The Contemporary Art Movements That Defined 2025

Contemporary art's structural shape across the past decade has been shaped by movements rather than individual artists in isolation. Neo-expressionism's mid-decade resurgence, the figurative-painting revival, the post-pandemic acceleration of interest in Black contemporary artists — these have driven the headline auction results and the gallery-exhibition calendars at the major houses and the structurally important galleries (Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, White Cube, Marian Goodman, Lévy Gorvy, Pace). What follows is our editorial read on the contemporary art movements that defined 2025 and the ones serious collectors are watching most closely heading into 2026.

Neo-expressionism's structurally important resurgence

The neo-expressionist resurgence has been one of the structurally most important contemporary-art stories of the past several years. Jean-Michel Basquiat's auction record (Untitled, 1982 — $110.5 million at Sotheby's New York in May 2017) anchors the structural ceiling for the movement. The deeper neo-expressionist tier — Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Eric Fischl, Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, A.R. Penck — has had a structurally rewarding stretch as serious collectors have rebuilt positions in the period.

The Basquiat market specifically has built structural depth across the past decade. Phillips, Christie's, and Sotheby's all maintain structurally important Basquiat consignments at their May and November contemporary-art evening sales; the named gallery representation (Gagosian and the Basquiat estate) anchors the primary-market conversation. Recent meaningful results include In This Case (1983, sold at Christie's New York for $93.1 million in May 2021) and Warrior (1982, sold at Christie's Hong Kong for HK$323.6 million / $41.9 million in March 2021).

The figurative-painting revival

The structural return of figurative painting to the centre of the contemporary conversation has shaped the past decade's exhibition calendars and auction-tier results meaningfully. Jenny Saville, Marlene Dumas, Cecily Brown, Lisa Yuskavage, John Currin, Lucian Freud (still trading actively at the structurally important post-war evening sales despite his death in 2011) anchor the established figurative tier; Jordan Casteel, Amoako Boafo, Salman Toor, Jenna Gribbon, Chloe Wise, Tschabalala Self, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye represent the structurally important emerging-to-mid-career figurative tier.

The named-gallery representation across this tier reads as a roster of the structurally important contemporary spaces. Gagosian represents Jenny Saville and Cecily Brown; David Zwirner represents Marlene Dumas, Lisa Yuskavage, Lucas Arruda; Hauser & Wirth represents Amy Sherald and the Mark Bradford studio; Pace represents Loie Hollowell and Adam Pendleton; Lévy Gorvy represents Hernan Bas and Tschabalala Self at the secondary-market tier.

The post-pandemic acceleration of Black contemporary artists

The structurally most important contemporary-art shift across the 2020s has been the acceleration of serious-collector and institutional attention to Black contemporary artists. Mark Bradford (Hauser & Wirth) anchors the structural top tier; the broader cohort — Kerry James Marshall (Jack Shainman, David Zwirner), Amy Sherald (Hauser & Wirth), Henry Taylor (Hauser & Wirth), Theaster Gates (Gagosian), Glenn Ligon (Hauser & Wirth, Regen Projects), Rashid Johnson (Hauser & Wirth), Kara Walker (Sikkema Jenkins), Lorna Simpson (Hauser & Wirth), Toyin Ojih Odutola (Jack Shainman), Njideka Akunyili Crosby (David Zwirner) — has built structurally important museum-collection depth alongside the auction-tier results.

Recent meaningful auction results across this tier include Mark Bradford's Helter Skelter I (2007, sold at Phillips London for £8.7 million in March 2018, then a record for the artist) and the structural Kerry James Marshall results across the past decade — Past Times (1997, sold at Sotheby's New York for $21.1 million in May 2018, the auction record for any Black American living artist at the time). The named museum acquisition activity (MoMA, Tate, Pompidou, Hammer, LACMA, Whitney, Studio Museum in Harlem) anchors the structural depth.

The Asian contemporary tier

The Asian contemporary tier has built structurally important depth across the 2020s, with Chinese, Korean, and Japanese contemporary artists anchoring serious collector positions globally. Yayoi Kusama (David Zwirner, Victoria Miro) anchors the structural top of the Japanese contemporary tier; Yoshitomo Nara (Pace) sits structurally alongside. The Korean Dansaekhwa monochrome tier (Lee Ufan, Park Seo-Bo, Chung Sang-Hwa, Ha Chong-Hyun) has built meaningful Western-collector depth across the past decade. The Chinese contemporary tier (Zhang Xiaogang, Zeng Fanzhi, Liu Ye, Ai Weiwei) trades actively at the major houses' Hong Kong and London sales.

The named auction-house Asia presence has anchored the structural depth — Sotheby's Hong Kong, Christie's Hong Kong, Phillips Hong Kong, Bonhams Hong Kong all maintain structurally important Asian contemporary evening-sale calendars. The named gallery activity in Asia (Gagosian Hong Kong, David Zwirner Hong Kong, Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong, White Cube Hong Kong) reads as the structural complement.

The street art and editions tier

The street art tier — anchored by Banksy, but with structurally important depth across KAWS, Shepard Fairey, JR, Invader, Os Gemeos, Vhils, Stik — has built structurally meaningful auction-tier results across the past decade. The Banksy auction record sits at £18.6 million (Love Is in the Bin, Sotheby's London, October 2021); the broader street-art tier trades actively at the major houses' contemporary sales with meaningful results across the named cohort.

The editions tier (Banksy editions, KAWS editions, the broader contemporary-art print and editions market) has built structural depth as a more accessible entry point into serious contemporary collecting. The Pest Control authentication (for Banksy editions specifically) and the named-edition publisher provenance anchor the secondary-market structure for this tier.

What collectors are watching heading into 2026

The structurally most-watched contemporary-art conversations heading into 2026 sit around several named threads. The continued institutional acquisition pace for Black contemporary artists at the major museums; the Venice Biennale 2026 selections and what the Biennale signals about which artists the institutional curatorial conversation is centring on; the named-gallery exhibition calendars at Gagosian, Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace, White Cube, Marian Goodman across the spring 2026 cycle; the structurally important museum exhibitions opening across 2026 (Tate Modern's continued post-2024 contemporary calendar, MoMA's spring 2026 schedule, the Met's contemporary calendar).

The structural pattern collectors are watching is the convergence of named-gallery representation, museum-acquisition activity, and meaningful auction-tier results — the three structurally important markers of serious contemporary-art recognition. The artists and movements where these three converge are where the structural depth of the contemporary market continues to consolidate.

For collectors approaching contemporary depth, the practical lessons remain familiar: work through the structurally important named galleries and the major auction houses; pay close attention to museum-acquisition pace and Biennale selections as serious cultural-recognition markers; treat condition, provenance, and edition documentation as the structurally central concerns for any serious contemporary acquisition.