7 Key Predictions for the Art Market in 2021
1. The New Role of Technology
In The Global Market and Covid-19, Citibank predicts, “going forward, technology should be used in the future to re-distribute the wealth generated by a few to benefit the larger community of artists and galleries.” The question remains of how technology can best be used to distribute wealth in the art market. In an article by The Art Newspaper, Karen Jenkins-Johnson, Founder and Principal of Jenkins Johnson Gallery, says “I believe the longest-lasting impact will be from the use of online communication tools including social media, allowing for virtual exhibitions, studio visits, and connecting people globally. I believe it will have a positive lasting impact because it lowers the barriers to participation for gallerists, collectors, artists, curators, and writers.”
Though technology levels the playing field for galleries to a certain extent, the focus of the art market is overwhelmingly set on the market’s largest and wealthiest players. In terms of advertising, those galleries, auction houses, and art institutions with the greatest capital can easily outshine the typical galleries and out-wit any algorithm. Naturally, online marketplace also favors its wealthiest and most successful players.
The Artory Registry and free price database give institutions and collectors the tools to participate in this exclusive market with more confidence. The price database gives all market players access to historical transaction data sourced from around the globe, making it a valuable tool for informing collectors on price trends and other art historical research.
On the other hand, only trusted institutions can cryptographically sign and record information on The Artory Registry: guaranteeing the veracity and credibility of signed information on Artory. By using the Registry, galleries, auction houses, appraisers, and other art organizations leverage blockchain to secure and protect artwork information. In doing so, institutions create a time-stamped, unalterable record of ownership and provenance which can be shared privately with their clients through permission-based access. Artory therefore enables institutions to issue digital proofs of purchase, authenticity, condition, and more to their clients through a fully secure and private platform.
By securing information, market players also secure an artwork’s value and operate with increased credibility. For example, dealers can secure vital information on the history of an artwork and the diligence that has been done on an artwork.
Read more on Artory’s offering during the COVID-19 pandemic here.
2. Art Fairs: Stay Online or Resume In-Person?
“It will be a different age, with a lot more technology,” says Elizabeth von Habsburg, Managing Director of Artory’s partner Winston Art Group to Forbes. “The larger fairs will be back in person, but they will start to be smaller, with an online component. The small fairs may be online permanently.”
Financial Times, however, offers an additional point of view. “While these vastly improved websites will continue to support such events and were better than nothing in 2020, [online art fairs] have run their course in their current forms.”
3. Digital Transformation is Here to Stay
In a recent interview with Artsy, Edward Dolman, the CEO of Phillips, says, “even before the pandemic, we were seeing year-on-year growth in online sales and international bidding by phone… Of course, there’s nothing quite like seeing a great work of art in person and we absolutely remain committed to our brick-and-mortar locations. However, we are also keenly attuned to the reality of digital life and well aware that many of these advancements have proven to be extremely welcome and are here to stay.”
4. “Regional Market Autonomy is in Sight”
According to Apollo Magazine, during the pandemic, “many millions of people, a large proportion of them in Asia, were tuning in to watch other people spend unimaginable sums on works of art. Perhaps it was simply a novel spectator sport at a time when not much else was happening, but this engagement of the young and aspirational will have long-term consequences for the art market. Already, Asian clients are responsible for around 30 per cent of global auction sales and a significant proportion of top lots. Regional market autonomy is in sight.”
Artory’s free price database is an incredibly useful tool for young collectors who are just starting out in the art market. Unlike other price databases, Artory uses an innovative “Object Matching System” that sifts through a massive amount of historical transaction records looking for duplicate information and provenance data to identify duplicate objects. The system ultimately aggregates all information about the different sales and prices of an artwork over decades into one record on Artory. Therefore, Artory’s price database results will always give you the most complete history of an artwork’s provenance and auction performance. Because Artory’s database is so massive and all-inclusive, it also serves as the basis for the research done by the Art Basel + UBS Art Market Report.
5. The Rise of NFTs in the Art Market
As Nanne states in this conversation with CoinDesk, the value of NFTs runs parallel to the value of art, as both rely on provable scarcity, uniqueness, and tradability. Credible and immutable information is key for NFTs. Artory hopes to bring the same credibility and immutability to the physical art market by registering trusted information on the blockchain. By registering artwork information on Artory, you can be confident that your information is recorded securely and safely through our system without fear of loss or outside tampering.
NFTs have taken the art world by storm. With #Beeple’s “EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS,” currently up for auction at #Christies, many people are now speculating on how NFTs will redefine the art market.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that represent a wide range of unique tangible and intangible items, from collectible sports cards to virtual real estate and even digital sneakers. Because all NFT data is stored on the blockchain via smart contracts, each token cannot be destroyed, removed, or replicated. Ownership of these tokens is also immutable.
NFTs have become hugely popular with crypto users and companies alike because of the way they revolutionize the collectibles space. According to an article by Coindesk, since November 2017, there has been a total of $174 million spent on NFTs.
Artory uses the latest technology to record data securely on the blockchain, as well as bank-level encryption to protect any private data you choose to store in your encrypted Artory account. Listen to the full talk here.
6. “The Number of Fine Artworks Sold at Auction will Reach an All-Time High”
Artnet News editor, Tim Schneider, thinks very few collectors are interested in selling their best works this year and it “will largely keep the auction houses pinned to a ‘quantity over quality’ strategy.” He writes, “emboldened by encouraging results in their online sales and hybrid auction formats in 2020’s second half, the houses will also have incentive to move even further away from their pre-lockdown calendars by heartily pumping up the number and types of public sales they stage.”
7. Equal Importance of Transparency and Data Privacy
COVID-19 has greatly accelerated the push for blockchain technology, but according to Kurt Nielsen, President of Partisia Blockchain Foundation, it has also increased the urgency for the blockchain ecosystem to ensure comprehensive privacy and confidentiality. In his prediction, “blockchain technology will not achieve widespread adoption until solutions that safeguard privacy and confidentiality are prioritized.” Luckily, “if there’s one thing that can be said of the blockchain industry as a whole it’s that there is nothing in the way of this technology achieving its full potential that our industry has not already proven we are equipped to handle.” By that time, blockchain platforms like Artory will be able to facilitate a fairer and more equitable society and economy, while ensuring personal data privacy and confidentiality.
As Erik A. Jens states in his interview with Rough&Polished, “In the art sector, we see amazing new companies like Artory which is the world’s leading art registry with the most comprehensive and immutable secure database for art and objects. They ensure that only the most trusted information available is added to the blockchain.” Artory’s database contains a wide array of information about artworks and artists operating at every price level. As the diversity of artworks coming to market increases, Artory’s Registry and free price database are invaluable tools to both buyers and sellers in the art market.
Visit Artory to browse our massive database at no cost and learn more about Artory partnership on our Partner Page.
To read the articles referenced in this post in detail, go to:
It’s January 1st, 2021, Do You Know Where Your Art Market Is? by Forbes.
The Global Art Market and COVID-19 by Citibank.
What Does 2021 Hold for the Wounded Art Market? by Apollo Magazine.
The Gray Market: 10 Daring and Highly Specific Predictions for the Art Industry in 2021 (and Other Insights) by Artnet News.
Art Market: Predictions for 2021 by Financial Times.
‘One of the Most Shocking, Tumultuous Years on Record’: Art Market Figures Reflect on 2020—and Guess at What 2021 Might Hold by The Art Newspaper.
3 Art-World Experts on How the Art Market Will Change in 2021 by Artsy.
Interview of Erik A. Jens by Rough&Polished.
