The dominant force in the global auction market, Post-War & Contemporary art accounts for 42% of total auction sales. Defined by works created after 1945, this segment includes Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, and Conceptual Art. It is the most liquid segment of the market and attracts the broadest pool of international buyers. Prices are driven by institutional validation (museum retrospectives, biennale participation) and dealer relationships with top-tier galleries like Gagosian, White Cube, and Hauser & Wirth.

Encompassing Impressionism's legacy through the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century — Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism, Dadaism — Modern Art commands the highest per-work prices at auction. Works are scarce, estates are tightly controlled, and major pieces rarely change hands. This is the most established and stable segment of the art market, prized by institutions and ultra-high-net-worth collectors. Provenance research is critical; forgeries are a known risk.

Once dismissed as vandalism, street art has become one of the fastest-growing segments in the contemporary art market. Banksy, KAWS, and Shepard Fairey have crossover appeal that bridges fine art and popular culture, attracting a new generation of buyers who grew up with these artists outside gallery walls. The market is driven by scarcity (many works are one-of-a-kind murals that can never be sold), brand identity, and social media virality. Prints and editions offer accessible entry points, while original canvases have reached blue-chip prices.

The hottest segment of the current market. Artists of African descent are achieving record prices backed by institutional support from the Tate, MoMA, the Whitney, and a wave of dedicated collectors. Kerry James Marshall, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, and Amoako Boafo are reshaping the Western canon while commanding prices that reflect decades of undervaluation being corrected. The segment benefits from a cultural reckoning post-2020 and genuine critical reassessment — not merely trend-chasing. Long-term fundamentals are exceptionally strong.

Fine art photography has matured into a blue-chip segment. Vintage prints by Cindy Sherman, Andreas Gursky, and Richard Prince command prices rivaling painting. Edition numbering and print quality are paramount to value — early prints from the negative (vintage) far outperform later editions. NFT art peaked at a combined market of $25B in 2021 before collapsing 85% by 2023. A small subset of NFT artists (Beeple, Pak) maintain secondary market relevance, but speculative NFT collecting has largely unwound.