June 2 – 16, 2021
Why is a Leonardo painting worth over $450 million? Can we be sure that it is by the hand of Leonardo?
The art market currently accounts for $60‐70 billion per year and, in spite of the global recession, continues to grow. The new millennium has witnessed the globalisation of the art market, with the emerging economies of China, Russia, Latin America increasingly competing for art with the established western nations of the USA, UK and EU, as well as with the new art‐collecting habits of the Middle East.
The art market is now headed by the USA, followed by China and the UK. This five‐lecture course will study the historical factors which led to the current boom in the collecting and display of art in public museums, galleries and foundations, as well as in private residences.
It will look at the established auction houses and commercial galleries, as well as at the recent explosion of art fairs across the world and the growth of interest in the buying of contemporary art on the primary market.
All art market sectors will be covered, from antiquities through Old Masters, to Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary.