By Lynn Yu

In November 2021， the Hurun Research Institute launched the SICA·Hurun Global Art List 2021， a ranking of the Top 50 artists in the world who are alive today based on the sales of their works at public auctions in the year ending 31 December 2020. This is the second year that the Hurun Global Art List has been drawn up.

Artprice.com provides the art auction data for non-Chinese artists， whilst data about China came from the CAFA National Institute of Art and Cultural Policy.

Hurun Chairman and Chief Researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said，“The COVID has had a big impact on the art market， with the works of the Hurun Top 50 living global artists only selling for USD 1.4 billion at public auction last year， down 24%. However， this does not necessarily mean that the value of the art works decreased， it may just be because good works were not put up for auction by collectors last year.”

“It takes time for an artist to gain recognition from collectors on the secondary market. The average age of the artists on the list is 68. From this we can see they were on average born in 1953 and started attracting the attention of senior art collectors in the mid-1990s，” Hoogewerf said.

In terms of countries， the USA still led with the most number of artists， followed by China， the UK， Japan and Germany. Curiously， traditional art powerhouses floundered， with France only having one artist on the list， while Italy had none. One reason for this is perhaps that the worlds leading art auction houses are based in New York， London， Hong Kong and Beijing.

For the first time， there were two Chinese artists that made the Top 10， with Cui Ruzhuo breaking into the Top 2 for the first time. 12 Chinese artists made the Top 50， which was one more than last year， including four new faces. Hoogewerf also mentioned that the achievements of Chinese contemporary artists in the secondary market cannot be separated from the development of the Chinese economy and the strong community of Chinese collectors： “Influenced by Chinas profound cultural tradition， Chinese contemporary artists have experienced social changes， the development of globalization， and frequent international exchanges.”

British artist David Hockney， 84， topped the list for the second year in a row with sales of his works at public auctions last year totaling USD 131.8 million. A total of 511 Hockney works were sold last year， the most expensive of which was his Nichols Canyon （1980）， which sold for USD 41 million at Phillips in New York. Hockney spends time in Yorkshire， London and California.

Beijing-based Chinese painter Cui Ruzhuo， 77， shot up to second， up eight places， with sales of his works more than doubling to USD 113.1 million. Cui Ruzhuos Landscape （2017） was sold by Yongle auction for USD 27.5 million.

German artist Gerhard Richter， 89， ranked third with USD 102.4 million， down one place from last year. A total of 285 works by Richter were sold last year， and his abstract painting Abstraktes Bild sold for USD 28 million at Sothebys Hong Kong. His works vary in style， and include romanticism， photorealism， abstract expressionism， minimalism and pop art.

Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara， 62， ranked fourth with USD 70 million， up two places from last year. A total of 391 works by Nara were sold last year， including his Hothouse Doll（in the white room - III） （1995）， which sold for nearly USD 13 million.

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama， 92， ranked fifth with USD 66 million， up two places from last year. Yayoi Kusama is the only female artist in the Top 10. Last year， 713 of her works were sold. Yayoi Kusama is known as the Queen of Dots.