Impressionist and Modern Art Tops 2025 Market With $4.7 Billion in Sales

1 articles · Updated · artnet News · May 12

$4.7 billion in 2025 sales pushed Impressionist and Modern past postwar and contemporary as the art market’s biggest segment, with revenue up 29.5% from 2024.
$10 million-plus works drove much of that gain, rising 68.6%, as cautious collectors favored blue-chip names; the category also sold 122,213 lots, a decade high, with average prices up 22.4%.
$4.1 billion in postwar and contemporary sales left that segment in second place, even as lot volume hit a 10-year high 178,445 and the average price fell to a decade-low $23,027.
$708.6 million in Old Masters sales marked a 41.2% jump, while ultra-contemporary art fell for a fourth straight year to $229.9 million, with average prices down 72.4% from their 2021 peak.

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After its speculative bubble burst, what will it take for ultra-contemporary art to mature and recover?

How is the migration of wealth to Sunbelt states reshaping America's traditional art market landscape?