do not. ) 

Before we get into that, however, here is a selection of artists on the rise who haven’t cracked the most-searched list yet—but might soon. Some of these rising figures have highly concentrated local markets but could be poised to go international; others may be the new favorite of profit-hungry speculators. Either way, it would be wise for you to familiarize yourself now, before their prices shoot even further into the stratosphere.

 

Notable Fast-Risers

Allison Zuckerman (b. 1990)

Allison Zuckerman, <I>Harlequin Nude</i> (2020). Courtesy of Christie's Images, Ltd.

Allison Zuckerman, Harlequin Nude (2020). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.

The young artist earned some very important early fans with her frenetic, Internet-addled compositions that fuse digital collage with her own hand-painted figures. Back in 2017, mega-collectors Don and Mera Rubell were taken with her first show at Kravets Wehby Gallery in New York and offered her a slot in their museum’s coveted residency. The platform did not immediately vault her to superstardom (reviews were meh), but over the past year, her work has gained serious traction on the secondary market. All five of Zuckerman’s paintings to hit the block in 2021 so far have shattered expectations, including The First Royal Portrait (2018), which sold at Phillips New York’s day sale in June for $252,000 (estimate: $30,000–40,000). It’s no wonder, then, that while she had exactly zero searches in the Artnet Price Database in August 2020, she had 45 in August 2021. 

 

Edgar Plans (b. 1977)

Edgar Plans, <i>Invaders</i> (2018). Courtesy of Christie's Images, Ltd.

Edgar Plans, Invaders (2018). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.

Plans is the latest artist whose big-eyed, cartoony characters have earned him a large fan base among young buyers in Asia. (He is—if you can believe it—not even the only Spanish artist to meet this criteria, which also applies to his countryman Javier Calleja.) Plans’s top seven auction prices have all been set this year, six of them at auction houses in Asia. Now, international heavyweights are starting to see gold in his compositions of mice playing the trumpet and riding bicycles. His top auction result, for an alien-dotted composition called Invaders (2018), fetched $162,000 at Christie’s Online in July (estimate: $20,000–$30,000). He has also been included in several group shows at Almine Rech gallery. Last August, Plans drew nine searches in our database; one year later, that number skyrocketed to 90. 

 

Flora Yukhnovich (b. 1990)

Flora Yukhnovich, Pretty Little Thing (2019). Photo: Phillips.

Flora Yukhnovich, Pretty Little Thing (2019). Photo: Phillips.

The London-based painter made a splash in June, when her Rococo-inspired painting Pretty Little Thing (2019) fetched $1.2 million at Phillips New York’s contemporary art evening sale, more than a dozen times its high estimate. That breakthrough price has, perhaps surprisingly, not yet spurred a wave of collectors consigning her work in search of a payday; just one other Yukhnovich painting has hit the block since then. The oil-on-paper Study (2018), which looks as if a Fragonard were put through an Expressionist filter, made $60,295 at a Sotheby’s London sale in August, more than seven times its high estimate. Yukhnovich’s search numbers have also spiked: Last August, the artist—who is represented in London by Victoria Miro—did not make a ripple in the database. In August 2021, she recorded 52 searches. 

 

Kyne (b. 1988) 

Kyne, <i>Untitled</i> (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Kaikai Kiki Gallery.

Kyne, Untitled (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Kaikai Kiki Gallery.

You probably have never heard of Kyne, the Japanese artist who creates 1980s- and anime-inflected portraits of women staring straight at the viewer. His work is rarely exhibited outside of Japan, where he shows with Tokyo’s Gallery Target. But that doesn’t mean he’s not famous. In June, Kyne unveiled a line of sneaker and T-shirt designs in collaboration with Adidas. He also has more than 87,000 followers on Instagram. And now, his work is generating major heat at auction. In June, an untitled painting of a short-haired woman fetched $194,865 at Phillips’s joint sale with Poly Auction in Hong Kong, soaring over its high estimate of just under $65,000. His six top auction prices have all been set this year. Kyne’s total searches, meanwhile, nearly doubled, from 14 to 27, between August 2020 and August 2021. Expect to see a lot more of him in the future.

Angel Otero (b. 1981)

Angel Otero, <i>Blue Pineapple</i> (2019). Courtesy of Sotheby's.

