sculpture by Aiko Hachisuka
Soft sculpture by Aiko Hachisuka, at the Armory

The notoriously opaque art market place is difficult to quantify, so figures compiled by art economist Clare McAndrew are always pounced every bit a way of assessing – if imperfectly – how the market performed in the past twelvemonth. Her latest report, released during Maastricht's European Fine Art Fair, finds that in 2013 the overall market for art and antiques sold through dealers and sale houses, had its 2nd-best yr e'er and was worth $65.7bn. Just 2007, at the tiptop of the boom, beat that figure with $66.5bn.

The U.s.a. took the lion's share of the market at 38 per cent, with China (24 per cent) and the United kingdom (twenty per cent) in second and 3rd places. It will come up every bit no surprise that the Usa is where the highest-priced fine art is traded: more than half of the artworks that sold for more than $1.4m and 60 per cent of those that fetched upwards of $14m went through sale in the US. The work of fewer than fifty artists attracts the big bids. The majority (90 per cent) of artists' works at sale sold for less than $lxx,000 last year.

The report also looks at People's republic of china, where sales grew by just 2 per cent in 2013, and its persistent problem of not-payment. The Chinese auctioneers clan admits that buyers tin take six months or more than to pay, thus skewing the figures. The leading auction house Poly, which launched on the Hong Kong stock exchange this month in a hugely oversubscribed offer, revealed in its IPO document that in Oct 2013 more than half its buyers had non fully paid for their purchases.

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Bonhams in London is celebrating more than its classy new saleroom. The privately owned sale business firm said its turnover for 2013 was a healthy $895m, putting it in the number five slot in the auction houses line-upward. According to Robert Brooks, its chairman, the good effect was downward to selling many more than lots for more than £1m – 32 of them, in fact, in 2013.

Bonhams has always been reticent most releasing figures, so I asked Brooks why he had at present chosen to publicise the results. "As we close the gap with the other firms, we felt it was time to circulate how well we are doing," he said.

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Mega-collector Eli Wide returned to New York's Armory Testify afterwards an absenteeism of two years. His reappearance is a sign that the outcome, which had been sagging a petty in recent years, is regaining its former importance.

Broad wasn't the merely fine art maven strolling the aisles in the ii West Side piers that house the show, which concluded last Sunday. Marty Margulies and the Rubells from Florida, Chris Dercon from Tate and a delegation from Paris'southward Pompidou Middle were among visitors, also as a hundreds of Chinese guests. This was mainly thanks to the fair'southward ii-twenty-four hours symposium on Cathay organised by Philip Tinari, respected director of the Ullens Middle for Contemporary Art in Beijing, and the participation of 17 Chinese galleries, many visiting a western fine art fair for the starting time time.

While the quality of the Chinese galleries was mixed, their presence certainly added colour and zing to the fair. 1 Chinese collector, at that place for the symposium, bought a 10ft painting by Georg Baselitz for $660,000 from Thaddaeus Ropac. It was just 1 of many sales that the European dealer was jubilant; he also sold a shiny silvery 2008 Tony Cragg sculpture for near $1m.

mask by artist Romuald Hazoumè
'Miss French republic 2013' mask by artist Romuald Hazoumè

Ropac was one of a number of returnee exhibitors, attracted by changes from director Noah Horowitz, including reducing the number of galleries and being more selective, particularly in the modern department. Horowitz even upgraded the walls and (crucial in the competitive world of fairs) brought in much amend food. The overall effect was to brand the off-white a amend identify to visit.

Sales were buoyant at all price levels. Eleven Rivington, with soft sculptures by Los Angeles-based Japanese Aiko Hachisuka (priced betwixt $7,000 and $ix,500); London-based Ancient & Modern'southward showing of paintings by January Pleitner ($9,000-$20,000) were amongst the booths that had a sellout weekend. October Gallery placed a number of masks by Bénin artist Romuald Hazoumè ($19,000-$21,000).

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Stiff sales were also reported at the Fine art Evidence, the more traditional fair held in the gloomy Park Avenue Armory. Fortunately, the entrance was dominated by Charles LeDray's colourful, playful "Rainbow" (2012-14), a series of tiny coats strung on a line, which Sperone Westwater said went to a "major US institution" for almost $350,000. Alexander Gray sold out a solo display of 1970s piece of work by Jack Whitten ($45,000-$300,000), and Pace sold all its James Turrell holograms from 2004-08 at $100,000 each. Only new works by the once hotly pursued Jacob Kassay, ane of whose silvered "paintings" striking $317,000 terminal year, were selling sluggishly. The manifestly, textured acrylic canvases stretched into odd shapes – some bumpily – were priced at $25,000-$50,000.

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Following on straight from the contemporary art week, New York'southward Asian Fine art Week kicks off Saturday with 47 participating dealers offering a huge range from Tibetan thangkas to contemporary Chinese works in ink, while the auction houses are staging specialised sales. Five Japanese art dealers are collaborating on a show at the Ukrainian Institute; leading dealer Gisèle Croës has nested at the Gagosian gallery; and Sotheby's, as well equally its auctions, is hosting a selling exhibition of ink paintings – a hot ticket, with the Metropolitan Museum of Art'south Ink Art now on – in its S|2 infinite. Full programme from asiaweekny.com.

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Spring sees art world people on the move, with Guy Jennings becoming managing managing director at the Fine Fine art Fund. Jennings was previously with Christie'due south, Sotheby'south and in partnership with private dealer Simon Theobald. He went back to Christie's two years agone, as head of impressionist and modern fine art in New York, saying at the fourth dimension that he was "fundamentally more at dwelling house in the sale world". Ben Hartley joins Auctionata, an online sale business firm, another defection from Blouin Artinfo where he was president.

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Clarification: Final calendar week I wrote that the new owners of Agnew'southward had purchased the firm's archive; it was the photographic annal. The chief annal, with its stock of books and business relationship ledgers dating back to the 1850s, was sold to the National Gallery last year for £240,000.

Georgina Adam is art market editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper

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