Art auctions hit record highs

Photo: Prachatai

Gold has been stealing the headlines in recent years, as alternative investments become increasingly popular amid times of political and economic uncertainty. While the precious metal's up and down relationship with the stock market has proven a dramatic media draw, though, another alternative asset has been quietly stealing the show, with a trajectory that is only going higher: art.

With the growth of the middle class in countries such as India and the continuing growth of wealth in the UAE, art is a popular commodity for people to invest in. As a result, prices continue to climb, with auctions regularly fetching record sums for work.

The latest to break the barrier was Chariot, by Alberto Giacometti. Put under the hammer on Tuesday 4th November, the sculpture went for $100.96 million, the second highest price for any sculpture at auction, reports CBS. Combined with Van Gogh's Still Life Vase with Daisies and Poppies ($61.8 million), the Sotheby's auction brought in a total of $422.1 million, the biggest sum ever recorded in the auction house's past 248 years.

Christie's have also enjoyed strong sales, with $165.6 million worth of Impressionist and modern art recently finding new homes  - including Manet's Le Printemps, which sold for $65.1 million, far higher than its estimated $25 million to $35 million.

A spokesperson from Sotheby's says that demand is "exceptionally strong" for contemporary art at the moment, while Christie's told CBS Moneywatch that the recent string of record-breaking amounts is as responsible for the sector's growth as any wider economic factor.,

"The strength of the stock market has some effect on the art market as it does every market. However, to a larger degree, the confidence we are seeing in art investment is due to the consistently strong auction results we are seeing season after season, and a growing interest in owning important objects and works of art."