Sales Slip to $17.5 Million at Sydney Contemporary

Sydney Contemporary 2025 11–14 September 2025

As we saw at fairs this month in Seoul, New York, and now Sydney, it's not the easiest time to sell art.

Sydney Contemporary has shared results from this year's edition, which presented 87 galleries at Carriageworks from 4 to 8 September. They reported sales over AU $17.5 million (U.S. $11.7 million), down markedly from an estimated $21 million last year and $23 million in 2022.

Visitor numbers held steady at the 25,000 seen last year, down from over 28,000 in 2022.

Galleries that reported strong sales this year include D'Lan Contemporary (Melbourne), who sold 35 artworks for $1.7 million, capitalising on the surge in demand for works by Australian Aboriginal artists. They sold a large painting by Emily Kam Kngwarray, eight gouache works by Gija artist Paddy Bedford, and new commissions by Keith Wikmunea and Daniel Walbidi.

Martin Browne Contemporary made sales totalling $900,000, including two editions of teamLab's Life Survives by the Power of Life II (2020), which were listed for U.S. $220,000 each.

Writing for Australian site Artshub, gallerist Michael Reid said the fair was 'creatively a bit dull, but a solid income earner.'

He said despite low expectations caused by the economic climate, 'my gallery's previous primary sales record, achieved in 2023, was improved upon by some 25% this year. Go figure.'

Ames Yavuz said they were pleased to place Brook Andrew's The Body (2016), one of very few paintings he has done across three decades of practice, and Abdul Abdullah's In the beginning (2024), the artist's first foray into LED lighting.

Roslyn Oxley of Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery also reported 'strong sales', including the last painting made by Ms. N Yunupiŋu, a black monochrome from 2008 by Dale Frank, and surreal paintings by Louise Hearman.

STATION reported strong engagement for the four artists they presented, Jahnne Pasco-White, Isadora Vaughan, Jake Walker, and Adam Lee, with Lee's works selling out at the fair.

Gajah Gallery sold Jemana Murti's 3D print and acrylic on PVC and aluminium work Entropy (2024) and I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih's painting Berkelahi (Altercation) (2002).

The fair expanded its WORKS ON PAPER sector this year, which more than doubled its sales, albeit at a lower price point.

Emerging artist Alfred Lowe, who exhibited with Sabbia Gallery, won the acquisitive $10,000 MA Art Prize.

Sydney Contemporary will return next year from 11–14 September with a VIP preview on 10 September. —[O]

Main image: Lisa Roet's Skywalker Gibbon at Sydney Contemporary 2024.