Visualized: The Best Selling Visual Art Mediums

Niccolo Conte
2025-04-27 16:32:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

Visualized: The Best Selling Visual Art Mediums

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Fine art remains among the favorite collectible items and investments of the world’s ultra-wealthy.

The global market for art and antiques caters to this demand, with worldwide sales totaling $57.5 billion in 2024. But which visual art forms are most in demand among collectors?

This infographic highlights the best-selling visual art mediums based on the share of fine art dealers’ sales in 2024. The data comes from the Art Market Report 2025 by Arts Economics.

Paintings Reign Supreme

Fine art dealerships, both online and offline, accounted for 59% of global art and antiques sales in 2024, worth around $34 billion. Fine art includes a wide range of mediums such as paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and digital forms.

The table below breaks down the share of each visual art medium in fine art dealers’ total sales (figures don’t add to 100% due to rounding):

Paintings dominated all other art forms, commanding a 59% share of total fine art sales by value, though their share was down 5% year-on-year.

Together, traditional forms of art—paintings, sculptures, and works on paper—accounted for 85% of the total sales value in 2024, with dealers noting collectors’ preference for less risky art forms due to market uncertainty.

The share of prints and multiples, which are often sold at relatively lower price points, increased by 2% from 2023 levels.

Meanwhile, digital, film, and video art comprised a 1% share altogether, with only 11% of all fine art dealers having sold art in these mediums.

The Art Market Outlook for 2025

2024 was an uncertain year for the global art market, with sales declining by 12% from 2023 and marking a second consecutive downturn. The report cites geopolitical tensions, economic pressures, and shifting buyer preferences as potential reasons behind the decline.

In 2025, the art market faces headwinds amid shifting trade policies and the Trump administration’s new round of tariffs, which could have a negative impact on global art trade.

However, with both the global number of billionaires and their wealth rising in 2024, the art market may find some stability from affluent collectors, who often allocate significant portions of their wealth to art.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed this infographic, check out this graphic breaking down the rise of global billionaire wealth, on the Voronoi app.

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