Who are the main contemporary artists in the screen printing market? In the international market, the first half of 2022 revealed that the three big ones in the contemporary printing market are banksy, David Hockney and Damien Hirst. Banksy maintains his place as the most profitable artist in the contemporary print market, with Banksy's 2021 print sales totaling £39.2m and £12.8m in the first half of 2022. Banksy prints accounted for over 60% of this market segment by total value, ensuring it as the leading artist in this category. The average price paid for a Banksy print was £60,916, based on total auction sales in Q2 2022 - the highest average price paid for a print at the top of the premium contemporary print market. In the first quarter of 2022, that figure was even higher at £72,741. The total return on a Banksy print over a five year period (mid 2017 to mid 2022) also remains the highest in the market at 341.3%. David Hockney is the second most profitable artist in the contemporary print art market. Hockney's 2022 highest sale reached £504,000 at auction, from The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate East Yorkshire, 4 May 2022 (2011). This was also the best performing print in the overall contemporary print market. The average price paid at auction for a Hockney print in Q2 2022 was £27,831, up 135.6% over the last five years (since Q2 2017). The average price paid for a Hockney print continues to rise steadily and the longevity of this market is clear. The Hockney print market has expanded rapidly over the last five and a half years, with total annual sales value rising by 762.2% between 2016 and 2021, reaching a total of £7.3m in 2021 and totaling £ 3.8 million in the first half of 2022. The average price paid for a Hockney print is up 211.5% over the same 5-year period, up 26.6% from 2021 to now in 2022. Over the five-year period, from mid-2017 to mid-2022, Hockney prints had a very high total return of 131.8%.
Alongside Hockney, the printing market forDamien Hirst is one of the largest and most stable, with print sales totaling £2.4m in the first half of 2022. Between 2016 and 2021, total annual sales increased by 135.4%, reaching £3.7m in 2021. First impressions continue to increase in value, with return rates for their impressions over the last five years standing at 57.6%. There is no doubt that Hirst has firmly established himself in the secondary market and his prints offer a consistent middle ground for collectors, where the average price paid for a Hirst print was £11,254 in the first half of 2022.
At P55.ART, the outstanding artists in the screen printing market are José de Guimarães, Manuel Cargaleiro It is Júlio Pomar . Known by the name of the city where he was born, José de Guimarães is a figure of Portuguese art, who explored several areas from the plastic arts, through geology, engineering to archeology. Travels to Africa, Asia and South America marked his career by stimulating and developing an aesthetic language. Its serigraphs filled with strong and cheerful colors have brought many collectors due to their striking values. His works are characterized by the crossing of themes between animal and human, mineral and vegetable are considered a good investment.
Secondly, we have Manuel Cargaleiro which created a striking language in the artistic world by combining ceramics and painting, through interplay between color, light and shadow. His serigraphs are strongly characterized by the use of geometry and abstract language, tending to be non-figurative. His silkscreens have firmly established themselves in the market, offering a consistent middle ground for collectors.
With decades of career, Júlio Pomar (1926-2018) became one of the most highly regarded Portuguese artists of the 20th century. Belonging to the third generation of modernists, Júlio Pomar is an artist with works ranging from neo-realism to expressionism, passing through abstractionism. With such an intense creative path, it is natural that all silkscreens by Júlio Pomar continue to increase in value and there is constant demand.
So not only is Banksy the most popular artist in this segment of the market, but his print returns over a five year period surpass Hirst and Hockney. Although the Banksy print market is not as well established as the Hockney and Hirst market. One certainty from this analysis is that the print market is rapidly starting to prove that it is a serious space for long-term investors. In fact, for investors looking for an investment opportunity with an easy return, printing, namely screen printing, is an excellent option.