Total Hammer Price for Fine Art Reaches 140.5 Billion KRW
Sale Rate at 53.4% Out of 18,339 Lots
Highest Level in the Past Three Years
Chagall’s Works Sold for 16.78 Billion KRW
First Foreign Artist to Top the List in Three Years
"Concentration on Certain Blue-Chip Artists Remains
Urgent Need to Broaden the Artist Base"
Although the number of lots offered and sold has decreased, the domestic art auction market is showing signs of recovery as the sale rate rebounds.
According to the 2025 year-end report on the domestic art auction market released on December 29 by the Korea Art Market Appraisal Association and Artprice, the total hammer price for fine art works sold at online and offline auctions hosted by eight domestic auction houses (Seoul Auction, K Auction, My Art Auction, iAuction, Rise Art, A Auction, Khan Auction, and Continue Auction) amounted to approximately 140.5 billion KRW this year. This represents an increase of 25.4 billion KRW compared to last year’s 115.1 billion KRW.
Looking at the figures by year, the total was about 329.4 billion KRW in 2021, about 236 billion KRW in 2022, and about 153.5 billion KRW in 2023, before dropping to 115.1 billion KRW in 2024. However, the market showed a rebound in 2025.
This year, a total of 18,339 works were offered, with 9,797 of them sold, resulting in a sale rate of 53.4%. While the number of lots offered decreased by about 4,600 and the number of lots sold dropped by about 1,000 compared to the previous year, the sale rate reached its highest level in the past three years, signaling a market recovery. Last year, the sale rate was 46.4%.
Kim Youngseok, Chairman of the Korea Art Market Appraisal Association, stated, "The expansion of the art auction market in 2025 was driven by Marc Chagall. Chagall’s works achieved a total hammer price of approximately 16.78 billion KRW, ranking first in total sales. It is the first time in three years that a foreign artist has taken the top spot." He added, "Although the overall hammer price increased, the concentration on certain blue-chip artists remains. Among the top 30 artists by total hammer price, only 10 are living domestic artists, and only two are in their 40s, highlighting the urgent need to broaden the artist base."
The painting "Bouquet" by Marc Chagall, sold for 9.4 billion KRW at last month's Seoul Auction. Courtesy of Seoul Auction.
Chagall also claimed the highest hammer price for a single work. At the Seoul Auction major sale in November, Chagall’s works fetched 9.4 billion KRW and 5.9 billion KRW, simultaneously recording the first and second highest prices in a single auction-a first in the history of domestic auctions. Another notable case was Kim Whanki’s identical work being sold twice at the same price. Kim Whanki’s "Untitled" (1969) was offered at K Auction’s January and October sales, selling for 780 million KRW each time.
By auction house, Seoul Auction stood out. It accounted for seven of the top ten highest-priced lots, leading the market, and its share of the total hammer price was 47%, significantly ahead of K Auction’s 40%. Seoul Auction’s total hammer price was about 66 billion KRW, while K Auction’s was about 56.6 billion KRW, showing a gap of nearly 10 billion KRW. This is attributed to four Chagall works making it into the top 30 by hammer price.
Chairman Kim emphasized, "The decrease in the number of lots offered but the increase in the sale rate is a sign that the market is shifting from quantity to quality. To sustain this recovery, it is necessary to discover artists from various generations and genres to build a stable foundation."
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