From Basquiat to Birkin bags, the truly wealthy are spending big

17 Mar 2026

American plutocrats are picking up the slack from China’s reticent rich, driving record auction prices and luxury sales even as geopolitical tensions rattle markets. After a tumultuous two years, global art sales returned to growth in 2025. That is not only good news for artists, auction houses and dealers; it also bodes well for the market for the most expensive watches, designer clothes and bags.

The high net worth crowd (or their retainers) who populate the auction rooms of Sotheby’s and Christie’s are the same people who breezily splurge on the finest consumer goods — war or no war. Picture someone watching the bidding for a Basquiat while decked out in Matthieu Blazy’s new Chanel creations.

But just like the luxury market with which it is increasingly entwined, the recovery in art sales was driven largely by the top-end stuff, according to art economist Clare McAndrew’s latest state-of-the-industry report for Art Basel and UBS Group. Other categories remained more subdued. Why the ultra-wealthy are driving the 2025 art market recovery #
The superrich, particularly in the U.S., indulged in works by Gustav Klimt, Vincent van Gogh and their ilk that came to market during the year. In the broader luxury goods world, there’s been a similar reaching for the comfort of old favorites guaranteed to set you apart from the herd: think cashmere king Brunello Cucinelli or Birkin bag maker Hermès International. The appetite of American plutocrats for the finer things in life is helping to compensate for the continued caution of their Chinese peers.

McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, estimates that global art sales rose 4% in 2025 to $59.6 billion. And yet, neither this market nor the personal luxury goods sector — which Bain & Co estimates at about $410 billion for 2025 — can be sustained by selling only to the top 1%. They need to lure in the merely comfortable as well, not easy when the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran is raising the price of oil and the prospect of another bout of inflation.