“Prior to the global financial crisis, art was one of the top performing assets in the index, but growth slowed considerably over the past five or so years. However, confidence seems to have returned to the art market in 2017, highlighted spectacularly by the recent record-breaking sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi for $450m (£333m). Contemporary artists like Basquiat are also seeing higher and higher prices paid for their works.”
Shirley said the record sum paid for Salvator Mundi was a spectacular one-off “but there are plenty selling for $50m, $100m, $200m – the confidence is definitely back”.