With major art fairs taking place across the globe from Chicago to Istanbul to Shanghai, art enthusiasts, collectors and sophisticated investors alike are questioning whether to acquire works of fine art as investments. And as significant appreciation emerges in some corners of the art market, we see growing interest from clients about incorporating art into their investment portfolios.
Last year saw more than $60 billion in art sales, a 67 percent increase from 2009. According to the 2014 Deloitte Art & Finance Report, 75 percent of art collectors and buyers are purchasing art for collecting purposes but with an investment view — a sizable jump from 53 percent just two years earlier. In 2014, artworks sold at auction jumped more than 25 percent to $15.2 billion, with a record 1,679 sales worth $1 million or more. That's four times more than a decade ago, according to data from Artprice.com.