Introducing W’s newest column, “By the Numbers,” in which we look at a given field—from art and fashion to music and movies—through the metrics that are defining it. Bringing together both the essential and the eccentric, we’re telling a sui generis story of an industry. For W’s annual art issue, we’re looking back at a year marked by lagging sales, outrageous purchases, and the rise of A.I.
42% of art sales by value last year were in the U.S.
19% were in China, 17% were in the U.K., 7% were in France.
88% of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) buy art through dealers.
67% buy through auctions, 41% through fairs, and 11% through advisers.
Source: Art Basel and UBS
$150,780 was the average amount an actively buying HNWIs spent on fine art in the first half of 2024.
$51,520 was on luxury sneakers.
$66,255 was on luxury handbags.
Source: Art Basel and UBS
26% was the decrease in sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, and Bonhams from the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024.
32% of lots at the May marquee auctions sold for less than their low estimates.
Source: Art Basel and UBS; Bank of America
$50 million was the high estimate at Sotheby’s for Francis Bacon’s 1966 painting Portrait of George Dyer Crouching, the “star” of its May evening auction.
$27.7 million was the selling price.
Source: ARTnews; Sotheby’s
40% of HNWIs say they purchase art for pleasure, 24% as investments, and 1% for philanthropic reasons.
72% of HNWIs bought art online without first seeing it in person.
43% bought art on Instagram without seeing it in person.
Source: Art Basel and UBS
$44.6 million is the amount financier Ken Griffin spent on a stegosaurus skeleton this year.
$38.6 million more than it was expected to sell for.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
48% of gallerists say ultracontemporary artists are their most important cohort.
$7.68 million is the total value of sales of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s art in the first half of 2024, making her the best-selling ultracontemporary artist during that period.
Source: Artsy; Artnet
125 miniature moon sculptures made by Jeff Koons were sent to outer space as the first “authorized” artwork to be placed on the moon.
Source: The New York Times
75% of U.S. adults have a positive opinion of Leonardo da Vinci, the most popular artist in America.
51% of have a positive opinion of Andy Warhol.
28% have a positive opinion of Mark Rothko.
Source: YouGov
2 Vincent van Gogh sunflower paintings at the National Gallery, London, had soup thrown at them by Just Stop Oil protesters this year, prompting the museum to ban liquids.
Source: The Guardian
19% of American adults have been to an art show in the past three months.
Source: YouGov
95% of NFTs are considered “dead.”
44.5% is the average loss in value on NFT investments.
Source: ARTnews
70% of U.S. adults think artists should be compensated when AI uses their work to produce images.
76% of adults think AI-generated content shouldn’t be considered art.
Source: Statista; KOAA
$6.2 million is the amount crypto mogul Justin Sun paid for Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, a banana duct-taped to a wall, at Sotheby’s November auction.
9 days after purchasing it, he ate the banana.
Source: BBC