Editor’s Note
This article announces the release of Artprice’s 31st annual report on the contemporary art market, timed ahead of major fairs like Frieze London and Art Basel Paris. It highlights the report’s analysis of what is described as the most dense market in history.
Paris, October 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ahead of the opening of Frieze London and the subsequent Art Basel Paris, Artprice News® announces the release of its 31st Contemporary Art Market Annual Report. This report presents and analyzes what Artprice by Artmarket identifies as the most dense contemporary and ultra-contemporary art market in world history (see methodology at the end of this press release).
Artprice News, through analysis by Artprice’s econometrics department, sheds light on the current state of the contemporary art market.
As galleries, auction houses, and art advisors examine the causes and consequences of a slowdown in the global art market, the 31st Artprice by Artmarket report provides a detailed analysis of the auction market for contemporary art.
This year’s report not only clarifies the factors and extent of the contraction but also highlights many positive signs: the rise of female artists, the emergence of new scenes, and the appearance of AI signaling a true paradigm shift. The report is more than an inventory; it outlines the key trends for tomorrow’s market.
In monetary terms, a quarter of the world’s fine art auction turnover may have vanished in one year. Yet, the auction market has never been so active. In fact, auction houses are achieving record numbers in terms of transactions for contemporary art.
While the premium segment is losing momentum, there are far more artists, lots offered, and traffic than ever before.
Over the past year, works by tens of thousands of contemporary artists have been sold at auction worldwide, making accessibility broader than ever. One in five of these artists was new to the auction market, many of them under 40. A new generation is thus emerging and beginning to shape the contours of tomorrow’s market.
The affordable segment of the art market (under $5,000, sometimes under $1,000) continues to grow, supported by online sales. This accessible, affordable segment attracts a connected, young clientele seeking works that resonate with the times and their interests, aligning with a vision of a new multipolar world, both geopolitically, philosophically, and digitally through AI.
Thierry Ehrmann, CEO of Artmarket.com and founder of Artprice, stated the above.
Major firms like BlackRock (iShares Bitcoin Trust) and Fidelity now offer financial products that directly reflect Bitcoin/Ethereum prices. They are tradable like traditional stocks, with all technical ownership risks eliminated.
About three years ago, Artprice by Artmarket began quoting all its art catalog databases in Bitcoin and Ethereum, including price variations since March 2010 (Bitcoin’s birth), in addition to the eight international currencies already present in its databases.
This initiative increased the share of database consultations in cryptocurrency from 2% to 36%.
This means that today, the majority of the roughly 300 newly minted millionaire art collectors are young computer scientists aged 25 to 40 who own Bitcoin and Ethereum. These new art buyers seek a form of social recognition through their art purchases. This is particularly evident in the field of digital art with the advent of AI, symbolizing a paradigm shift in art.
Based on its long-standing AI expertise (parent company Groupe Serveur since 1987, its proprietary AI Intuitive Artmarket®, and recent collaboration with Perplexity), Artprice predicts: “While current generative AI creators number only in the hundreds, the future will see an expansion to billions from all ages and professions, from which millions of creators will emerge, dramatically expanding the art market to a scale unprecedented in history.”
In the premium field, major market players are in a holding pattern, with six-figure hammer prices plummeting. Hong Kong’s fine art auction turnover is half its average over the past decade, and the situation is not much better in London or New York.
The most powerful markets—the US, China, and the UK—now account for over three-quarters of global fine art auction turnover. Meanwhile, Paris now surpasses London and New York in transaction volume and is noted as the world’s most active market.
Our auction data also reflects the emergence of new scenes and new talents. The Japanese scene is solidifying its influence beyond Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara. Female artists are reaching new milestones, breaking records, and challenging long-standing hierarchies.
As screens of all sizes increasingly permeate our daily lives, the contemporary art market has an opportunity for explosive growth. Digital images, promoted by numerous outlets specializing in digital artworks, now possess a definition beyond what the human eye (sensor) and brain (the actual generator of the image) can observe. Screens capable of excellent resolution are now available at a cost that has fallen to a tenth of what it was just a few years ago.
Furthermore, the creation of digital artworks based on AI prompts gives artists infinite possibilities without having to learn computer programming, which was a real barrier to artistic creation.
The highest-priced auction for an AI artwork to date is Ai-Da Robot’s “A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing” (2024). This work was hammered at $1.1 million at Sotheby’s New York on July 11, 2024.
This sumptuous work is an homage to Alan Turing, the true pioneer of AI, who by deciphering the Nazi Enigma code enabled the Allied victory in WWII. Prosecuted for homosexuality in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration, Alan Turing chose to end his life by ingesting cyanide on June 8, 1954. Elizabeth II recognized him as a war hero and granted him a posthumous pardon in 2013.
Faced with this paradigm shift, auction houses are rethinking their strategies like never before, collectors are redefining priorities with rare boldness, and young buyers are establishing new norms.
Therefore, contemporary art is not stalling; it is pivoting, paving the way for a more inclusive, fluid, and diverse ecosystem.
Artprice News® focuses on the movements of top artists. From the movements of blue-chip artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy, and Marlene Dumas to the ever-widening scope of the market and the unexpected leaps of new artists driven by the digital revolution, Artprice’s 2025 Contemporary Art Market Report is a document that gets to the heart of a rapidly changing market.
A market where every dataset tells a story, and every trend already sketches the contours of tomorrow’s market.
This 31st global report is more than a statistical inventory; it suggests what the future holds. It also focuses on the opportunities to be seized in a fragmented market, artists on the rise despite general caution, and scenes gaining momentum while others slow down.
The 2025 Contemporary Art Market Report is available for free in PDF, in French and English.
https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2025
This report, based on an analysis of auction sales of works by over 47,000 contemporary artists worldwide (July 2024 – June 2025), has established itself over the years as the industry bible. It reveals the trends, structural changes, and dynamics that are completely reshaping the art market, whether you are a professional, veteran collector, journalist, passionate enthusiast, or student.
Download the report now to discover the major transformation underway (and the figures that back it up) and the ranking of the world’s most highly valued contemporary artists.
https://www.artprice.com/artprice-reports/the-contemporary-art-market-report-2025
