Art finance

The latest sales of Impressionist and Modern art in London posted a strong overall performance as private buyers showed a growing appetite for works by major names.

Green shoots in the market for the most iconic of all English furniture was among the more encouraging findings of the Antique Furniture Price Index in 2012.

Christie’s have released global sales figures of £3.92bn, a 10% annual rise. The figure, which includes buyer’s premium, represents the highest sales total in the company’s history.

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions say 2012 was their best year to date, with total sales of more than $860m.

After a tough economic year, several French auction firms have now released their sales figures for 2012.

In what were far from easy trading conditions, the UK’s top tier of regional salerooms enjoyed a largely positive 2012.

The traditional pre-Christmas auctions in Dublin often see some of the best Irish art of the year on the market and, despite the sector still being tough going, a good number of works by leading names appeared this time round.

Borro have announced a total £36m injection of investment for the new asset-backed loan scheme based on art, antiques and luxury goods that they unveiled in September.

Borro, the world’s first online asset lender, are to advance loans against high-value items being consigned for sale by auction or private treaty. The company have devised a scheme whereby they will loan up to 70% of the estimated sale price of assets valued between £50,000 and £1m, such as fine art, jewellery and wine, recouping their costs and fees once the sale has been completed.

There is growing evidence that financial institutions are looking much more seriously at art as an asset for investment and loan guarantees.

A new insurance company are trying to plug what they see as a gap in the market for auction guarantees between $10,000 and $1.5m.

ATG posed a number of questions to Art Auction Guarantee. Here is a summary.

THE selectivity in the Chinese ceramics and works of art market seen in London in early November was repeated during Christie’s and Bonhams’ latest Asian series in Hong Kong.

ONE pointer to the buoyancy of a particular collecting field is whether or not it merits its own dedicated sale.

“EUROPE certainly shouldn’t be creating new burdens,” said Chancellor George Osborne as he dismissed plans for a financial transaction tax on the City as “a bullet aimed at the heart of London”.

ESTABLISHING a satisfactory relationship with a bank appears to be one of the major difficulties facing art and antiques dealers in the current economic climate.

SOTHEBY’S latest set of results showed the sustained resilience of the global art market against the backdrop of general economic turmoil.

A SURVEY conducted by LAPADA has revealed just how much the art and antiques trade relies on the cheque.

THE last few months have seen a dramatic increase in the number of works from provincial museums being sold on the open market as a result of government cuts.

A RECORD high for gold and another surge in the price of silver led to considerable volumes of antiques being sold for scrap last week.