This article is part of the Artnet Intelligence Report: Year Ahead 2026. Drawing on in-depth analysis of the past year’s market performance, the latest edition offers a data-driven snapshot of the art world today—from recent auction results to the artists shaping the global conversation.
The Impressionist and Modern category overtook postwar and contemporary to become the most lucrative art-market segment in 2025, as collectors continued to favor well-known names amid a more cautious market.
It generated $4.7 billion in sales, a 29.5 percent increase from 2024. Growth was particularly pronounced in the $10-million-plus bracket, which saw $1.5 million in sales—up 68.6 percent from 2024. The number of lots sold in the category reached a decade high 122,213, and the average price per lot rose 22.4 percent year over year.
Postwar and contemporary came in second place, with $4.1 billion in total sales, a modest 2.5 percent uptick year over year. The category also saw the most lots sold in a decade, 178,445, but the average price per lot dropped to a decade low of $23,027, indicating that works traded at lower prices. This may reflect a generational shift in tastes, as younger collectors gravitate away from postwar darlings and toward other genres, including Old Masters.
Old Masters brought in $708.6 million, a mighty 41.2 percent increase over 2024. A lot of material came to market in 2025, thanks in part to the Thomas A. Saunders III collection of Old Master works, which went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in May. Although that trove realized $65 million, it fell short of its presale estimate by $15 million, a sign of continued price sensitivity.
The ultra-contemporary category, encompassing art made by artists born after 1974, cooled for the fourth year running. It brought in $229.9 million in total sales, a 26.5 percent drop from 2024. The average price for an ultra-contemporary work at auction tumbled to $15,629, a decade low and down 72.4 percent from its pandemic-era peak in 2021, when raging speculation fueled the category.
