Who's Behind the Changing Tastes in the Art Market?

For the latest edition of the Artnet Intelligence Report, which is now free to download, Artnet columnist Katya Kazakina wrote a wide-ranging cover story about the state of play in the art industry. Titled “New Money, New Taste,” it charts a revolution that is underway in the market, amid what has been dubbed the Great Wealth Transfer.

Economists, Kazakina reports, believe that $84 trillion in assets will change hands over the next 20 years—that's trillion... with a T. Gen Xers will inherit $30 trillion, millennials $27 trillion, and Gen Zers $11 trillion, according to one study. (Huge amounts of money!) She writes, "Their values, taste, and investment decisions will help determine the next cohort of top artists—who’s in and who’s out, who will endure and who will not."

Could longstanding kings of auction houses, like Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso, be dethroned?

Will new names—and new types of material—arise to take their place? Everyone is guessing, aiming to protect their assets while angling for business.

All of this is happening against the backdrop of an art market marked by intense uncertainty, following some very tough years, as data in the Intelligence Report shows. The whole industry feels unsettled and off-kilter, and firms of all sizes are trying to figure out how to navigate the situation. This week on the podcast, Editor of Artnet News Pro, Andrew Russeth, speaks to Kazakina about her reporting.