The artists in the spotlight in 2002

[27/03/2003]

 

The top 500 artists by turnover in 2002

Each artist makes their own, large or small, contribution to the total market. And ranking them by auction turnover gives a good indication of market conditions, preferences and trends. Every year Artprice ranks artists by this criterion.

The top 500 artists by turnover in Artprice’s listings include Peter Paul Rubens as well as Picasso and Toulouse-Lautrec. But while Picasso topped the rankings last year Rubens was down at 94th and only managed that because the exceptional sale of The Massacre of the Innocents jumped him up the rankings.

Modern and contemporary artists obviously have more works on the market than the old masters. Many old masters have dropped down our rankings because of thin sales volumes. And now some modern artists are getting increasingly hard to come by. Unless short supply triggers a compensating rise in prices they are likely to follow the old masters down the rankings.

Some names, though, seem to be permanent fixtures: Picasso, Giacometti, Léger, Chagall, Magritte, Miro, Basquiat, Matisse, Modigliani and Bacon always do well, as do Monet, Degas, Cezanne, Renoir, Caillebotte and Pissaro. That said, the impressionists have slipped back this year. Unlike the expressionists such as Beckmann, Jawlensky, Kirchner, Nolde and Macke who are making steady gains and starting to find buyers outside their home markets. Artists once classed as contemporary have also improved their rankings as they start to be seen as classic. Warhol, Richter, De Kooning, Lichtenstein, Basquiat, and Jasper Johns have been safe investments since late in the 20th century.

Sales volumes vary considerably. The prolific Boudin’s output earned him a place among the top 80 artists on the strength of several hundred works sold at auction every year. Monet needed just 21 sales to rank 4th. Pablo Picasso still has the highest volume sales.

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