(Bloomberg News) Christie's International said there was a surge in demand for contemporary art as an investment, after its sales climbed 9 percent in 2011.
The London-based auction house sold 3.6 billion pounds ($5.7 billion) of art and collectibles last year, a pound- sterling record for the company, it said in an e-mailed release sent last night. Contemporary works -- led by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko -- were the most lucrative category, contributing 735.7 million pounds at public sales, an increase of 22 percent.
Diminished returns from stocks and other financial investments have encouraged wealthy individuals to turn to art, particularly classic contemporary works, as an alternative asset class.
"Investors are entering the market and existing collectors are buying more," Steven Murphy, Christie's chief executive, said in an interview. "The ease with which information and images can be accessed through the Internet is also helping create a fundamental increase in demand."
Equivalent auctions for Impressionist and modern pieces --a powerhouse of record results since the 1980s -- declined 28 percent to 548.6 million pounds, behind Asian art at 552.9 million pounds, which increased 13 percent in 2011.
This is only the second year that contemporary art has topped auctions at Christie's. Catalogs featuring works by artists such as Warhol, Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons generated a record 772 million pounds of sales in 2007.
Lichtenstein's 1961 canvas "I Can See the Whole Room!... And There's Nobody in It!" was the most expensive individual lot at Christie's in 2011, fetching a record $43.2 million in New York on Nov. 8. Paintings by Warhol and Rothko sold for $38.4 million and $33.7 million respectively in May.
Pablo Picasso's 1939 painting, "Femme assise, robe bleue," was the top Impressionist and modern seller at 18 million pounds in London in June.
"I wouldn't attribute trends to one year of sales," Murphy said. "Great works by Picasso and Modigliani emerged from collections in 2010. There's always an ebb and flow of quality appearing at auctions."
Private transactions increased 44 percent to 502 million pounds in 2011. These include an undisclosed amount of sales at Haunch of Venison, a London-based gallery wholly owned by Christie's, which said that 20th-century art and jewelry were the main contributors to the overall total.