Soaring Prices in Europe’s Contemporary Fine Art Market
The South African fine art community of collectors and investors may be a distant hemisphere away from the elite of Europe’s summer worldwide tour that began in Venice Biennale this year. However, analysts predict that the steady upward curve in the world’s fine art market that began in 2002 will continue to push prices through the roof. One of Europe most elite social scenes began their quest from Venice, where fleets of private jets took collectors to the Basel Art exhibitions, following onto Documenta in Kassel and finishing their pursuit by raiding Sothebys in London. Sale of contemporary art works reached unprecedented heights at auction. The event saw Francis Bacon’s self portrait sell for a record $40m, twice its reserve…