There were 22,605 art dealers in the United States as of 2009, according to Ibis World. Art dealers range from small artist cooperatives and galleries to large auction houses and museums. Many galleries can be found in Art Info's Gallery Guide. Sotheby's Holdings and Christie's International are the main brokers of well-known historical and contemporary artworks. Online art dealers include Etsy, eBay, UGallery and Art Exchange.
Art dealers may specialize in certain types of visual art or offer a broad range of products. Art products include carvings, drawings, etchings, lithographs, new media installations, paintings, photographs, pottery, sculptures and watercolors, among others. Galleries and auction houses may also offer buying services, which match clients with artworks that meet their needs. Some galleries and artist cooperatives also rent artwork for a monthly fee. According to Artprice, paintings accounted for 44.41 percent of worldwide art sales in 2009, followed by drawings (25.94 percent), prints (18.15 percent), sculptures (5.81 percent), photography (4.16 percent) and miscellaneous media (1.53 percent).
Art prices in the United States grew 88 percent between 1990 and 2007, according to Artprice. The global economic downturn starting in 2008, coupled with an injection into the market of discounted artworks, dragged current art prices downward (although no estimates are available in early 2010). Arts dealers brought in $7.814 billion of revenue in 2009, according to Ibis World. This amount only factors in recognized art dealers in the industry. There is no concrete, complete way to account for revenue generated by the hundreds of small galleries and websites that also deal in art.
Nicholas Forrest, an arts market analyst, recognizes five types of art buyers. Collectors are generally middle-class professionals who identify a particular genre or time period from which to collect artworks. Decorators buy artworks that reflect their style, décor and color scheme. Investors purchase art for its potential long-term financial returns. Opportunists take advantage of a hot art market to buy and sell art on a quick turnaround schedule. Egotists buy art to impress their acquaintances.
Though global financial trouble led to decreases in prices and sales, art industry analysis by Artprice predicted an imminent recovery. Changing tastes have led to contemporary art experiencing a downturn while Old Masters and modern artworks have picked up interest. As with most industries, the arts market is cyclical. Expect trends in prices and tastes to continue this up-and-down cycle in the future.