The art auction market experienced a significant downturn in 2024, yet one piece stood out: René Magritte's L'empire des lumières (1954) sold for a staggering $121.1 million at Christie's in New York this November. This sale marked a new record for the artist, although it paled in comparison to the $195 million fetched by Andy Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) in 2022.
Despite this high-profile sale, overall auction totals were disappointing. The cumulative value of the top ten lots in 2024 reached $512.6 million, a 22.3% decline from 2023's $660 million and a striking 53% drop from 2022's total of $1.1 billion. Public sales across major auction houses like Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips totaled $4.1 billion, down 29% from last year and 47.9% from 2022.
Picasso's works, often seen as a market bellwether, also suffered. The top ten Picasso lots brought in $114.6 million, a steep decline from $344.4 million in 2023. The highest Picasso sale this year, La Statuaire (1925), achieved $24.8 million, an 82% drop from the previous year's top sale.
While Magritte's sale was a bright spot, the overall trends indicate a challenging year for the art market, reflecting a broader fluctuation in values for high-profile artists.