Yayoi Kusama and François-Xavier Lalanne were the top-selling artists at auction in 2024, according to the Hiscox Artist Top 100 (HAT 100) report. Released on April 3rd, the study found that Kusama—who also topped last year’s list—retained her number-one position, with a total sales value of $58.77 million. Lalanne, meanwhile, jumped to second place after ranking 34th in last year’s report. The French artist, known for Surrealist-inflected sculptures of animals, generated $52.85 million in total sales.
Women artists gained ground in the ranking, now claiming four spots in the top 10. British painter Cecily Brown ranked at number seven (down from number four in 2023) with sales of $13.37 million, while British portraitist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye ranked ninth with $10.39 million in sales. French artist Claude Lalanne—wife of François-Xavier, with whom she worked as Les Lalanne—came in at number 10 with $9.75 million in sales.
Among younger artists (those under 45), American painter Lucy Bull led with $8.07 million in sales, followed closely by British painter Jadé Fadojutimi with $7.05 million and Swiss painter Nicolas Party with $5.64 million. But despite the significant market share commanded by these three younger artists, the report found that the overall value of this segment dropped by 49% year-over-year.
This decline is in keeping with a broader market contraction. In its analysis, the report found that auction sales for artworks created after 2000 dropped to $698 million in 2024—a 27% year-over-year decline. Works by the top 100 artists accounted for 77% of that total. This downward trend continues a contraction that began in 2022. Compared to 2021, auction sales in 2024 were down 41%. This was largely driven by a steep decline in high-value transactions: Sales of works over $1 million fell 41% by value and 31% by number of lots.
On the other hand, lower-value works showed resilience, with a 20% year-over-year increase in the number of works under $50,000 sold. This mirrors the findings of Art Basel and UBS’s “The Art Market 2025,” released earlier this month, which noted that, despite a broader market slowdown, dealers at the lower end of the market experienced an increase in sales.
“The art market is clearly evolving, with collectors now gravitating towards lower-value pieces and established artists,” said Robert Read, head of art and private client at Hiscox. “We are also seeing a return to more measured and thoughtful collecting of art rather than the frenzy of recent years that was fuelled by speculators.”
The HAT 100 was produced by the insurance company Hiscox Group, with research carried out by ArtTactic. The analysis is focused on unique, non-editioned artworks made after 2000 and sold at auction between 2018 and 2024 at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Paris. The data set includes more than 36,800 lots by over 5,000 artists.
