Rick Janson Art Studio

There appears to be a lot of hand wringing in the global art market after the first half numbers came in for 2025. Almost daily Artnet is reporting on another major private gallery closing its doors, and in turn, making it that much harder for emerging artists. These are the galleries that have made art careers. Now they are gone, some amid bankruptcy.

The numbers that come up over and over again are an 8.8 per cent drop in fine art sales at auction in the first half of this year, the price of the average lot falling by 6.5 per cent. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story. Sales in the $1 million to $10 million price range actually rose 13.8 percent, sales of Old Masters rising by 24.4 per cent. Artnet notes it is the ultra-contemporary market that has cratered by a staggering 31.3 per cent. Wow.

There are signs everywhere suggesting the global economy is about to take a swan dive, so it shouldn’t entirely surprise us that collectors are also stepping back, taking a wait and see attitude towards what comes next in a world turned upside down by events in the US, the Ukraine and the Middle East.

The art market had been roaring for the last six years. It seems the party has come to an abrupt end.

Some are suggesting there are bigger and more deep seated problems, including the lack of a next generation of collectors. Is overall interest in the visual arts in deep decline?

One analyst suggested there was also an investor class that came into the art world seeking only to make a quick buck, which was possible for a while. The speculation is that they have rushed back to Bitcoin. I get the impression that some regard that as a “good riddance” moment.

It reminds me of the scene in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters when Dusty the nouveau riche rock star (played by Daniel Stern) comes to see Frederick, a temperamental artist (played by Max Von Sydow). The artist tells him that “you don’t buy paintings to blend in with the sofa.” The rock star replies sincerely, “it’s not a sofa — it’s an ottoman.”

Galleries that do millions of dollars in annual art sales are posting meagre profits amid rising costs. A recent story suggested that a gallery needed to make about a quarter million dollars in sales to simply break even at each of the fall art fairs, the cost of the booth running around $100,000 for the term of the fair. Add to that travel, hotels, framing and all the extras associated with hosting a booth. How sustainable is this?

In Artnet’s intelligence report, it gives the example of Sadie Coles HQ, a London gallery that represents 60 artists. It saw sales of $38.6 million in 2024 (down from $79.6 million in 2023). Profit in 2024 was $279,000, or a 0.7 per cent margin.

It will be interesting to see what happens this fall — will art sales bounce back, or are we into a new phase in the art world? Is this just a cycle, or as many have said, is it something else?

—

Today’s painting: Given how blue the outlook is in the art world at present, I thought it would be appropriate to post my painting exhibited in the “blue” show at the Eastern Front Gallery in 2005. That was my view for at least five years as I commuted down Ritson Road in Oshawa towards the westbound 401 and my job in North York. The gallery received many submissions for that show and I was happy to be selected to included by the jury.