The art market downturn continues. In the third quarter of this year, the total hammer price in the domestic art auction market decreased by approximately 26% compared to the same period last year.
According to the '2024 3rd Quarter Art Market Report' recently released by Kaiga, the corporate-affiliated research institute of the Korea Art Authentication Research Center, the total hammer price of nine domestic art auction houses in the third quarter of this year was about 23.75 billion KRW, recording a figure 26.2% lower than the approximately 32.176 billion KRW in the same period last year.
Among the two major auction houses, Seoul Auction's total hammer price decreased by 28% to about 8.53 billion KRW, while K Auction's total hammer price dropped by 12% to about 10.26 billion KRW.
The average price of sold artworks fell by 8.5%.
The report stated, "The domestic art market has experienced the worst third quarter," and forecasted that recovery would be difficult for the time being if this trend continues.
Regarding the art fair Freeze Seoul, held since September 2022, the report predicted, "It is uncertain what decision will be made after the scheduled five-year contract for hosting in Korea ends, but if the current atmosphere persists, it does not seem likely to lead to a positive conclusion."
The report analyzed, "The main purchasing demand for artworks domestically has become significantly smaller," adding, "Rather than buying artworks at Freeze Seoul, which brings works with lower price ranges, the stance is to go to the main leagues of art fairs that bring major works, such as London in the UK, New York in the US, and Switzerland."
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