Art outstrips cars and watches as fastest-growing luxury asset

As the bids rolled in for Cézanne and van Gogh masterpieces at the auction of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s art collection, bosses at Christie’s in New York realised they were on to something remarkable.

The sale last November fetched $1.5 billion (£1.24 billion) for Allen’s philanthropic causes, making it by far the most lucrative art auction in history.

Art is the most rapidly appreciating luxury asset in the world, ahead of cars and watches, according to a report into the value of ten “investments of passion” made by the world’s wealthiest people.

A Mercedes-Benz Uhlenhaut Coupé was the most expensive car ever sold, raising $143 million

MERCEDES-BENZ AG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The luxury investment index contained in the Wealth Report, by Knight Frank, revealed that investments in art went up in value by an average of 29 per cent last year, comfortably beating global inflation and outperforming equities and gold.

Art is regarded by the very wealthy as a safe haven with consistent returns during geopolitical instability. This coincided with many high-value artworks by established artists becoming available at auction.

Sebastian Duthy, of Art Market Research, which provides the data for the Knight Frank report, said: “Several single-owner collections — including works owned by . . . Allen and American investor Anne Bass — produced totals in excess of $2.5 billion, more than doubling collection sales in 2021.”

Art rose from third in last year’s report, which focused on 2021, to go top of this year’s table, more than doubling its annual return of 13 per cent. Pieces have appreciated by an average of 91 per cent over the past decade.

Georges Seurat’s Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version) fetched $149.2 million

AMER GHAZZAL/ALAMY

Among paintings sold was the pop artist Andy Warhol’s 1964 image of Marilyn Monroe, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, which became the most expensive piece of 20th-century art sold at auction when it went for $195 million at Christie’s in New York in May.

Other sales included Georges Seurat’s Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version), which fetched $149.2 million from the Allen auction.

The Bass auction, in May, raised $363 million.

Second in the Knight Frank index was classic cars, with a 25 per cent rise in value, up from 3 per cent the year before. A Mercedes-Benz Uhlenhaut Coupé set a record for the most expensive car ever sold, raising $143 million in May in an auction at Germany’s Mercedes-Benz museum.

Watches were ranked third, clocking up an 18 per cent rise in value.