What is in store for the art market in 2018?

Georgina Adam, art market editor-at-large and author of Dark Side of the Boom, makes her annual predictions for The Art Newspaper. A few high level takeaways include:

The increased use of auction guarantees

The November sale of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi for an all-time auction record of $450 million, had a undisclosed third-party guarantee. Adam predicts that sellers of other highly estimated works of art will likely seek out the guarantee incentive and protection.

More cross-category sales

Christie’s included the Leonardo painting in their Contemporary and Modern art auction which would have normally been included in their Old Masters auction. Sotheby’s include a Formula 1 car in their Contemporary and Modern art auction. Even though the Old Master painting and the race car seemed to not be suitable for those auctions, they both achieved incredible prices.

Private sales

Adam is unclear as to whether private sales will increase or decrease. The seller and buyer opacity and lower risk are advantages of private sales. However, sellers in private sales may miss out of unprecedented auction prices.

Read the rest of her 2018 art market predictions here

Also check out her 2017 past art market predictions here