What Category Was the Most Lucrative at Auction in 2024?

The Artnet Intelligence Report's analysis of 2024 auction data reveals that Postwar and Contemporary art remained the most lucrative market category for the second consecutive year, generating nearly $4 billion. However, this represented a 20.5% decline from 2023, and every major category saw a drop in total sales. Ultra-contemporary art suffered the steepest decline at 37.9% year-over-year, as collectors avoided riskier newer artists amid economic uncertainty. Impressionist and Modern sales fell 19.3% to $3.6 billion, with only one top-five lot—Claude Monet's *Nymphéas* (1914) at $65.5 million—coming from that category. Old Masters shrank 27.8%, with growth only in the under-$10,000 bracket.