The Burrow
Sep 16, 2022
Art brings personality and colour to any home and the right piece of artwork can also increase its value. From well-staged sculptures to eye-catching paintings, artwork can be a welcome addition.
Whether you are a collector or an admirer, art comes in many forms and can be found all around us making it difficult to know which pieces are worth purchasing, and which trends and popular at any given time.
Luckily for you, here at Compare the Market we have been analysing the latest art-related trends, and have identified the most popular art mediums, artists, galleries and colour palettes for 2022 to help you make a more informed decision when it comes to your art choices.
As we are experts in home and contents insurance, we also recognise that artwork can be one of the most valuable assets within your home and stress the importance of ensuring you protect your valuable pieces from potential damage or theft. By comparing a range of available policies and selecting one that is right for your personal circumstances, you can be at ease knowing your valuable investments are covered.
Our research analysed average monthly search volume statistics, views and tags for key terms and hashtags to reveal the most popular art trends of 2022. Here is a little more detail about the top three art trends identified:
It is no surprise that traditional art takes the number one spot. This broad term is often used to refer to classical art. Traditional or classical artwork for the home quite often comes in the form of paintings, usually of people or places.
Although this art style dates pre-19th Century, views on TikTok for #traditionalart are over 1,000,000,000 and overall average searches for related terms are more than 300 per month. It doesn’t look like this art style is going anywhere, meaning it could make for a great investment.
Unlike traditional art, 3D art is a fairly new medium. Much of the time 3D art is digital, but it also relates to sculptures or anything that is three-dimensional. Artwork of this kind may fit in well with a tech-savvy home.
Interestingly, overall monthly searches for key terms relating to 3D art were greater than those for traditional art at 1,707. TikTok views for #3dart were also over 1,000,000,000 but it is over on Instagram that the art type fell short with 4,900,000 tags in comparison to #traditionalart which had over 14,000,000 tags on the platform.
Just like 3D art, neon art is a relatively new concept that really comes to life using lighting. It is a fun way to bring style to the home, whether in a child’s room or to create a little ambience for relaxation.
Over on social, TikTok views for #neonart are more than 178,000,000 but fall to just 673,000 tags on Instagram.
As well as revealing the most popular art trends in 2022 the research also reveals some of the most popular artists, both past and present, who produce pieces using the art trends identified.
According to our research, searches for artists who create pieces using the trends (mediums) mentioned above include those who have passed, are currently famous and those who are up and coming. These are the top most searched for artists in each medium.
Whilst Vincent Van Gogh needs no introduction, here are a few details about one of the most famous artists who ever lived.
Much of Van Gogh’s work is of people, places and things, taking inspiration from what surrounded him, hence the artist ranking for nature-related terms. One of his most famous pieces is ‘The Starry Night’ which takes inspiration from the night sky. The bold brush strokes and deep expression of Van Gogh’s work captured the world’s attention.
Although artwork from Van Gogh is extremely expensive and it is unlikely you will look to purchase a piece for your home, you can take inspiration and seek out similar works from other artists.
Taking the second spot on our rankings is Pablo Picasso, whose use of multi-media within his art has inspired many. Picasso’s works of art range from sculptures and paintings to lithography and etchings.
Similarly to Van Gogh, it is unlikely you’ll be purchasing an original Picasso piece but his inspiration can be found in works by artists today.
Cubism, neo-classical and Surrealism are all art forms that Picasso is known for, so if you are a fan of his work, searching for pieces within these realms is a great starting point.
James Turrell’s work is synonymous with artwork that uses lighting. While artwork using neon lights may be popular now, Turrell’s work uses several different mediums and he has installed works around the globe.
Whilst his work may not be purchased for your home, the new movement of neon artwork means that you can inspire and recreate a project in your own space.
Whilst the work of our top-ranking artists can be seen in well-known galleries around the world, their movements and creations have inspired generations. Understanding their work can help you spot a genuine piece of art that would take pride of place in your home.
The research has found that there are a variety of colours currently on trend for 2022, but there is a steer away from the greys of 2021, as brighter colours enter the home.
As you can see from the colour palette this year brings bright yellows, blues, greens and purples filling the home with cheerful vibes, which is much needed after the events over the last two years.
