Art Busan 2022, Busan. Courtesy of Art Busan.

Several media outlets have reported that Art Basel, held in Switzerland in mid-June, has nearly reached its pre-pandemic figures. Despite the confusion in the global economic and financial markets, market volatility seemingly appeared to have little impact on the art world. 

Although collectors from mainland China and Hong Kong remained inaccessible, the fair reported a notable presence of collectors from Korea, Japan, and India among the leading buyers. 

There were substantial sales reports from the galleries, including Hauser & Wirth’s record-breaking sale of Louise Bourgeois’ iconic Spider sculpture for $40 million.

A number of works by Dansaekhwa painters were sold at South Korea’s Kukje Gallery as well. Park Seo-bo’s Écriture No.140416 (2014) was sold for 400 million KRW; Ha Chong-Hyun’s Conjunction 94-95 (1994) for 200 million KRW; and Yoo Youngkuk’s Work (1966) for about 1 billion KRW. 

Numerous market players predicted that this boom at Art Basel last month would also affect the Korean art market for the remainder of the year.


Art Basel in Basel, 2022. Courtesy of Art Basel.

Yet confusion persists as economic growth slows and inflation ramps up. As there are also predictions that the outlook for the Korean art market will be unstable, the Korea Art Authentication & Appraisal Research Center has published the “June 2022 Art Market Report,” a report analyzing the stability and prospects of the Korean and international art market in the second half of the year and suggesting criteria for art investment decisions.

The report advises art investors to monitor the ripple effect of both domestic and international economic market indicators, as the financial and art markets do not decline simultaneously.

The auction market is the first to indicate a decline in the art market. The volume of sales in Korean auction houses has already begun to decline. According to the report, the average number of artworks in major auctions in 2021 was 167, but in June of this year, the number decreased by 24.5%.

The failure to sell large works at major auctions held in May at Seoul Auction and K Auction had a significant impact on the overall auction results. Several works by renowned artists, including Lee Ufan, Park Seo-bo, Kim Whanki, Yun Hyong-keun, and Kim Tschang-Yeul, were withdrawn prior to the sale or did not sell. And many collectors had a preference for bidding on smaller works by these renowned artists rather than larger ones.

As there are indications of a slowdown in the art market, the report also warns investors not to get caught up in speculative investments, especially in artworks by artists who have suddenly gained a lot of traction with little substantiation, such as NFT artworks and works by star-artists.

The high selling price of these works can make it difficult for market participants to gain a clear understanding of the state-of-the-art market. Those who benefited from the booming art market could be the hardest hit if the art market experiences a significant decline

The center added that the art investment was partly an alternative to estate properties facing heavy regulations or volatile stocks and warned that the price increase may be an aftermath of inflation and interest rate increases.


KIAF 2021, Seoul. Photo by Aproject Company.

Nonetheless, the boom in the Korean art market is anticipated to continue. The number of younger South Korean collectors who invest in art continues to rise, and these collectors have a wide range of artistic interests. According to Artnet News, Art Basel 2022 in Switzerland witnessed a significant presence of young Korean collectors as well as the highest number of Korean collectors in the past 15 years.

The report also predicted that, with the upcoming inaugural edition of Frieze Seoul in September, international galleries will be more interested in the South Korean art market.

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