2007 an "Annus Mirabilis for the Art Market," Says Artprice

Andy Warhol tops the list of the world's most auctioned artists for 2007, revealed the French-based art-market database Artprice in its annual report on trends, with $422.3 million in sales in 2007, more than double the $199.6 he tallied in 2006, reports Bloomberg. He displaces last year's top artist, Picasso, who's fallen to second, while Francis Bacon rose from 19th place to third, with $244.5 million in sales.

The bestselling living artist was Gerhard Richter, whose work sold for $85.9, making him 12th on the overall list. Joining him are Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang in second place and Jeff Koons, who's been demoted from second to third. China had 75 sales of more than $1 million for local artists, and 36 Chinese names are among the top 100.

Overall, global prices rose 18 percent from 2006, for a total of $9.2 billion in sales, or 43.8 more than 2006. ``2007 was a veritable annus mirabilis for the art market,'' said Artprice. "However, these exceptional price levels are starting to look like ceiling prices, particularly now that the economic outlook is clouding over."