Art Market Nearing Record as Global Sales Reach $66 Billion

Global art sales approached their pre-crisis high last year, led by record prices for postwar artists and a jump in U.S. auctions.

Sales of art and antiques increased 8 percent from a year earlier to 47.4 billion euros ($65.9 billion), according to a report compiled by Arts Economics and published today by the European Fine Art Foundation in Maastricht, Netherlands. The results fell just short of the record 48 billion euros in 2007.