Brazilian contemporary artists in the main international auction houses, from 2014 to 2025

This paper is an update of an ongoing study and includes data for 2025. The general purpose is toinvestigate the presence of Brazilian contemporary artists with works auctioned at Christie’s,Sotheby’s and Phillips, in London and New York. Descriptive analysis shows that 2025, despite fearsof a continual downturn of the market, was positive for sales, with a stable number of lots sold (65 vs64 in 2024), a visible decrease in bought-in rate (11% vs 24% 2024) and an increasing trend in prices(average USD74,950 vs USD59,708 in 2024; total USD4,871,763 vs USD3,821,334 in 2024). Theyear brought 1 more male and 3 more females with works consigned to these auction houses, butwomen are still underrepresented being 36% of the 101 artists. One more female and 1 male met thecriteria for a top artist, forming a list of 10 who dominate the market. The group of 4 top females didnot perform well in 2025 due to the absence of works by Adriana Varejão and Beatriz Milhazes. Onthe other hand, the 6 top males had good results. It was this that drove the positive overall outcome, assales for non-top male artists were modest and those for non-top females also decreased.