Sotheby's art sale fetches £112m

More than £112 million was spent at auction house Sotheby’s this week*, at its sale of impressionist and modern art pieces which included paintings by masters Monet and Matisse.

Seven records were broken, including the sale of Edouard Manet’s important self-portrait which went for a total of £22.4m, easily beating the previous record of £16.3m for a work by the celebrated artist, set in 1989.

The art market has been resilient to the economic recession, as investors have been keen to diversify their portfolios with tangible assets that are generally regarded as safer options than volatile stocks and shares.

“High net worth people have definitely been moving into collectables as a safer investment over the past two or three years," says Susan Ellis at Datamonitor**.

“We're not talking only about multi-millionaires. People at the lower end of the category - maybe with $50,000 in on-shore liquid assets - have moved into art too, although for them jewellery can be the bigger attraction.”

For those looking to purchase artwork as an investment, or simply to enjoy, art insurance is essential to protect the purchase as standard insurance policies often do not cover individual items over the value of £5,000.

*Source: The Guardian, available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jun/24/records-art-auctions

**Quote taken from BBC News, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10386114.stm