Investing in art: where to find the best value in the art market today

It’s been a record-breaking ten years for the art market – even Old Masters of questionable provenance are selling for hundreds of millions. But where should new collectors start?

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Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama
(Image credit: 2016 Getty Images)

It's been an incredible decade for art investors the top ten highest prices paid for paintings have all come in the last ten years. In 2011, Paul Cezanne's The Card Players (c.1895) became the most expensive painting in the world when the oil state of Qatar paid around $250m in a private sale.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.