Thursday, August 20, 2009

A good time to buy contemporary art

Investors bruised and battered by a prolonged credit crisis could well look beyond bonds and equities in their quest for decent returns. For those eyeing art as investment, now is the right time to buy, mentions a recent Reuters report.

The insightful story mentions that investors with a keen eye are already beginning to see the value in bargains in contemporary art. It adds: “Prices of works done by artists born after 1945 have gone down nearly a third since hitting a late-2007 peak, according to market data compiler Artprice. Analysts state this could be a perfect time to get in.”

An art market player and a gallery owner has been quoted as saying: “It’s a very good time to buy contemporary art. You will find many interesting and high quality works of art at reasonable prices sans the hype of the last few years.”

Artprice data indicates turnover of contemporary art works selling at global auction fell to nearly 11 per cent of the volume in the first half of 2009, from almost 19 per cent over the whole of last year.The odd high-profile sale though has underlined the category's immense potential.

Nevertheless, one would need to be a bit patient, the news report advises, as according to it, it could still take some time before a significant turn takes place in art markets. As is observed, art markets tend to recover with a time lag later than the broader economy.

The owner of Switzerland-based Art Invest, Patrick Gruhn, said, “Contemporary means, it's up & coming, it's more fashion than value. It’s not the confirmed value, while the bigger names tend to have a certain stability. The contemporary market is still slumping a bit. It's a good opportunity to get in at the moment."

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