The art photography market - France

1.2 The art photography market is growing

In ****, global art and antiques sales were valued at $**.* billion, down **% from the previous year and **% from ****. As mentioned above, art auctions account for about **% of this market, which means that the subjects of this study, art dealers and galleries, account for the remaining **% [***]. The market for art dealers and galleries has been estimated at $**.* billion in ****.

       Sales on the world market of art dealers and galleries World, ****-****, in billions of dollars and in %. Source UBS       The world art market is dominated by the United States, China and the United Kingdom, with these three countries accounting for over **% of total transactions. These shares have remained relatively stable over the past decade, with only slight fluctuations despite large variations in value and volume

  Art market - Distribution of market share, by value World, ****, in % Source UBS    

1.3 The art photography market in France

      France is considered by many to be the cultural capital of the world. It may therefore be surprising that (***) France only holds about *% of the world's art market, in terms of value, making it the fourth largest market in the world [***].     The world's major art markets World, ****-****, in billions of dollars Source UBS     As can be seen from the chart above, the value of the French art market has remained relatively stable, fluctuating between $*.* and $* billion. A similar trend can be seen in the British art market, which, after an initial expansion in ****, experienced periods of growth and contraction. The Chinese art market, meanwhile, grew rapidly, reaching a value of nearly $** billion in ****, and then appears to have mirrored the British market. As for the American art market, it has continued to grow, reaching a peak value of $** billion in ****. These four markets account for nearly **% of the global art market. As we can see, all of these markets lost value in **** due to the COVID-** pandemic (***) Although there are no precise estimates of the size of the art dealer (***), **% of art sales revenue is generated by galleries and dealers, while the remaining **% is obtained through auctions, thus following the ...

2.1 Art photography represents a small share of the demand for photography

Art photography represents a small part of the photography sector. Indeed, in general, the customers of professional photographers are multiple. Their activity is both in BtoC and BtoB. Indeed, the clientele of photographers includes companies wishing to develop their communication, public commissions, press publishers, individuals, illustration agencies or press agencies

Breakdown of sales by type of customer France, ****, in % Source: ****

The clientele of professional photographers is mainly national as almost **% of clients in **** were French. The remaining more than **% mainly represent the clientele of auctions and art photography sales, which is generally slightly more international. Indeed, the sale of art photography is also aimed at wealthy internationals who wish to include these works in their collections Breakdown of sales by customer origin France, ****, in % Source: ****

2.2 The place of art photography in the cultural practices of the French

In France, according to CREDOC e n ****, more than half of those surveyed had neither visited a museum nor explored a temporary exhibition. Occasional visitors, those who visited a museum or exhibition once or twice in a year, accounted for **% of respondents.

Frequency of visits to exhibitions / museums in France France, ****, in % Source: ****

To a lesser extent, it appears that France had about **% of museum and exhibition enthusiasts in ****. Among the various cultural sites, the French visited monuments more often **% of French people had visited a painting or sculpture exhibition The number of visitors to a modern or contemporary art exhibition was **%, and **% to a natural history exhibition

As we can see below, only **% of French people had visited a photography exhibition . Thus art photography remains a niche cultural subject, which seems to be quite closed to the general public.

Proportion of French people who visited an exhibition/museum in the last twelve months in June France,

2.3 The impact of social networks on the development of the art photography market

Instagram has established itself as an essential tool for traditional actors in the art sector (***), as recalled in **** by the Huffington Post

But Instagram also plays a key role in the diffusion of the practice of art photography and in the emergence of new talents (***).

3.1 The dominance of auction companies in the sector

The art photography market in France has its own structure and players a limited number of collectors and the intervention of art market agencies such as auction companies . Indeed, photography is the subject of expertise and annual auctions in prestigious firms such as Christie's or Sotheby's . The works are stored and marketed directly in the agencies, in physics

3.2 Independent experts are another major sales channel

According to the The Echos one of the major sales channels for works of art photography in France are the independent experts who sell from private agreement in exchange for a commission . The experts take care of to authenticate and photography and find a buyer . Some buyers prefer this method of sale rather than auctions, because it is a much more convenient way to buy confidential

3.3 Les évolutions macroéconomiques du marché de la photographie

Si la photographie se porte bien et rencontre un succès croissant, les photographes rencontrent de nombreuses difficultés financières depuis plusieurs années. Plusieurs raisons concourent à ces difficultés, parmi lesquelles la principale est l'arrivée du numérique et la profusion d'images.

En effet, l'arrivée du numérique a induit une généralisation de la gratuite sur le marché de la photographie et par conséquent une baisse générale des tarifs. La diffusion numérique favorise ladiffusion d’images gratuites. Plus que la concurrence de la photographie en amateur, c'est la dérégulation du marché qui nuit aux photographes professionnels.

Deux principales questions sont ainsi mises en avant par les professionnels : d'une part, la dénonciation des usages illégaux et le non respect des droits d'auteur et d'autre part, le constat d'un manque d'adaptation du cadre juridique actuel. Sont par exemple citées les agences de presse qui utilisent des photographies sans rémunérer les auteurs. [***]

Face aux difficultés à générer une rémunération suffisante, les photographes tendent à cumuler les activités professionnelles, ce qui explique en partie l'essor du statut d'auto-entrepreneur permettant une flexibilité accrue. 

En ****, le ...

