2017, Year in review for NZ art market

Like many retailers a big story for us in 2017 was the great election pause, the spending hiatus between September's election and the coalition's formation of a new government several weeks later.  Why people chose to put off buying decisions while we waited for Winston Peter's to decide which parties he would go into coalition with is not clear, but New Zealand Fine Prints was not alone in noticing very flat sales for our artists and publishers during this period in what was otherwise a pretty normal trading year.

We didn't notice any big new art trends emerging, it was a consolidation year with a broad range of styles, genres and artists selling rather than a concentrated burst of sales like we have had previously for street art, or mid century modern.

The most popular prints in New Zealand were a familiar roll-call of the well-known, the well-distributed and the well-priced.

Here are the 80 most popular prints in New Zealand for 2017

Mickey to Tiki by Dick Frizzell
Native Birds of NZ Poster
Tui Print from Bullers Birds of NZ
Fantail from Buller's Birds of NZ
World Map Poster (NZ centred)
Native Birds of NZ Canvas Art Print - Ready to Hang
The Endless Summer Poster
Captain Cook's Map of the Coast of New Zealand (Large)
Dawn/Water Poem by Ralph Hotere
Grounded in Papatunanuku with Strength and Unity II by Jane Crisp
Treaty of Waitangi Poster
New Zealand Tramping Huts Poster
Boats, Island Bay by Rita Angus
Castaways (Kina) by Jo Bridge
The Answer (Meaning of Life) by Dick Frizzell
Vintage World Wall Map Canvas Print
New Zealand Vintage Poster
The Fall of Icarus by Bill Hammond
NZ Map Poster
Tomorrow will be the same by Colin McCahon
Bill Hammond Print "Jingle Jangle Morning"
Ena Te Papatahi by Charles Goldie
Goddess of Mercy by Rita Angus
Diana Adams Print "Secluded Cove"
Gordon Walters Print - Makaro
Grahame Sydney Print "Fiddler's Flat"
Indigenous Preservation II - Tahi by Jane Crisp
Rangitoto by Diana Adams
The Starry Night Poster by Vincent Van Gogh
Vintage Tasman Empire Airways Poster
Winter Sports at Tongariro National Park Vintage NZ Poster
All 'e Same t'e Pakeha by Charles Goldie
View Towards Mount Richmond by Toss Woollaston
Cass by Rita Angus
Hot Buttered by Dick Frizzell
Koru by Diana Adams
River's Journey by Diana Adams
Vintage Geological Map of New Zealand
Auckland Harbour from Ponsonby by Fiona Whyte
Dominion Map of NZ - Vintage Canvas Style
New Zealand by Captain James Cook
Rangitoto View Canvas Print by Irina Velman
Seven Minutes (Crayfish Print) by Dick Frizzell
The Kiss by Gustav Klimt
Vintage Queenstown Travel Poster
Almond Blossom Poster by Vincent Van Gogh
Balloon Girl by Banksy - Large Poster
Dick Frizzell's Print Mickey to Tiki (Reversed)
Fish species of New Zealand Poster
Kowhai Botanical Print by Emily Harris
Memories by Charles Goldie
Virgin Forest by Henri Rousseau
Botanical Print - Pohutukawa by Sarah Featon
Hawkdun Spring by Grahame Sydney
NZ Vintage Fly Fishing Poster
Print of "Garnet Dairy" by Graham Young
Queen with Moko by Barry Ross Smith
Starry Night Print by Vincent Van Gogh
Tip Top Times by Sam Mathers
Treasure Hunt - Kotare’s Taonga by Jane Crisp
Tree (1943) by Rita Angus
Wellington Lights Photograph
Winery Doors Poster - Hawkes Bay & Wairarapa
Aotearoa Canvas Print by Jason Kelly
Calloused Veneer by Barry Ross Smith
Fishes of New Zealand Poster
Lunchtime atop a skyscraper New York 1932 by Charles Ebbets
Native Flowers of NZ - Ready to Hang Print on Canvas
Riverhead by Karl Maughan
Road to Leigh 1979 by Retro Posters
Summertime Wellington by Marianne Muggeridge
Tony Ogle Print "Harotaonga"
Tututables Reproduction Print by Weston Frizzell
Vintage Native Flowers of New Zealand Poster
Wellington Vintage Poster
As there is a Constant Flow of Light by Colin McCahon
Cabbage Tree by Diana Adams
Great Wave by Katsushika Hokusai
Kapiti Island by Ernest Papps
Kids at Play by Matt Guild

Looking forward to 2018 which will be the new artist names entering this list?