A simple way to incorporate these vibrant colours into the home is through artwork from bright neon lights to reminisce on paintings of times gone by.
Located in Paris, the Musée du Louvre is known for housing some of the most famous works of art as well as its iconic Louvre Pyramid. This is a fitting gallery to take the top spot.
The Musée du Louvre is home to several exhibitions and an extensive art collection. It is a fine place to discover works of art and be inspired.
Although extremely popular, hosting over 2,800,000 visitors in 2021 there are fewer searches for the museum online at an average of 7,280 searches a month across Australia, the UK and the US.
Situated in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) is home to over 2 million works of art from across the world.1
This is the perfect place to feel at one with art, not only by the works on display but also by the city itself.
Our research found that in 2021 the Met saw almost 2,000,000 visitors pass through its doors.
In the third position is the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Found in the US, this is a well-known art gallery with a picturesque sculpture garden attached.
In the museum’s galleries, visitors will find historic paintings and sculptures as well as art by emerging artists.
The museum welcomed over 1,700,000 visitors in 2021 and on average there are 2,600 searches per month for the National Gallery of Art from Australia, the UK and the US.
If you are searching for artwork to spruce up your home, add a little personality or are looking to invest, our research suggests looking for bright and cheerful pieces. Perhaps focus your search on newer art forms such as 3D works or take a more traditional art route which still seems to be a popular choice today. Whichever art medium you choose to go with, make sure that you protect your asset with the right level of insurance.
If you’re looking to collect valuable art pieces and display them in your home, be prepared to fork out a pretty penny. Particularly for the likes of Picasso, for example, where art pieces can range from $120,000 to $140 million.2 The cost of an item can often provide an indication of the value of the artwork, and it’s cases like these where the importance of protecting your investment becomes clear.
In most cases, a typical home and contents insurance policy can keep your artwork protected. This type of cover can financially protect you in the case of theft, accidental damage or major weather events, among other things. However, it’s important to check the inclusions of any given policy, as most insurers will only offer cover for artwork up to a certain value.
For pieces that are considered highly valuable, such as work by Picasso or a similar artist, you may require a unique policy with an insurer that specialises in valuable artwork. These types of policies are usually more customisable and can include cover for when your art is in transit to your home.
Whatever type of art you choose to collect, keep in mind that for both a home and contents insurance policy or a specialised policy, the value of your asset will often be reflected in the price of your premiums. That is, the more your artwork is ‘worth’, the more you will likely have to pay to keep it financially protected.
In order to determine the most popular art trends of 2022 we undertook research into four key areas; popular art trends/mediums, popular artists, 2022 colour palettes and well-known art galleries for those looking to travel and be inspired.
Identifying the most popular art trends
To identify the most popular art trends of 2022 we took to Google and analysed top ranking lists for the terms ‘home art trends 2022’ and ‘wall art trends 2022’.
From here we categorised each trend by medium before using Google Ads Keyword Planner, TikTok and Instagram to note average monthly search volumes (Australia, UK and US), views and tags for specific terms and hashtags relating to each medium.
The trends were then ranked with the trend in position one having the most average monthly Google searches (overall), views on TikTok and tags on Instagram.
Discovering the artists
With our list of popular trends, the next step was to identify popular artists both past and present who are known for using the five most popular art trends; traditional, 3D, neon, textures, and nature.
To do this we reviewed the first page of Google for top ranking lists of artists who work within each medium, using search terms such as ‘3D artists 2022’ and ‘most popular artists specialising in nature 2022’.
All artists identified were then ranked by average monthly search volume using Keyword Planner for Australia, the UK and the US. The five artists with the highest average monthly searches for each trend were named the most popular.
Creating the colour palette
Using Pinterest we identified the top five colours that are on trend in 2022 by analysing the top ten colour palette listings for the term ‘art colour palette 2022’.
Locating popular art galleries
To discover the most popular art galleries around the world we initially had to refine our search which was achieved by focusing on the 50 galleries with the most visitor numbers (source: The Art Newspaper 2021).
To make the rankings unique and to ensure the research was in line with the rest of the piece we used Keyword Planner to identify the galleries with the highest search volumes in Australia, the UK, and the US.
Museums based on locations where there are ongoing conflicts were removed.