The Big Picture is excerpted from The Asia Pivot, Artnet Pro’s biweekly members-only newsletter providing mission-critical analysis, insights, and exclusive intelligence on developments in Asia’s art markets, with a focus on business opportunities and challenges. Subscribe here to receive it directly to your inbox.
Welcome to the first-anniversary edition of The Asia Pivot. Thank you for being with us for the past year. Since last October, we have published 25 issues of TAP, covering the art world and the art markets of Asia as well as the Asian diaspora. Art from the region and its diaspora has gained a lot more visibility over the past year, and we are proud to contribute to this conversation through an Asian lens. We will continue to do so.
To celebrate this special occasion, we have created an Asia-focused art-market report, drawing on auction data from the Artnet Price Database over the past year, from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Let’s dive right in.
China Remains Dominant
Share of total sales value of fine art and design auctions in Asia, October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Source: Artnet Price Database. All prices are converted from their original currency to USD, based on the exchange rate on the day of the sale. All prices are adjusted to include the buyer’s premium.
Art from South Korea has been getting a great deal of exposure in recent years, including high-profile appearances at the Venice Biennale and in London during Frieze Week, as we reported, but the country’s art market has yet to catch up. Data from the Artnet Price Database shows that the country is the fourth biggest in terms of fine art and design auctions, totaling around $70 million, or 2.5 percent of the auction market in Asia, which includes South Asia, West Asia, and the Asia-Pacific regions.
China (including mainland China and Hong Kong) is still the biggest market, claiming the top spot with more than $2.4 billion, or 85.5 percent of the market, despite reports about the country’s economic uncertainties and recent stock market upheavals. (That figure includes traditional Chinese ink paintings and calligraphy.) Nearly 50 percent of China’s auction total was generated at sales staged in Hong Kong.
Japan came in second with $143.8 million in total sales, 5.1 percent of the market. The world’s fourth-largest economy does not often receive thorough coverage in reports on the global art trade, but while its auction market is relatively small compared to China, it remains robust, and international players are eying the country.
India ranked third, with $80.8 million generated from local auctions, 2.9 percent of the Asian market. Now home to more than 1.4 billion people, it has a larger population than China, according to U.N. estimates, and it is a market to watch. The World Bank’s India Development Update said that the country has the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with a positive outlook, despite global challenges. The New Delhi-based Indian Art Fair is expanding to Mumbai in November 2025, and the country’s artists, patrons, and galleries also are actively getting exposure internationally. It is an exciting moment.
Trailing behind the leaders are the Philippines, which came in fifth with $37.4 million (1.3 percent), and Taiwan, ranked sixth with $25 million (0.9 percent). Singapore, where Sotheby’s began hosting in-person auctions again in 2022, after a 15-year hiatus, came in seventh with $19.7 million.
Top 5 Asian Artists
Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), $197,399,293, for 508 lots sold
Yayoi Kusama (born 1929), $166,499,362, for 670 lots sold
Qi Baishi (1864-1957), $111,162,287, for 476 lots sold
Zao Wou-Ki (1920-2013), $80,889,336, for 317 lots sold
Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959), $68,065,054, for 315 lots sold
Top 5 Living Asian Artists
Yayoi Kusama (born 1929), $166,499,362, for 670 lots sold
Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959), $68,065,054, for 315 lots sold
Liu Ye (born 1964), $29,269,278, for 28 lots sold
Zhou Chunya (born 1955), $17,927,310, for 50 lots sold
Zhang Enli (born 1965), $15,554,751, for 42 lots sold
Top 5 Auction Houses
Christie’s Hong Kong, $533,130,779 (20 sales)
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, $462,186,532 (32 sales)
China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd., Beijing, $370,105,289 (55 sales)
XiLingYinShe Auction Co. Ltd., Hangzhou, $129,183,321 (22 sales)
Yongle Auction Co., Ltd., Beijing, $106,068,366 (12 sales)
Top 5 Price Database Searches
Yayoi Kusama, 19,049
Yoshitomo Nara, 8,384
Zao Wou-Ki, 5,234
Takashi Murakami, 3,964
Lee Ufan, 3,466
Top 5 Sales
Christie’s Hong Kong, 20th/21st Century Evening Sale, September 26, 2024, $133,203,579
Christie’s Hong Kong, 20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale, November 28, 2023, $88,990,535
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction, April 5, 2024, $79,819,572
China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd., Beijing, fine Chinese paintings and modern and contemporary art sale, November 30, 2023, $78,775,735
China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd., Beijing, fine Chinese paintings and modern and contemporary art sale, May 23, 2024, $77,949,738
This article was first published on October 16 in The Asia Pivot.