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How to invest in art · lesson 2 of 20
Primary and secondary market
A new work by a living artist usually leaves the studio through a gallery. This is the primary market. The gallery sets the price, chooses who gets to buy and often keeps a waiting list, favouring collectors who won't flip the work straight away.
Every sale after that is the secondary market: dealers, auction houses selling at public auction and auction houses selling by private treaty. For modern and post-war masters, nearly everything happens here. Picasso died in 1973, Warhol in 1987, so their prices are set by resales.
In 2025 dealers sold $34.8 billion, public auctions $20.7 billion and auction houses' private sales just under $4.2 billion (Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026). Among the dealers surveyed for the same report, 52% work only in the primary market, 9% only in the secondary and 39% in both.
Questions
1. What is the primary market?
The first sale of a work, usually through the artist's gallery
Primary means the first sale; everything that comes after is secondary.
2. Where are works by modern and post-war masters mostly traded?
On the secondary market
These artists died long ago, so prices come from resales.
3. How much did public auctions sell in 2025 according to the Art Basel and UBS report?
$20.7 billion
$34.8 billion went through dealers, $4.2 billion through auction houses' private sales.
Next lesson: Auctions and the evening sale calendar
Continue from lesson 4
How to invest in art: an online course in 20 short lessons with quizzes and a final certificate, on Unicorn Academy.
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- Mercato primario e mercato secondario (Italiano)
- Marché primaire et marché secondaire (Français)
- Primärmarkt und Sekundärmarkt (Deutsch)
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