"The total amount of domestic art auction bids decreased by 26%...Worst 3rd Quarter"

In the third quarter of this year, the total amount of successful bids in the domestic art auction market fell 26% from the same period last year, according to an analysis that the art market continues to stagnate.

Kai, a research institute affiliated with the Korea Art Appraisal Research Center, said the total amount of successful bids by nine domestic art auction houses in the third quarter of this year was 23.75 billion won, down 26.2% from the same period last year.

According to the two major auction houses, Seoul Auction's total successful bid fell 28% to 8.53 billion won, while K Auction fell 12% to 10.26 billion won.

The average price of the winning works fell by 8.5%.

Kai said the domestic art market had its worst third quarter, and predicted that it would be difficult to expect a recovery for the time being if this trend continues.

At the same time, he expressed concern that the contract extension is unlikely to lead to a positive conclusion if the atmosphere is the same as this year's art market, "Art Fair Freeze" Seoul.

The Frieze Seoul, which was signed in 2022 for a five-year contract and is held in Korea every year, was held last September.