Collectors charged after works by young, untested artists last year even as overall global auction sales fell by as much as a quarter — a phenomenon many dealers had never seen before the pandemic.
During past downturns, emerging artists saw their prices temporarily plummet or their works disappear from auction catalogs as collectors retreated to the safety of familiar names like Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso. In the Covid era, blue-chip heavyweights held their own but the feverish bidding pooled at the market’s most speculative end, with newcomers like Matthew Wong and Amoako Boafo reaching career-high amounts.
Last year, auction sales for artists 40 and younger at the top three houses surged 54% to $51 million, according to ArtTactic, a London-based research firm. That contrasts with 2020’s 39% drop in sales, to $857 million, for the broader swath of contemporary art auctioned at the same houses the year before, the firm said.
Collectors holed up at home worried about their health and safety but had time and money to pursue artists they coveted before the crisis. Art adviser Lisa Schiff said, “There weren’t a lot of discounts, but some collectors felt like they could get better access to artists if they wanted.”
The trophy set had a steady year, with Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh faring well, but only one work by Francis Bacon topping $85 million. Others were largely absent, such as Claude Monet, who had 47 pieces up for bid in 2019, including a “Haystacks” that sold for $111 million. This past year, only 18 Monets surfaced at auction and the priciest was a $4.7 million landscape sold by the Brooklyn Museum. Jeff Koons, whose mirrored “Rabbit” sculpture sold in 2019 for $91 million, also proved scarce. Last year, his highest auction price was $626,443 for a gilded mirror shaped like a monkey.
Supply was an important factor in how artists did at auction. Some collectors and their estates were wary of putting works on the block during a pandemic and held off, the auction houses said. But art adviser Anthony Grant said the situation didn’t faze collectors snapping up rising-star artists, and their confidence could portend a bounceback once in-person sales resume this year or next. “People have more time on their hands, and the price points for these newer artists aren’t excessive,” Mr. Grant said.
Here is a look at five contemporary artists who enjoyed a breathless year at the auctions.
SALMAN TOOR (born 1983)
This Pakistani artist, who now lives in New York, paints luxuriant scenes of brown men in hauntingly divergent scenarios. Some depict gay men in easygoing repose — taking nude selfies in bed or hanging out with friends — while others catch figures in vulnerable situations, such as standing with their belongings before airport security.
Collectors are paying premiums for storyteller painters whose canvases encompass rich histories, and Mr. Toor’s style is emblematic of that, said Mr. Grant, who helped a client buy the artist’s record-setting work. “The narratives are fantastic,” Mr. Grant said. “These artists are really moving the market.” Also helpful: In June Mr. Toor joined a powerhouse gallery, Luhring Augustine, and his first museum solo show is on through April 4 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
GENIEVE FIGGIS (1972)
This Irish painter was discovered six years ago by artist Richard Prince, who used social media to hail her Rococo portraits of top-hat dandies and powdered-wig ladies with ghoulish, blurred faces. Ms. Figgis has exhibited in several museums including the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
Ms. Figgis entered the auction market in 2018, and since then all but two of her 71 offerings have found buyers — including 59 pieces last year alone. One of the main drivers appears to be her popularity in Asia, spurred initially by an October 2019 show of her work in Almine Rech’s Shanghai gallery. Now, auction houses in the region are picking up consignments. Bidders gravitate to group scenes that allude to old master paintings, according to Phillips senior specialist Rebekah Bowling, who added, “They’re colorful and figurative.”
JADÉ FADOJUTIMI (1993)
Still just 27 years old, this British painter and recent Royal College of Art grad became the youngest artist to join the Tate’s collection last year. Her 2018 canvas, “I Present Your Royal Highness,” is on view at Tate Britain. She is known for frenetic, lush abstracts that could double as tropical landscapes, her brush strokes reminiscent of Mark Grotjahn or Brice Marden, but amplified.
Before landing a high-profile spot at the start of the Phillips sale, this London-based artist had already amassed a roster of museums and collectors — from Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center to New York collectors Michael and Susan Hort to San Francisco’s Pamela Joyner. She has exhibits teed up at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami and an invitation to show in the coming Liverpool Biennial.
AYAKO ROKKAKU (1982)
Born in Chiba, Japan, this self-taught artist has skyrocketed since she began finger-painting flowers on sheets of cardboard in 2002 and later won prizes at Takashi Murakami’s Geisai art fair. She is part of the new Hi-Lite art movement, a group whose colorful, flat works reference pop culture such as anime. Ms. Rokkaku’s twist involves adding manga-style portraits of big-eyed girls to her floral backdrops, some of which she paints during live performances.
Asian collectors are bolstering demand for the painter, who ranked third last year in terms of auction sales for artists under 40, with 81 pieces selling for a combined $7.3 million, according to Artprice, a Paris-based database that tracks global auction results. Surpassing her were Matthew Wong, with $26 million in sales, and Amoako Boafo, with $8.2 million in sales.
MR. DOODLE (1994)
Sam Cox, a British artist who goes by Mr. Doodle, has risen in status lately with his Keith Haring-style street art. His version includes cartoonlike faces that inhabit a dense, black-and-white web of interlocking designs.
Sometimes the power of street art lies in volume. In 2020, at least 135 of the artist’s works came up for auction, mainly at houses in Asia, where he is well known. Taking cues from Banksy and KAWS, Mr. Doodle has a website that sells $200 limited-edition prints. (One from an edition of 100, depicting a pink bird, resold online at Sotheby’s in April for $6,400 or 50 times its low estimate.) When Sotheby’s exhibited Mr. Doodle’s art in 2019, all 52 works were snapped up mainly by Asian collectors for between $3,500 and $65,000 apiece before the show even opened.
