The art dealer and gallery market - United States

1.1 Definition and scope of study

The art market refers to the production and trade of works of art and antiques. The art dealer and gallery market focuses on sales by art dealers, which represented 58% of global art sales in 2019, and therefore excludes auctions (42% of global sales) which are the subject of another study.

According to Wondeur AI's classification, the production of works of art is divided between star artists (1% of the world's artists), celebrated artists (1%), established artists (14%) and emerging and under-represented artists (84%).

The art market can also be segmented by category of work (sculpture, painting etc.), by period (contemporary, modern etc.) or by price range.

Worldwide sales by art dealers were worth US$36.8 billion in 2019, a 2% decline from 2018. However, actors with sales of less than 1 million dollars experienced a sharp decline (- 9%) in contrast to those whose sales were between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars (+ 17%).

The biggest challenges for the next 5 years cited by art dealers in 2019 will be to find new customers and to face the economic and geopolitical situation which strongly influences the demand for art.

In the United States, corporate overhead costs such as gallery or retail space rent are also classified as one of the top three issues.

The United States is the world's largest art market, both for auctions and for art dealers and galleries. The current economic and geopolitical climate, marked by uncertainty, with tensions between China and the United States for example, also favours galleries and art dealers, who are considered more secure than auctions.

Thus, in 2020, 83% of art dealers and gallery owners in the United States expect their sales to be stable or increase over the next 5 years.