PARIS, FRANCE.- Artprice has just released its exclusive annual report "Art market trends 2004". Compiled from art prices collected from 2,900 auction houses worldwide the 17-page survey includes updated key econometrics as well as in-depth analyses that give a full price overview of the art market 2004.

Published by Artprice press agency ArtMarketInsight, the survey also releases rankings such as the top 100 artists by auction sales turnover or the top 100 auction prices. Download Art Market Trends: http://press.artprice.com/pdf/Trends2004.pdf. Extract from "Art market trends 2004 by Artprice" :

The art market had a splendid year in 2004. Turnover at fine art auctions jumped by more than 30% on 2003, wiping out at a stroke the lingering effects of the 2001 slump. Much of this growth was due to high-profile auctions hosted by Sotheby's and to an incredible increase of prices.

Art prices are now at their highest levels since the speculative bubble burst back in 1990. The Artprice Global Index calculated using data on repeat sales reveals that following the fall auction season in New York, art prices rose by 19% between in 2004. Taking into account fluctuations in exchange rates, the increase in euro terms was just 9,5% over the same period. [...]
Investment in the art market requires a knowledge of the markets for individual artists, but also of the associated investment risk. As with the stock markets, this is not insignificant. However, the art market is considerably less volatile. For example, from 1 January 1997 to 1 June 2004, the average quarterly fluctuation in the Artprice Global Index was two to three times smaller than the same statistic for the Dow Jones IA and the S&P 500.
With turnover of $ 1,322 million for some 30,000 lots sold, the United States dominated the art market once again in 2004. US auction houses accounted for 46.5% of the global fine art market compared with 42% in 2003, and total turnover generated in the United States rose 45% in one year. (copyright (c) http://www.artprice.com 1987-2005 Thierry Ehrmann). Artprice, the world leader in art market information, lists over 21 million auction prices and indices covering over 306,000 artists collected from 2,900 international auction houses. Artprice daily serves the main financial press titles and agencies with the art market trends. Artprice Classifieds visible to 900,000 Artprice members for buying and selling art works.