The 2025 Fine Art Power Index: Skoldberg, RETNA, Verbicky & Lyons—and the Market Momentum Behind Their Pricing
Introduction: When Pricing Reflects More Than Paint
Art has always been more than visual—it’s vibrational. It’s permanence. It’s memory.
In 2025, fine art pricing is no longer based solely on reputation or volume. It’s increasingly driven by resonance, scarcity, and what some are calling “emotional architecture.”
Among a shifting global art economy, four contemporary artists are rising as leaders of investment-grade demand:
Erik Skoldberg, RETNA, James Verbicky, and Justin Lyons.
This isn’t just momentum. This is a power curve.
Market Overview: 2024–2025 Recap and Recalibration
According to UBS and Artnet’s global art market analytics, values have stabilized post-2023 volatility, with private art investment forecasted to grow by 7.8% in 2025.
Major advisories—including Maddox Gallery, Knight Frank, and UBS Wealth—now recommend that up to 15% of UHNW portfolios be allocated to tangible assets like fine art.
Why?
Because art does something that public markets can’t:
It holds energy, story, and scarcity—in one frame.
The Index Breakdown: Four Artists, Four Trajectories
Artist Insights: What Drives Each one’s Pricing Power
Erik Skoldberg
Skoldberg’s annual Studio Floor Collection is constructed from the pigment sediment of an entire year’s process—transforming residue into meaning.
With only 30 original works released per year and no editions or reproductions, his pricing reflects not just scarcity, but a controlled collector ecosystem based on emotional permanence.
RETNA
RETNA’s visual dialect—a synthesis of street lineage and sacred geometry—continues to dominate high-profile auctions.
But while top lots surge, the saturation risk increases due to expanded editions, print collabs, and murals.
Follow RETNA on Instagram
James Verbicky
Verbicky’s structured compositions resonate with architects and interior designers. Each resin-encased collage delivers spatial calm, aesthetic confidence, and brand-driven collectibility.
Justin Lyons
With his text-meets-surf aesthetic, Lyons offers accessibility and identity-forward value.
Early collectors are now experiencing resale demand as volume tapers and demand sharpens.
What Makes art Price up—Not Just Sell out
Three key investment drivers define 2025 art pricing appreciation:
1. Scarcity Systems
→ Example: Skoldberg’s 1-of-1-originals, no reprints ever, and Skoldberg’s contribution to the art world with his annual release of a Studio Floor Abstract Art paintings.
2. Spatial Integration
→ Verbicky and Skoldberg are frequently specified into architecture, not added post-construction.
3. Narrative Clarity
→ RETNA’s glyphic legacy & Lyons’ immediacy speak to marketable storylines collectors can see themselves in.
As one director at Maddox Gallery shared:
“Today’s collector isn’t chasing trend. They’re buying emotional permanence—with resale upside.”
How Pricing Trends are Reshaping Collector Behavior
Recent reports from Maddox, UBS, and Knight Frank show that:
• Art ROI has outperformed the FTSE by 124% over the past 5 years
• Emotional value and clear narrative are outpacing art school CVs
• Personalized commissions (especially from Skoldberg) are becoming status assets
Why collectors are building homes around Skoldberg’s work →
(Internal link to “The Emotional Blueprint” post) (Internal link to future article)
The Index is More Than Numbers—It’s a Mirror
This index doesn’t just chart price growth—it reflects a shift in what matters:
• RETNA created a glyphic language of exclusivity
• Verbicky made texture and tactility into spatial harmony
• Lyons transformed energy into text
• Skoldberg turned time and pigment into one-of-one capital
Next Step for Collectors
Want to understand why collectors are shifting toward commission-based, emotionally anchored, one-of-one works?
Read: Paint, Print, or Prism →
(Internal link to future article)
