THE contemporary

The contemporary art market
$160 million
$120 million
Jeff Koons
Christopher Wool
$80 million
$40 million
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 H1 2015
Auction Revenue for Christopher Wool & Jeff Koons 2005 – H1 2015
© ARTPRICE.COM
market trends – appears in three of the current
top ten artists’ CVs.
More or less in tune with market realities, these
major cultural institutions represent significant milestones
for artists, although they are by no means
the only influencers. In reality, an artist’s career is
a succession of inextricably linked events. Hence,
the signing of an artist with a prestigious gallery
will inevitably boost his/her market prices, but
those prices will depend on the artist’s previous
circumstances and, going forward, they will have a
significant impact on his/her future success.
Nowadays, unlike the past, the market reach of
an artist and his/her prices depends less on the
role of art critics than on the support provided by
prominent galleries and collectors reputed for their
talent-spotting flair. At the heart of this sphere of
influence, the major trend-setters, through the medium
of powerful networks, have substantial control
over the Contemporary art market. A gallery’s
influence is reflected by its international success, its
financial firepower and by the promotional dynamic
that it generates. The major galleries present
their artists to collectors and curators at the international
art fairs, issue expensive publications and
often support the prices of their artists at auctions.
In these ways, they influence the volume of works
by their artists available on the market, and ‘construct’
their market valuations.
In the Intermediary/Artist relationship, the prestige
of the former fuels the success of the latter. A
closer look at the career paths of the most soughtafter
artists allows a better understanding of their
market values. From Damien Hirst, who constructed
his prices by ‘playing’ with and finally saturating
the market, to Ai Weiwei, fiercely independent
and rare at auction, this chapter looks at the key
steps in the careers of some of the market’s current
superstars.
Christopher Wool outsells
Jeff Koons...
The two men have much in common: same age
(60), same nationality (American), same influences
(Andy Warhol and Pop Art in general), but their
works are very different. Whereas Jeff Koons, the
Prince of Kitsch, enjoys working in different media
and regularly switches between photography and
sculpture, Christopher Wool remains essentially
focused on canvas. The former has a high media
profile, is accustomed to criticism and controversy
and has been the subject of a recent retrospective
that has moved from the Whitney Museum in
New York to the Centre Pompidou in Paris and to
the Guggenheim in Bilbao. The latter only has a
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