Billionaires at Basel Bet Art Better Investment Than Cash
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The main thing that’s driving the growth of the art market is the demand for a good investment for the very rich, art adviser Todd Levin said.
Levin, standing outside the convention center in Basel, Switzerland, was referring to the brisk sales inside at Art Basel, the world’s largest modern-and contemporary-art fair. A self-portrait by Andy Warhol sold for $32 million within 15 minutes of the fair’s start on June 17. Other numbers were impressive: $4 million for a David Hockney landscape; $3 million for a Fernand Leger painting; $250,000 for a towering sculpture by Thomas Houseago.