SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — The online art auction market has expanded despite a slump in the overall art market.
The Korea Arts Management Service reported that a total of 26,668 artworks were presented at the 192 on-and-offline auctions hosted by eight local auction houses in 2019, 16,867 of which were sold.
The success rate of bidding was 63.2 percent, and the total value of successful bids was 154.3 billion won (US$132.8 million), down by 23 percent since 2018.
The offline art auction market, where high-end pieces of artwork are normally presented, shrank by 27 percent.
Art transactions worth more than 60 million won, in particular, receded by 31 percent since last year.
The aggregate value of successful bids for artwork under 60 million won, on the other hand, increased by 1 percent, while the online auction market, dealing with cheaper artwork, expanded by 14 percent.
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