Angel Otero, Blue Pineapple (2019). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Something is going on with the market for Angel Otero’s work. Until recently, the Puerto Rico-born, Brooklyn-based artist saw only a handful of pieces hit the auction block annually; they usually sold for well under $50,000 a pop. Then 2021 hit. Ten of the artist’s textured, layered paintings, often built from skins of dried paint, have been consigned so far this year (and three are coming up later this month). So far, four of them have sold for more than $100,000, including Acis and Galatea (2013), which generated $277,200 at Phillips New York’s day sale in June (estimate: $25,000–$35,000). Artnet Price Database inquiries for Otero, who is represented by Lehmann Maupin gallery, are picking up, too. Last August, he generated 13 database searches; in August 2021, that figure jumped to 51.

 

 

300 Most-Searched Artists in the Artnet Price Database, August 2021

Rank Name Life
1 Pablo Picasso 1881 1973
2 Andy Warhol 1928 1987
3 Yayoi Kusama 1929
4 Marc Chagall 1887 1985
5 David Hockney 1937
6 Joan Miró 1893 1983
7 Roy Lichtenstein 1923 1997
8 Banksy 1974
9 Alexander Calder 1898 1976
10 Jean-Michel Basquiat 1960 1988
11 Gerhard Richter 1932
12 Yoshitomo Nara 1959
13 Keith Haring 1958 1990
14 Damien Hirst 1965
15 Henri Matisse 1869 1954
16 Jean Dubuffet 1901 1985
17 Henry Moore 1898 1986
18 Ed Ruscha 1937
19 Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841 1919
20 KAWS 1974
21 Salvador Dalí 1904 1989
22 Claude Monet 1840 1926
23 Auguste Rodin 1840 1917
24 George Condo 1957
25 Fernand Léger 1881 1955
26 Sam Francis 1923 1994
27 Tom Wesselmann 1931 2004
28 Takashi Murakami 1962
29 Alex Katz 1927
30 Jasper Johns 1930
31 Fernando Botero 1932
32 Frank Stella 1936
33 Albrecht Dürer 1471 1528
34 Willem de Kooning 1904 1997
35 Cy Twombly 1928 2011
36 René Magritte 1898 1967
37 Wayne Thiebaud 1920
38 M.C Escher 1898 1972
39 Zao Wou-Ki 1920 2013
40 Lucio Fontana 1899 1968
41 Helen Frankenthaler 1928 2011
42
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
43 Robert Motherwell 1915 1991
43 Robert Rauschenberg 1925 2008
45 Rembrandt van Rijn 1606 1669
46 Jeff Koons 1955
47 Philip Guston 1913 1980
48 Ellsworth Kelly 1923 2015
49 Victor Vasarely 1906 1997
50 Bridget Riley 1931
51 Kees van Dongen 1877 1968
51 Edgar Degas 1834 1917
53 Günther Förg 1952 2013
54 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 1864 1901
54 Richard Prince 1949
54 Joan Mitchell 1925 1992
57 Josef Albers 1888 1976
58 Wifredo Lam 1902 1982
59 Lee Ufan 1936
60 Robert Indiana 1928 2018
61 Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita 1886 1968
62 Alberto Giacometti 1901 1966
63 Jim Dine 1935
64 Tiffany Studios 1878 1938
65 Karel Appel 1921 2006
66 Georges Braque 1882 1963
66 Georg Baselitz 1938
68 Bernard Buffet 1928 1999
69 Jonas Wood 1977
70 Anselm Kiefer 1945
71 Barbara Hepworth 1903 1975
72 Richard Diebenkorn 1922 1993
73 Francis Bacon 1909 1992
74 Louise Bourgeois 1911 2010
75 Mark Rothko 1903 1970
