How to invest in art: 45 questions and answers

Question 1

What were global art sales worth in 2025 according to the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026?

Accepted Answer

About $59.6 billion The report puts the figure at $59.6 billion, up 4% on 2024.

Question 2

What sets a painting apart from a listed share?

Accepted Answer

It has no daily price and pays no dividends You only find out what a work is worth when it changes hands; until then there are only estimates.

Question 3

Where did almost all of the market's growth come from in 2025?

Accepted Answer

The most expensive works The Art Basel and UBS report places the growth mainly in the highest price brackets.

Question 4

What is the primary market?

Accepted Answer

The first sale of a work, usually through the artist's gallery Primary means the first sale; everything that comes after is secondary.

Question 5

Where are works by modern and post-war masters mostly traded?

Accepted Answer

On the secondary market These artists died long ago, so prices come from resales.

Question 6

How much did public auctions sell in 2025 according to the Art Basel and UBS report?

Accepted Answer

$20.7 billion $34.8 billion went through dealers, $4.2 billion through auction houses' private sales.

Question 7

In which city were all ten of the most expensive lots of 2025 sold?

Accepted Answer

New York Source: the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026.

Question 8

In which months are the major New York evening sales held?

Accepted Answer

May and November These are the two seasons when the most important lots come up.

Question 9

How should you read the annual sales figures announced by auction houses?

Accepted Answer

As figures released by the companies themselves They are the auction houses' own numbers, useful but not verified by a third party.

Question 10

What is missing from a private sale compared with a public auction?

Accepted Answer

A public price result The price stays confidential and never reaches auction databases.

Question 11

Why does a seller choose a private sale when the market is weak?

Accepted Answer

To control price and timing and avoid a failed auction The Art Basel and UBS report points to control, confidentiality and a lower risk of the work going unsold.

Question 12

What often happens to the most sought-after works at a major fair?

Accepted Answer

They are already reserved before the fair opens Dealers offer their top pieces to their clients before the fair opens.

Question 13

What makes an artist blue-chip?

Accepted Answer

A long history of public sales, international demand and a presence in museums The price history counts, not one isolated result.

Question 14

What share of the value of modern art at auction did the top 20 artists account for in 2025?

Accepted Answer

57% Figure from the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026.

Question 15

What does the depth of an artist's market mean?

Accepted Answer

How many buyers are ready to pay a serious price, in several countries and every season A deep market makes it easier to resell without selling at a discount.

Question 16

What is the hammer price?

Accepted Answer

The last bid accepted by the auctioneer The buyer's premium is added on top of the hammer price.

Question 17

Do auction estimates include the buyer's premium?

Accepted Answer

No, they refer to the hammer price To compare an estimate with a published result, you have to strip out the premium.

Question 18

What is the reserve?

Accepted Answer

The secret minimum price below which the work won't sell According to Sotheby's it is always at or below the low estimate.

Question 19

What premium has Sotheby's charged on the part of the price up to $2 million since February 2026?

Accepted Answer

28% According to Grossman LLP (14 May 2026): 28%, then 22% up to $8 million and 15% above.

Question 20

How much does a buyer pay in total, before taxes, for a work hammered down at $5 million at Christie's under the 2026 structure?

Accepted Answer

$6.22 million 28% on $2 million plus 22% on $3 million: $1.22 million in premium.

Question 21

Where do you find the premium table that applies to a specific auction?

Accepted Answer

In the conditions of sale for that auction Tables vary by city, currency and period: the one for that auction is the one that counts.

Question 22

What does a guarantee promise the seller?

Accepted Answer

A minimum price whatever happens in the room The guarantor takes on the risk that bidding stays low.

Question 23

How many lots were guaranteed at Christie's 20th-century evening sales on 17 November 2025?

Accepted Answer

59 of 80 Reported by The Art Newspaper on 18 November 2025.

Question 24

What does a guaranteed lot sold on a single bid at the low estimate tell you?

Accepted Answer

Little about real demand The result is real, but there may have been little competition behind it.

Question 25

Which of these costs do you pay every year?

Accepted Answer

Storage and insurance The premium and the commission are paid once, on purchase and on sale.

Question 26

What did VAT on works of art fall to in Italy from 1 July 2025?

Accepted Answer

5% Before that, dealers charged 22%.

Question 27

What happens if you buy and resell at the same hammer price after five years?

Accepted Answer

You are at a loss because of premiums, commissions and holding costs Entry, exit and holding costs all weigh on the result.

Question 28

What happens to a lot that doesn't reach its reserve?

Accepted Answer

It goes unsold and returns to the seller or the guarantor The lot is said to have been bought in or left unsold.

Question 29

Why can a work that went unsold weigh on its future price?

Accepted Answer

Because the market remembers it, and it takes time or a lower estimate An unsold lot stays in the memory of dealers and collectors.

Question 30

What time horizon does an art investor work with?

Accepted Answer

Years Costs and the rhythm of the auction seasons make a quick resale hard to justify.

Question 31

What is a work's provenance?

Accepted Answer

The documented list of its owners with dates A good story isn't enough: each step needs paperwork.

Question 32

What did the Knoedler case teach?

Accepted Answer

That a provenance made of one anonymous owner and a few anecdotes is not enough The problem was the documents, not the buyers' experience.

Question 33

For which period does a gap in provenance call for particular scrutiny?

Accepted Answer

Between 1933 and 1945 for works in Europe Restitution claims for works seized in those years are still emerging today.

Question 34

What is a catalogue raisonné?

Accepted Answer

The scholarly list of an artist's known works For each work it records dimensions, date, provenance, exhibitions and literature.

Question 35

What usually happens to a work left out of the reference catalogue?

Accepted Answer

It sells for far less, or not at all The market follows the recognised authority on the artist.

Question 36

What did the Andy Warhol Foundation decide in October 2011?

Accepted Answer

To dissolve its authentication board The board was dissolved in early 2012, after years of lawsuits.

Question 37

What does a condition report describe?

Accepted Answer

The physical state of the work, including restorations and damage It often includes photographs in normal and ultraviolet light.

Question 38

Why is an independent conservator advisable for a major purchase?

Accepted Answer

Because the auction house's report is written from the seller's side An independent opinion reduces the risk of surprises about the work's condition.

Question 39

Why should you also check the back of the canvas?

Accepted Answer

Because labels, stamps and inscriptions are part of the provenance The back keeps traces of exhibitions, galleries and owners.

Question 40

What does the Art Loss Register list?

Accepted Answer

Lost, stolen or disputed art objects More than 700,000 items, consulted by auction houses, insurers and police.

Question 41

Does a clean database search prove that title to the work is valid?

Accepted Answer

No, the database only knows what has been reported to it It helps, but on its own it is not enough.

Question 42

From what threshold must dealers and auction houses in the UK and EU identify the parties?

Accepted Answer

€10,000 Rule in force since 10 January 2020 under the fifth anti-money laundering directive.

Question 43

What does a repeat-sales index measure?

Accepted Answer

The price change of the same object between two sales It compares the same object, so different works aren't mixed together.

Question 44

Why do art indices tend to look better than reality?

Accepted Answer

Because the works that return to auction are mostly those that went up, and costs aren't included The 2016 study in the Review of Financial Studies corrects the return from 8.7% to 6.3%.

Question 45

Which price bracket ended 2025 above its 2010 level?

Accepted Answer

Above $10 million Figure from the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026.