Data Dive: Who Are Today’s Most Bankable Artists?

From Claude Monet to Yayoi Kusama, these artists are bringing in big bucks at auction.

Claude Monet, Matinée sur la Seine, temps net (1897). Courtesy of Christie's Images, Ltd.

This article is part of the Artnet Intelligence Report Mid-Year Review 2024. Our analysis of the first half of the year’s market trends provides a data-driven overview of the current state of the art world, highlighting auction results and trends, and spotlights the artists and artworks shaping the dialogue.

 

European Old Masters

Self-Portrait In Traveling Costume (1816) by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun¹, the third-highest artist at auction in the European Old Masters category.

Impressionist & Modern

Matinée sur la Seine, temps net (1897) by Claude Monet², the top-selling artist in the Impressionist and Modern category.

Postwar

two people stand next to gigantic sculptures of bright yellow pumpkins decorated with black polka dots

Yayoi Kusama’s Aspiring to Pumpkin’s Love, the Love in My Heart (2023)³ on view at Art Basel in Basel this year.

Contemporary

Yoshitomo Nara’s I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (2017)4 sold for over $12 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in April.

Ultra-Contemporary

Thread (2012) by Njideka Akunyili Crosby5, the 10th-best-selling artist from the first half of 2024.


1. Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait in Traveling Costume (1816). Courtesy of Sotheby’s;

2. Claude Monet, Matinée sur la Seine (1897). Christie’s Images Ltd. 2024

3. Yayoi Kusama, Aspiring to Pumpkin’s Love, the Love in My Heart (2023). Photo by Valentin Flauraud/AFP via Getty Images.

4. Yoshitomo Nara, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (2017). Courtesy of Sotheby’s

5. Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Thread (2012). Courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London / © Jadé Fadojutimi 2024 (Photo by Eva Herzog).

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