76 Kazuo Shiraga 1924 2008
77 Chuck Close 1940 2021
77 Sol LeWitt 1928 2007
79 Camille Pissarro 1830 1903
79 Max Ernst 1891 1976
81 Pierre Bonnard 1867 1947
82 Man Ray 1890 1976
83 Milton Avery 1885 1965
83 Christopher Wool 1955
85 Raoul Dufy 1877 1953
86 Donald Judd 1928 1994
87 Vincent van Gogh 1853 1890
88 François-Xavier Lalanne 1927 2008
89 Paul Cézanne 1839 1906
89 Robert Mapplethorpe 1946 1989
91 Alighiero Boetti 1940 1994
92 Ansel Adams 1902 1984
92 Pierre Soulages 1919
92 Sigmar Polke 1941 2010
95 Diego Rivera 1886 1957
95 Chu Teh-Chun 1920 2014
97 Roberto Matta 1911 2002
97 Cindy Sherman 1954
99 Kenneth Noland 1924 2010
100 Rashid Johnson 1977
101 Lynn Chadwick 1914 2003
102 Tracey Emin 1963
102 Paul Gauguin 1848 1903
104 LeRoy Neiman 1921 2012
104 L.S. Lowry 1887 1976
106 Édouard Vuillard 1868 1940
107 Cecily Brown 1969
108 Sean Scully 1945
109 Ayako Rokkaku 1982
109 Emil Nolde 1867 1956
109 Wassily Kandinsky 1866 1944
112 James Rosenquist 1933 2017
113 Edvard Munch 1863 1944
113 Robert Longo 1953
115 Jean (Hans) Arp 1886 1966
115 Eddie Martinez 1977
117 John Baldessari 1931 2020
118 Arman 1928 2005
118 Francis Picabia 1879 1953
120 Howard Hodgkin 1932 2017
121 Julian Opie 1958
122 Diego Giacometti 1902 1985
122 Antony Gormley 1950
124 Francisco Goya 1746 1828
125 Irving Penn 1917 2009
126 Vik Muniz 1961
126 Albert Oehlen 1954
128 Georgia O’Keeffe 1887 1986
128 Katherine Bernhardt 1975
128 Louise Nevelson 1899 1988
131 Jacques Lipchitz 1891 1973
131 Rufino Tamayo 1899 1991
133 Maurice de Vlaminck 1876 1958
134 Romare Bearden 1911 1988
135 Nicolas Party 1980
136 Georges Mathieu 1921 2012
137 Hans Hartung 1904 1989
138 César 1921 1998
138 Mark Bradford 1961
140 Mr Doodle 1994
140 Eugène Boudin 1824 1898
142 Javier Calleja 1971
143 Yves Klein 1928 1962
143 Jean-Paul Riopelle 1923 2002
143 Lucian Freud 1922 2011
146 Mickalene Thomas 1971
146 Robert Mangold 1937
148 Serge Poliakoff 1906 1969
149 Lyonel Feininger 1871 1956
149 Peter Doig 1959
151 A.R. Penck 1939 2017
152 George Rickey 1907 2002
153 Yaacov Agam 1928
153 Giorgio de Chirico 1888 1978
155 Mr. Brainwash 1966
155 Jean Dufy 1888 1964
155 Günther Uecker 1930
155 Hiroshi Sugimoto 1948
159 Anish Kapoor 1954
159 Rudolf Stingel 1956
161 Richard Serra 1938
161 Liu Ye 1964
163 Egon Schiele 1890 1918
163 Sam Gilliam 1933
163 Niki de Saint Phalle 1930 2002
166 George Grosz 1893 1959
166 Amoako Boafo 1984
168 Martin Kippenberger 1953 1997
168 Bruce Nauman 1941
170 Dale Chihuly 1941
170 Giorgio Morandi 1890 1964
170 Paul Klee 1879 1940
170 Claude Lalanne 1924 2019
174 Kenny Scharf 1958
175 Käthe Kollwitz 1867 1945
175 Andreas Gursky 1955
175 Shepard Fairey 1970
175 Edward Weston 1886 1958
175 Georges Rouault 1871 1958
175 Larry Rivers 1923 2002
181 Elisabeth Frink 1930 1993
181 William Kentridge 1955
181 Claes Oldenburg 1929
181 Hans Hofmann 1880 1966
185 Joseph Beuys 1921 1986
186 Maurice Utrillo 1883 1955
187 Walasse Ting 1929 2010
187 Brice Marden 1938
187 Agnes Martin 1912 2004
190 Antoni Tàpies 1923 2012
