Industry data

Auction sales at the top of the sector have slowed in the first half of this year.

The Newbattle Abbey Kunstkammer is the latest work of art to be granted an export licence this year, despite the arts minister’s attempts to retain them for the nation.

Leaders of trade associations BADA and LAPADA have welcomed an announcement that antiques contributed to a recent rise in UK retail.

Auction firms in France have been releasing their ‘Bilans’ or sales figures for the first half of 2019.

More dealers than ever are flocking to fairs, according to the recent Society of London Art Dealers (SLAD) members survey.

The global online art market recorded sales up 9.8% to $4.64bn (£3.5bn) in 2018, according to the seventh annual Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2019.

Sixty-four percent of Chinese art collectors bought Western European modern and contemporary art in the past five years according to a survey conducted for the TEFAF Art Market Report which was presented at the fair as the doors opened for the second preview day.

Sotheby’s held its very first auction on March 11, 1744, and today it is celebrating this 275-year milestone with the opening of an exhibition detailing its history in pictures.

The UK’s art market reclaimed its second position in the global league table as China’s rapid growth slowed during 2018.

Sotheby’s reported a 16% jump in sales last year to $6.4bn (£4.8bn).

A thousand of the UK’s public sculptures have been digitally catalogued with 150,000 to follow by the end of next year.

Despite economic concerns such as Brexit and the possibility of global trade wars, the UK’s top contemporary art auction houses posted the highest growth for Modern and contemporary art sales in 2018.

Christie’s reported total sales for 2018 at £5.3bn, up 3% on the previous year – led by the Rockefeller collection which set a record for any private collection at auction.