Hurun Most Successful Chinese Living Artists 2023

(20 June 2023, Shanghai) The Hurun Research Institute today launched the Hurun China Art List 2023, a ranking of the Top 100 Chinese artists alive today based on the sales of their works at public auction in the year ending 31 December 2022. This is the sixteenth year of the Hurun China Art List. The report includes the Hurun Best-Selling Chinese Artists 2023, a list of the 100 best-selling artists from China. The lists were compiled from data collected by Artprice, Artron and ArtPro.

China's art market cooled off last year. The global art market totaled US$67.8bn last year, up 3% from a year earlier, according to The Art Market 2023, a report by Art Basel & UBS. The USA remained the largest single art market, accounting for 45% of global sales, up 8% year on year. The UK regained its position as the second largest market, accounting for 18% of global sales. China's share fell to 17%, from second to third. Sales in China fell 14% last year from a year earlier as the impact of the Covid-19 hampered art market activity last year, with some art fairs and auctions cancelled, shortened or postponed.

The total turnover of the 100 artists on the Hurun China Art List 2023 was US$347mn, a decrease of 46% over last year. The threshold for the list has down to US$530,000. The turnover of 3 artists exceeded CNY 100mn, 8 less than last year. A total of 298 artists have made the Hurun China Art List these 16 years.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said: “Average sales on Hurun China Art List fell 46% this year, and the number of people who sold more than CNY 100mn was just 3, almost the lowest ever. The main reasons include the global economic slowdown, which has left entrepreneurs with less capital to invest, and the Covid-19, which has caused major auction houses such as Poly and Yongle to postpone their autumn sales. We hope that our art list can bring some inspiration to the Chinese who have the ability to collect, and help them to start the first step of art collection.”

“Since May this year, 41 Chinese artists have been declared of national cultural importance, with their works no longer allowed to leave the country, led by the likes of Zhang Daqian, Qi Baishi, Feng Zikai, Li Keran, Wu Guanzhong and Zhao Wuji.”

“The influence of young Chinese artists is growing, and the creative thinking of the new generation is being recognized by collectors. The average age of artists on the list has fallen for four years in a row, and this year the number of artists under 50 is the highest in a decade with 23."

“There are 8 female artists on the list this year, which doesn't sound like much, but it's the highest number in years, and there were 8 in 2021. The art landscape has changed dramatically from a few decades ago, with female artists increasingly receiving attention and recognition from mainstream institutions.”

“An artist's personal brand is very important to collectors. There are 27 evergreen artists on the list in the past decade, including Zeng Fanzhi, Cui Ruzhuo, Huang Jiannan and Fan Zeng. The sales of these 27 artists over the past 10 years accounted for 60% of the total sales of the 10 year list artists.”

“With only 298 artists on the list over the past 16 years, it is hard to displace established artists whose works have long been the dominant force in China's art auction market. Established artists' personal brands played an important role, with 79 remaining in the top 100 compared with last year, and only 11 new face on the list, 4 fewer than last year.”

“This year, the sales of the artists on the list have gone from concentrated to dispersed. Ten years ago, the sales of the Top 10 artists accounted for 45% of the list, five years ago it was 50% and last year it was 56%. This year, the sales of the Top 10 artists accounted for just 4% of the list.”

“Zhang Daqian, Zhao Wuji, Qi Baishi, Wu Guanzhong and Fu Baoshi, the most popular art masters in modern China, whose works are still active in the art auction market, are milestones in the history of modern calligraphy and painting, and great pioneers who have made outstanding contributions to the development of Chinese art.”

This is an English language summary of the full Chinese press release which can be found at www.hurun.net. Please note percentage changes of the sales totals is based on a comparison of the Chinese Yuan sales figures of this versus last year. For media inquiries please contact our public relations team whose contact details can be found at the end of this report.