The global art market continues to grow but globalization is taking its toll on how the industry works, according to a new report released by the French art dealer association Confédération internationale des négociants en Œuvres d’Art (Cinoa). The study, conducted by leading cultural researcher Dr. Clare McAndrew of art market research firm Arts Economics, concludes that collectors bought plenty of art last year, but the dealers who sold it experienced some changes. The report, coupled with a previous report by McAndrew for Cinoa, shows a rapidly changing art world. Here are some of the most interesting findings:

ART FAIRS ARE THE NEW NORMAL: On the primary market, the traditional gallery business model is being undercut by the rise of the art fair. Collectors are increasingly gathering at international art fairs and, to some extent, taking advantage of the convenience of the internet. The world's wealth is globalizing. The business that comes in from local customers in New York's Chelsea or London's Mayfair is beginning to pale in comparison to that from the jetsetters who show up at art fairs around the world — that is, for those galleries who can afford the associated costs.

Galleries cater to a demographic which is highly mobile and geographically dispersed. Art dealers are adapting to the new market climate by attending more fairs. But the new way of life cuts heavily into profits because of the high cost of constant travel with expensive, delicate works of art.

THE WEB IS WHERE ITS AT: Plenty of new ventures continue to pop up on the internet in order to capture this highly mobile audience. Most recently, there's Art.sy, the website backed by Dasha Zhukova and Wendi Murdoch which uses "genome" technology to introduce users to art and galleries based on what they already like. It's still in beta, but it is already a favorite of some of the art world's top names.

However, when it comes to selling art, the internet is still limited to relatively inexpensive work. High-value work is still most likely to be sold through a handshake with a trusted dealer or the drop of the auctioneer's hammer. But there's a catch...

IT'S NOT A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD: Just because the old-fashioned, flesh-and-blood art dealer continues to play an important role does not mean small-name gallerists will not be affected by the shift in the market towards a more global perspective. The report postulates that art dealers accounted for just over half of the art sales for 2010 (meaning the other half took place through auction houses). This group includes a total of 375,000 dealers, but McAndrew's study "affirms that 2 to 5% of them represent half the turnover of the gallery sector." Just 7,500-20,000 dealers are bringing in a combined total of $10 billion per year — an average of just under $1 million each. That leaves an average of under $30,000 each for the vast majority of galleries. 

LIFE'S GOOD AT THE TOP: These developments flow from the findings of McAndrew's previous study for Cinoa. In that bit of research, she found that the recovery of the art market in 2010 was mostly bolstered by sales of high-value works of art — the ones that make splashy headlines on sites like ARTINFO and are sold by mega-dealers or mega-auction houses. The year-over-year increase in the market between 2009 and 2010 was 52%. However, "[t]he volume of transactions rose more moderately during 2010 (by 13% year-on-year) and much of the market's rise in value was due to an increase in the number of high value works being sold."

GLOBALIZATION IS CHANGING THE BALANCE OF FORCES: In 2010, the U.S. dominated the art and antiques market with a 34 percent share of the sales. China now sits at number two,edging out Britain by just one percent of the market, coming in at 23 percent of sales. Britain collected 22 percent of the sales. France, these days, is a distant fourth at six percent.

The emphasis on the importance of high-value works may have important implications for the future of the art market's geography. For instance, the droit de suite law that will go into effect next year in Britain and all other EU countries which have not already adopted it. McAndrew's research estimates that the new tax, which will be levied on any work being resold by an artist living or dead less than 70 years, will take many high-value artworks off the market in Britain's auction houses. The report found that "it would be worthwhile for a vendor to send any work worth €40,000 or more to New York."