The auction house Artmark recently held a spring auction in Zagreb, achieving a turnover of 330 thousand euros, which according to director Iulian Plestiu is one of the three best auction results in the last three and a half years. Out of 161 offered works, 78 pieces found buyers, meaning the sales rate was 53 percent.
– The spring auction of Artmark in 2026 ranks among the three best auction results in the last three and a half years, with a total realization of 330 thousand euros and a sales rate of 53 percent, which is in line with the standards of today’s Croatian art market. Considering the global context, instability, inflation, and gas prices, the auction results demonstrate resilience, stability, and confidence in the art market – said Plestiu.
However, a more detailed analysis of the auction results shows that behind solid aggregate numbers lies a significantly more complex market structure. From a sample of 161 active lots, the total realized value was around 309 thousand euros, with a sell-through of 48.4 percent, indicating a market that is active but not broad, rather extremely selective.
In other words, high turnover is not a result of broad demand, but rather a concentration of capital in a smaller number of works. Such concentration was also confirmed in the distribution of results: the top 5 lots accounted for more than half of the total realized value, while only a few works above 10 thousand euros generated almost half of the turnover.
Bukovac’s Montenegrin Guslar was sold for 70 thousand euros, more than three times above the starting price, which is also a record for a work of that type and size. Kraljević’s Portrait achieved 60 thousand euros, and interestingly, this author has not had a major public sale in over eight years. The rest of the auction was far more modest, with most works sold for less than two thousand euros, and almost every third sold work went for under a thousand.
Two parallel markets
Thus, only the two most expensive works generated more than 40 percent of the total realization, while three works above 10 thousand euros accounted for almost half of the total turnover. At the same time, the median sale price was around 1600 euros, while the ‘cleaned’ average, excluding the most expensive works, drops to around 2100 euros, clearly showing how a few premium results distort the overall picture of the market.
Additionally, the sales structure shows the existence of two parallel markets: in the segment up to a thousand euros, more than a third of all sales were realized, but with minimal contribution to the total value, while the segment above 10 thousand euros, although it constitutes only a few percent of sold works, accounted for almost half of the turnover. Such a “top-heavy” pattern is typical for markets where buyers exist but purchase in an extremely disciplined manner.
This is also confirmed by the realization-to-estimate ratio: almost 60 percent of works were sold within the estimate, but as much as 30 percent were sold above the upper estimate, indicating that there is real competition for quality and well-estimated material. At the same time, part of the market is realized only with downward price corrections, further confirming the selectivity of buyers.
For expensive works that did not find buyers, the problem was mainly excessively high asking prices. Becić, Jama, Vanka, and Meštrović remained unsold at prices that the market simply did not want to pay at this moment.
– As always, not all works find their buyer at a given moment, such as on the day of the auction itself. Prices reflect the moment in the market, and all post-auction prices are available on the website. We believe that artmark.hr is currently the best tool for assessing the Croatian art market because collectors can check results, offers, and general information just as easily as a Google search. For example, the post-auction price for Ivan Meštrović’s work is 18 thousand euros, and the work can be viewed upon request or directly at the Artmark Gallery – notes Plestiu.
Analysis further shows that the largest ‘overhang’ is concentrated precisely in the more expensive lots: unsold works above 10 thousand euros accounted for more than half of the total unsold requested value. This suggests that the problem is not the absence of demand, but rather a mismatch between seller expectations and buyers’ willingness to pay a certain price.
In other words, “unsold” in this context is not an aesthetic judgment, but a market signal – an indicator of where the boundary of acceptable price lies at a given moment. In this sense, the market increasingly “punishes” excessively high asking prices even for established authors, except when it comes to exceptionally quality or rare works.
Particular attention was drawn to Mujadžić’s Marina from 1936, which adorned the cover of the catalog. After a bidding war among five buyers and 15 bidding steps, it went for 15 thousand euros, three times more than expected. The most sought-after authors of the evening were Murtić, Vidović, Stančić, and Pulitika, each of whose offered works sold, while Ivan Rabuzin’s serigraphs were bid on as fiercely as Bukovac’s work.
These authors demonstrated the healthiest market signal: continuous demand through multiple works without unsold ‘tails’, placing them in the most liquid segment of the market. Murtić, for example, proved to be a reliable ‘middle-market’ author with full realization through multiple works, while Vidović and Stančić confirmed stability even at higher price levels.
On the other hand, for some authors, the market was extremely selective, reacting to the difference between stronger and weaker works, as well as to the price level, further confirming that the market no longer behaves linearly.
Who comes to the auction and what is being bought
In the hall, large seasonal auctions usually attract between 100 and 150 people, with an additional 60 to 80 collectors participating online, a format that is becoming increasingly popular, claims the director. The auction usually lasts about four hours, with a combination of bidding from the hall, by phone, and online. About 100 bidders and more than 60 buyers participated in the spring auction. Plestiu emphasizes that collectors do not have a strictly defined profile.
– The auction offers a selection that meets the needs of collectors across the entire spectrum, from experienced collectors to beginners, with prices of works ranging from a few hundred to several tens of thousands of euros. We can say that the most sold artists are currently in trend, so serigraphs by Ivan Rabuzin at 500 euros are bid on as fiercely as Bukovac’s at 70 thousand euros. The market consists of collectors with different tastes and budgets, so safe names are not decisive; it is the work that dictates the outcome – emphasizes Plestiu.
However, data shows that the market does have clear behavioral patterns: buyers do not react linearly to the author’s name, but rather to a combination of quality, motive, and price. In this sense, the market increasingly functions like more developed auction markets, where even the most famous names do not guarantee realization if the price is not set correctly.
The final sale achieved a success rate of 75 percent relative to the total starting value of the auction, which Plestiu cites as another indicator of a healthy market. Last year, the highest auction result was achieved by the sale of Bukovac’s Sličica at the Winter Auction 2025, with a price of 90 thousand euros.
For comparison, Bukovac’s work Far from Home from 1886, with an estimate between 100 and 200 thousand euros, remained unsold at the Winter Auction 2023, showing that even top names do not guarantee sales at any price and at any moment.
Four auctions a year, but this year – eight!
Artmark started operating in Croatia at the end of 2022, and the first auction was held in October 2023. The standard annual schedule includes four major seasonal auctions, but this year the program has been expanded to eight auctions over eight months, with thematic formats such as jewelry, decorative arts, and graphics. The next auctions are scheduled for May 7, when the auction of post-war and naive art will take place, and June 9 for the summer auction.
– As the Croatian art market is still taking shape and becoming increasingly stable and organized through regular auction cycles, a good result can be viewed through various indicators. Although the goal is always to have a sales rate above 50 percent, metrics such as the number of sold works, the number of participants in bidding, and new collectors provide a more complete picture of the market and its opportunities – concludes Plestiu.
A broader analysis confirms precisely this transitional phase: the market is active and liquid in the lower and middle segments where works that are correctly estimated and market ‘readable’ pass, but in the higher segment, it functions exclusively for works that carry rarity, quality, and a clear market story. Capital exists, but it is not passive – it is distributed selectively, tactically, and with increasing discipline among buyers.
In other words, the Croatian art market does not grow linearly, but matures and becomes increasingly demanding, selective, and less tolerant of incorrectly set prices.
