What We've Learned: The Pop Art Market in 2022

With the historic sale of Andy Warhol's 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' painting in Q2 boosting demand in this segment of the market, Pop print sales saw a healthy 15.4% year-on-year increase in that quarter and a 226.9% increase from Q2 2020. This is promising, considering the market experienced a slight dip in sales in Q1 2022 from the market’s unprecedented peak in Q1 2021. This trend is reflected at all levels, with the average price paid for a Pop Art work already growing by 13.8% from 2021 and over 51% from 2020.

Paintings and prints by Andy Warhol have proven to be of particular value this year. In the wake of the record-breaking sale of Shot Sage Blue Marilyn in May, Marilyn prints have been steadily increasing in value, with the top print lot of 2022 - a complete set of Marilyns - going for an enormous £4.1 million. Two landmark events in 2022 – the Diamond Jubilee and passing of Queen Elizabeth II – have also seen Warhol’s 1985 prints of the Queen shoot up in value. In the last five years the Royal Edition Queen Elizabeth II prints from the Reigning Queens series have seen a 437.6% increase in value and after a Sotheby’s sale on 14th September 2022, this went up again to a staggering 639.2% increase in value.

If these trends continue, the Pop Art market looks to be one that will continue to grow into next year and beyond. The continuing growth of this market builds upon trends seen in the last 10 years, where the market has expanded by 664.5% from Q3 2012 to Q3 2022. Total sales this year are already expected to far exceed the £44.3 million of last year, with figures currently at 85% of 2021’s total. The growth of the Pop Art market is particularly pronounced in the context of the wider print market, which has seen other segments experience a prolonged dip in sales in the period since the pandemic.