BEIJING and MILAN, July 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The global art market showed signs of synchronized recovery in Spring 2026, with Chinese art, Impressionist art and Contemporary art indices all rising in the same auction season, according to the latest MM Art Indices released by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) in partnership with SDA Bocconi School of Management.
Led by CKGSB Professor of Finance Jianping Mei, the indices provide one of the world's most comprehensive quantitative analyses of global art market performance. The report found that the MM Chinese Art Price Index rose 1.7% in Spring 2026, while Impressionist Art rebounded 15.0% and Contemporary Art gained 10.8%. The simultaneous increase points to renewed confidence across major segments of the global auction market after several years of post-pandemic correction.
Chinese art remains the strongest long-term performer among the major categories tracked. Since 2000, the MM Chinese Art Price Index has risen from a base value of 1 to 6.83, equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7.8%, compared with 3.5% for Impressionist Art and 4.8% for Contemporary Art.
The rebound follows a deep adjustment in Chinese art prices, which fell 52.7% from their 2020 peak amid the pandemic, China's economic transition and a global art market downturn. The Spring 2026 Auctions data suggest that prices are beginning to stabilize, while the MM Chinese Art Sentiment Index continued to improve from Autumn 2025 and is now nearing its historical average.
"The Spring 2026 auction season suggests that confidence is returning to parts of the global art market," said Professor Mei. "At the same time, the data show that the recovery is uneven."
That unevenness is most visible among Chinese art. Within the MM Chinese Art Indices, Contemporary Art rose 18.6% and Oil Painting jumped 21.9%, while Modern Art declined 4.7% and Ink Painting fell 4.0%, indicating a more selective market favoring internationally recognized and liquid categories.
European Country Art Price Indices also strengthened. France rose 24.7%, the UK gained 18.5% and Germany increased 6.0%, while Italy slipped 3.2%.
The report also found global contemporary art sentiment strengthened sharply in Spring 2026, with a significant correlation with the Chinese art sentiment, underscoring the increasingly connected nature of global art market cycles.
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