ART MARKET INDEX

The ART+ index is calculated on the basis of turnover, amount of price increases and value of unsold items. Several key categories serving for the description of the market are thus converted to a single datum. A high percentage of unsold items, as well as the fact whether a work of art is sold for the opening price or with a significant price increase, are equally important for the description of the market as the turnover value.

The term “art market” entails a material generalisation. In fact, there is no single art market, but a large number of partial markets (19th century art market, classical moderne market, post-WWII art market etc.), each of them having its own dynamics. In this sense, the art market index represents even a higher degree of abstraction. No increase or decrease of prices of the respective works of art can be deduced from its fluctuations. The ART+ index is primarily a long-term analysis tool and its short-term fluctuations should be understood primarily as a reflection of the atmosphere on the market. It provides only an indirect indication of the growth or fall of prices.

The ART+ index is primarily intended for those interested in the art market who regard art as one of alternative investment tools. The art market will never be perfectly logical and rational as the very nature of art is closely connected with emotions. The ART+ index provides investors with an analytical tool enabling them to rationalise their own decisions to the maximum possible extent. The ability to estimate the right moment for buying or selling a work of art is a key skill of every investor. The correct estimation of the atmosphere on the market plays a very important role in that. The ART+ index is valuable in the aspect that it provides an objective method of market description.

The ART+ index is calculated as at the end of every month on the basis of the results of the auction houses monitored. It has been calculated retroactively to January 2003. By December 2009, it has risen by 498 points, to six times its initial value.