2 The UK art market
10. With a global share of 26%, the UK has by far
the largest art and antiques market in Europe and is second only
to the USA in the world. In 2001, the DCMS published a Creative
Industries Mapping Document, largely derived from work undertaken
by Market Tracking International (MTI). A value of £3,467
million was placed on the UK market. This figure represents the
turnover of UK art and antiques businesses in 1999, and is almost
evenly split between dealers and auction houses. The analogous
figure for France was £2,115 million, making it the only
European country whose market is within comparable parameters.
While France has the greatest number of art and antiques businesses
in Europe, the UK (which comes second) has the highest number
of employees.
11. Citing a more recent (2001) study by the European
Fine Art Foundation,[2]
the Government's written evidence[3]
gave an overview of the UK art market. The markets for art and
antiques taken together were worth around £4.2 billion, split
roughly 50-50 between auctioneers and dealers, and amounting to
25% of the global market. In the UK there were 9,500 art dealers
and 750 auction houses. The market employed 28,000 full time and
9,000 part time staff. Gross wages and salaries are difficult
to estimate because there is insufficient industry data available.
12. In addition to the art market professionals working
in commercial galleries and auction houses, art is also sold by
artists privately and by other businesses. In written evidence,
the art market strategist Sarah Thelwall observed that this retail
sector was showing significant growth both in London and beyond,
specialising in art for domestic use.[4]
13. Estimates of the number of actual artists vary
significantly, which is unsurprising given difficulties of definition,
both of what constitutes an artist and of the circumstances of
employment. According to the Labour Force Survey, there were approximately
148,700 visual artists in the UK in 2000, a figure which includes
commercial artists and graphic designers. These were divided roughly
equally between employed and self-employed.[5]
Other research, cited in written evidence from a-n The Artists
Information Company, quotes a figure of between 60,000 and 90,000
for the number of visual artists in the UK. Nearly half of these
(48%) were categorised as self-employed. The Visual Arts and Galleries
Association estimates that some 45,000 professional artists work
in the UK.
14. The two international auction houses, Sotheby's
and Christie's, have a significant presence in the UK (Christie's
is headquartered in London) and dominate the European auction
market. The UK market is the most important for both houses in
Europe. Christie's sales in Europe realised £726 million
in 1999, of which £561 million was made in London auctions.
Christie's worldwide sales for 1999 were £1,518 million.
15. The Art Sales Index (ASI) details annual sales
of fine art in a selection of international auction houses. While
the database grows each year, the figures remain far from exhaustive.
They do, however, give an accurate indication of activity within
individual auction houses.
16. Table 1 details the auction houses with the ten
largest turnovers during the 2003/04 season and makes clear the
importance of the UK market to the international houses of Sotheby's
and Christie's, both of which have their largest European presence
in the UK.
http://www.art-sales-index.com/pages/Products/asi36_auct.html
17. Table 2 presents ASI-recorded auction sales during
the 2003/04 season, broken down by country. On this measure, the
UK is easily the second largest world market behind the US. UK
turnover of £550.6 million represented 29.4% of the world
total and 59.4% of the EU total. In terms of volume, the UK is
the world leader. During the 2003/04 season, 22.3% of world fine
art auction sales were made in the UK, compared with 19.7% in
the US.
http://www.art-sales-index.com/pages/Products/asi36-stats.html
18. Market Tracking International (MTI) estimated
that the economic benefit to the UK Treasury of art and antiques
in 1998 was at least £426 million: £130 million from
income taxes levied on employees, £193 million from corporation
taxes on profits and £104 million from VAT.
19. The UK dominates EU exports of pictures; in 1999
total value was £629 million. The UK imported £655.2
million of pictures from outside the EU. These figures provide
one example of the importance of the international market to the
UK. Overall, it accounts for around 50% of industry revenues.[6]
In terms of both imports and exports, the USA is the British
art market's most significant trading partner.[7]
20. While the above data provide some indication
of the economic importance of the art market, it should be recognised
that there is relatively little accurate and timely information
available, both in relation to the UK and the wider world. Studies
that have been undertaken tend to vary in their results due to
differences in the definition of art and the scope of their surveys.
Written evidence from the Visual Arts and Galleries Association
referred to the lack of data available on the economic contribution
of artists, one difficulty arising from the coarseness of the
"art and antiques" category on which many statistics
are based. The Minister for the Arts, Estelle Morris, told us
of the importance she attached to working with the Arts Council
to get a database and accurate information about the value of
the creative industries, including art.[8]
She also referred to the importance of new work by the Regional
Development Agencies in collecting information about the state
and impact of all the creative industries in their regions.[9]
21. We recommend that the Government commissions
research aimed at providing an accurate assessment of the primary,
secondary and retail art markets. Only by such research can government
support for the visual arts be rooted in evidence and be of a
scale that is proportionate to the economic and wider societal
benefits brought by art.
22. The public sector can, and does, intervene to
stimulate the market directly. One example is the Own Art
initiative launched by Arts Council England in November 2004.
This is a national interest-free loan scheme (up to £2,000)
aimed at making it more affordable for individuals to buy high
quality, original contemporary art. By developing the market for
contemporary visual arts, particularly outside London, Own
Art aims to tap into the potential for wider individual ownership
and appreciation of art. DCMS funding for Own Art in 2005-06
is £250,000.[10]
Some 250 galleries across England participate in the scheme,
which also operates north of the border under the auspices of
the Scottish Arts Council. A similar scheme, but aimed at providing
resources for the conservation of art, was mooted by the Institute
of Conservation in written evidence to this inquiry.[11]
23. Overseas, the British Council plays a pre-eminent
role in promoting British art, encouraging sales directly into
the museum network and increasing awareness among dealers, art
fairs and practitioners. We were greatly impressed by the work
the British Council is carrying out in France.
2 The European Art Market in 2002 - A survey,
European Fine Art Foundation Back
3
Ev 43 Back
4
Ev 70-2 Back
5
Ev 12 Back
6
Ev 43 Back
7
Ev 26 Back
8
Q 65 Back
9
Q 66 Back
10
Ev 48 Back
11
Ev 63-4 Back
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