The 70% Correction: How Contemporary Collapsed and the Old Masters Came Back
In 2021, the fastest money in art was made on paintings that were barely dry. Five years later, the average ultra-contemporary work sells at auction for $15,629 — a decade low, and 72.4% below its 2021 peak. Over the same stretch, Christie’s took $183 million on paintings made before 1850, a 232% year-on-year jump.
