Global auction sales for design, decorative arts, and furniture surged 20.4 percent to $172 million in the first half of 2025, according to ArtTactic, while other art market segments declined. Sotheby’s design sales in New York and Paris reached $75 million combined, among the highest totals ever for the category, with Christie’s and Phillips also posting strong results. Record prices were set for works by Tiffany Studios, including the Danner Memorial Window ($12.4 million) and a Frank Lloyd Wright lamp ($7.5 million), fueled by new and younger buyers and institutional acquisitions.
This growth matters because it signals a broadening of the art market beyond traditional fine art, with design objects gaining legitimacy as investment-grade collectibles. The influx of new buyers—21 percent of participants in Sotheby’s June sales were new to the auction house—and active museum purchasing, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum acquiring major Tiffany windows, indicate sustained institutional and private demand. The trend also highlights a shift in collector behavior toward cross-category collecting, even amid tariff concerns that do not affect fine art.