MACCH Steering Committee member Professor Rachel Pownall enlisted to write the report gained global coverage in the press, covered in The New York Times, Forbes, The Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Handelsblatt, and The NRC, as well as The Art Newspaper, and the Antiques Trade Gazette.

The TEFAF Art Market Report is a barometer of the sales and conditions in the public auction sales market and the private sales, the domain of dealers and gallerists. This year’s findings showed a stable resilient art market, despite a fall in auction sales. Auction sales declined in the U.S. and the U.K amid an increasingly fragmented political landscape; buyers and sellers alike are seeking privacy and opacity in their transactions, to the benefit of art dealers. The art market has shifted significantly away from auction sales in these two major markets towards private sales, reflecting the fragmented policies and austerity programmes, benefitting high-end dealers.

The industry’s success remains rooted in its ability to function according to the principles on which successful societies are built—quality, credibility, stability, and resilience. Discretion is an ironic trend this year, as TEFAF strives for exceptional transparency in estimating the size of the global art market. Looking ahead dealers are optimistic; how the changing landscape influences the picture in 2017 is just about to unfold.