4.1 The price of art photographs has been rising steadily since the early 2000s

According to the Art Market Insight , the average price of an auctioned photograph was to **,***€ in **** against ** ***€ for a painting The price index has increased by **% between **** and ****, after reaching a peak in **** for art photography from the same source.

Evolution of the art photography price index between **** and ****

Source: ****

As a result, art photographs are becoming increasingly expensive on the market with a peak reached in **** at nearly $** million According to the Jaimelesstartups , art galleries receive commissions from **% to **% of the price of the work This may seem abusive to the buyer and even to the artist. To counter this phenomenon, the online marketplaces that are developing (***).

The evolution of the prices of photographs sold at public auctions is as follows, according to Artprice (***):

The average price of a photograph in **** was $*,*** in **** and reached **,*** in **** (***) .

Breakdown by price range of public auctions of photographs in the first half of ****

Source: ****

4.2 The development of actors selling art photos online

From many players are positioning themselves on the sale of original or replicated art photos online such as Artsper which lists and sells art photos from the world's leading art galleries, but also ArtPhotoLimited or KazoArt which is an online contemporary art gallery. However, the function of the Internet is still today more to offer "showcase sites" for independent galleries or photographers than a real commercial tool. According to the MaddyNess The online art market was $*.* billion in **** and could grow to $** billion in ****

4.3 La photographie d'art, une offre spécifique parmi d'autres

La description des activités photographiques par l'Insee fournit un aperçu des types d'offres proposées sur le marché. :

la production photographique réalisée à titre commercial ou privé : photographies d'identité, photographies de classe, de mariage, photographies publicitaires, d'édition, de mode, à des fins immobilières ou touristiques, photographie aérienne, réalisation de vidéos pour des événements : mariages, réunions, etc. le traitement des films : développement, tirage et agrandissement de photos ou de films réalisés par les clients, laboratoires de développement et tirage de photos et de films, boutiques photos avec développement en une heure, montage de diapositives, copie, restauration et retouche de photographies activités de photojournalistes indépendants le microfilmage de documents les activités des auteurs-photographes et des photographes d'art les activités de photojournalistes indépendants

[***]

Par ailleurs, la photographie recouvre cinq domaines d'activité, auxquels correspondent ainsi des marchés respectifs, comme le schématise l’OPI : 

La dernière catégorie identifiée par l'OPI ne correspond toutefois pas à un domaine de spécialisation possible des photographes mais renvoie à la profusion d'images mise en évidence précedemment et qui pèse justement sur l'activité des professionnels. ...

4.4 Les photographies d'art les plus chères

Les photographes dont les clichés dépassent de façon régulière le million de dollars aux enchères se comptent sur les doigts la main. Il y a l'Allemand Andreas Gursky, l'Américain Richard Prince et sa compatriote Cindy Sherman, ainsi que le duo britannique Gilbert & George. Ces artistes, nés dans les années **** et ****, sont représentés pas les prestigieuses galeries Gagosian, Skarstedt, Thaddaeus Ropac, White Cube, qui continuent de présenter leurs nouveaux travaux.

Au plus fort des ventes de photographies dans le monde, en ****-****, ces quatre signatures phares ont pesé jusqu'à ** % du produit des ventes de ce segment. Mais leurs performances ont considérablement diminué au cours des quatre derniers exercices, comme l'ensemble des ventes de photographie d'après-guerre dans le monde. Dans une large mesure, les résultats de ces quatre photographes révèlent donc l'appétence des collectionneurs pour la photographie en général. Quelque ** photographes, autres que Gursky, Prince, Sherman et Gilbert & George, ont enregistré au moins une enchère supérieure au million de dollars sur les ** dernières années. Parmi ces artistes, Hiroshi Sigimoto (***).

5.1 Regulations governing the sale of art photographs

According to the the Union of Professional Photographers , the copyright is a derivative of the literary and artistic property aimed at protecting the author in his creative and distribution process . Since the *st er on July ****, copyright was codified and allowed the art photographer to benefit from it.

Similarly, each auction company must to authenticate , to estimate and to award the work of art before selling it, according to Tajan

Authentication is a process by which the auction house will authorize a person to transfer a work of art by recognizing the nature and origin of the work, most often by calling upon an expert. The authenticity of the lot is guaranteed by an auctioneer in accordance with the law of * March **** (***). The estimation of the work is the process by which the auction house will set an expected price when the work goes to auction. The auction of the work is the process by which the auctioneer authorizes the transfer of ownership and concludes the contract between the seller and the buyer. The buyer becomes the owner at the first hammer stroke and when the auctioneer utters the word "auctioneer".

It finally exists, a legal scale fixing the tender rate ...

6.1 Segmentation

Major auction companies in France:

Christie's Sotheby's Artcurial Piasa Millon Drouot Tajan Aguttes

Online art photography sales galleries

Artsper ArtPhotoLimited KazoArt Catawaki

• Christie’s
• Sotheby’s
• Piasa
• Millon & associés
• Drouot L’Hotel
• Tajan
• Aguttes
• Artsper
• ArtPhotoLimited
• KazoArt
• Catawiki
• Art Photo Limited (Myposter group)
• Smart Photo
• GAD collection
• La Galerie Rouge
• Almendra
• Artphotoby - Sophie Leiser Galerie
• Galerie Lumière des Roses
• Galerie Vu'
• La Galerie de l'Instant
• Lumas
• Yellowkorner
• Getty Images