191 Sterling Ruby 1972
192 Mel Bochner 1940
193 Christo 1935 2020
193 Aboudia 1983
193 Marcel Duchamp 1887 1968
193 Invader 1969
197 Amedeo Modigliani 1884 1920
198 Louis Valtat 1869 1952
199 Wendell Castle 1932 2018
199 Peter Max 1937
199 Ugo Rondinone 1964
202 Grace Hartigan 1922 2008
202 Julie Mehretu 1970
202 Thomas Hart Benton 1889 1975
205 Wolfgang Tillmans 1968
206 Stik 1979
206 Max Beckmann 1884 1950
206 Donald Sultan 1951
206 Jesús Rafael Soto 1923 2005
206 James Abbott McNeill Whistler 1834 1903
211 Henri Cartier-Bresson 1908 2004
211 Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot 1796 1875
213 Édouard Manet 1832 1883
213 Nobuyoshi Araki 1940
215 Edgar Plans 1977
215 Odilon Redon 1840 1916
215 Bernar Venet 1941
215 Ben Nicholson 1894 1982
219 Joaquín Torres-García 1874 1949
219 Isamu Noguchi 1904 1988
219 John Chamberlain 1927 2011
222 Robert Frank 1924 2019
222 Harland Miller 1964
222 Matthew Wong 1984 2019
225 Alice Neel 1900 1984
225 Thomas Struth 1954
225 Sanyu 1901 1966
228 Paul Signac 1863 1935
228 Carlos Cruz-Diez 1923 2019
228 Jean Royère 1902 1981
228 Otto Dix 1891 1969
228 Zhang Xiaogang 1958
233 Jenny Holzer 1950
234 Friedensreich Hundertwasser 1928 2000
235 Lynda Benglis 1941
235 Tamara de Lempicka 1898 1980
235 Marino Marini 1901 1980
238 Jean Cocteau 1889 1963
238 Moïse Kisling 1891 1953
238 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1880 1938
241 Francisco Toledo 1940 2019
241 Dana Schutz 1976
241 Sonia Delaunay 1885 1979
244 Lucie Rie 1902 1995
244 Alberto Burri 1915 1995
244 Zeng Fanzhi 1964
244 Peter Beard 1938 2020
248 Robert Nava 1985
248 André Brasilier 1929
248 Henri Jean Guillaume Martin 1860 1943
248 Barbara Kruger 1945
248 Erich Heckel 1883 1970
248 Anthony Caro 1924 2013
248 Ai Weiwei 1957
255 Norman Rockwell 1894 1978
255 Julian Schnabel 1951
257 Emily Mae Smith 1979
257 Frida Kahlo 1907 1954
257 Jules Olitski 1922 2007
257 Josef Hoffmann 1870 1956
257 David Hammons 1943
257 Richard Avedon 1923 2004
263 Peter Paul Rubens 1577 1640
263 Aristide Maillol 1861 1944
263
Gilbert & George
263 Kiki Smith 1954
263 Daniel Arsham 1980
268 Loie Hollowell 1983
268 Agustin Cárdenas 1927 2001
268 Elizabeth Peyton 1965
268 Tony Cragg 1949
268 Alexander Archipenko 1887 1964
273 John Piper 1903 1992
273 Oskar Kokoschka 1886 1980
273 Jean Prouvé 1901 1984
273 Lin Fengmian 1900 1991
273 Joel Shapiro 1941
273 Arnulf Rainer 1929
279 On Kawara 1933 2014
279 Edward S. Curtis 1868 1952
279 Raymond Pettibon 1957
282 Armando Morales 1927 2011
282 Hurvin Anderson 1965
282 Pat Steir 1940
282 Harold Ancart 1980
282 Marie Laurencin 1883 1956
282 Mark Grotjahn 1968
282 Eduardo Chillida 1924 2002
282 Manolo Valdés 1942
282 Franz West 1947 2012
291 Arshile Gorky 1904 1948
291 Kara Walker 1969
291 Friedel Dzubas 1915 1994
291 Sir Alfred Munnings 1878 1959
291 Frank Auerbach 1931
296 John James Audubon 1785 1851
296 Stanley Whitney 1946
296 David Shrigley 1968
296 Gustav Klimt 1862 1918
296 Max Pechstein 1881 1955
296 Edward Hopper 1882 1967

 

Article topics