Art is portable and liquid, and can be traded in different currencies, Unique works are not always the record-breakers, here is top ten of this season

The top end of the art market appears to keep climbing, despite fresh crises in the currency and banking markets and ongoing turmoil in the Eurozone. The geographic concentration of wealth has expanded, too, and this is having an impact on traditional investments. In newer econ­omies with more volatile, or less mature, financial markets, the rich spend more on luxury assets, including art, jewellery, wine and cars. According to a recent survey of 2,000 of the world’s super-rich individuals by Barclays Wealth, respondents in the United Arab Emirates hold 18% of their wealth in such assets, closely followed by the Chinese and Saudi Arabians (both 17%) and the Brazilians (15%)—compared with 9% of Americans, who tend to focus on more traditional investments. 


Buyers from China and Qatar are entering the trade at this luxury level: they account for at least a quarter of the top 20 works sold at auction. There has been a parallel boom in private sales, including the reported $250m acquisition of Cézanne’s The Card Players, around 1893, by Qatar last year. The expansion is not without problems, however. One of the most expensive works to sell at auction, an 18th-century Qianlong-dynasty porcelain vase that went for £51.6m ($83m) in 2010 at Bainbridges Auctions in England, is a record only on paper—the buyers have yet to pay for it. 


It has been a tumultuous spring in the auction world, with sales of truly spectacular artwork punctuating much mediocrity. As many have pointed out, there is something of a split in the art market, with the freshest, most sought-after blockbuster work going for record prices -- qualities shared by all the works on this stellar top-ten list -- and the merely pedestrian languishing in salesrooms at or below their estimates or, worse, not selling at all.Here is the top ten auction lots of the spring season...

Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale
2 May 2012, Sotheby's


Lot 20
Edvard Munch
The Scream
1895, pastel on board in the original frame
Price Realized: $119.9 million


Courtesy Sotheby's

Post-War Contemporary Evening Sale
Christie's, 8 May 2012


Lot 20
Mark Rothko
Orange, Red, Yellow
1961, oil on canvas
Price Realized: $86.9 million

Courtesy Christie's

Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Sotheby's, 9 May 2012


Francis Bacon
Figure Writing Reflected in Mirror
1976, oil on canvas
Price Realized: $44.9 million

Courtesy Sotheby's

Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Sotheby's, 9 May 2012


Roy Lichtenstein
Sleeping Girl
1964, oil and magna on canvas
Price Realized: $44.9 million

Courtesy Sotheby's

Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Sotheby's, 9 May 2012


Andy Warhol
Double Elvis [Ferus Type]
1963, silkscreen ink and spray paint on canvas
Price Realized: $37 million

Courtesy Sotheby's

Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Auction | June 19, 2012 | Sotheby's London 




Lot 10
Joan Miro
"Peinture (Étoile Bleue)," 1927
Price Realized: $36.9 million

Courtesy of Sotheby's

Post-War Contemporary Evening Sale
Christie's, 8 May 2012


Lot 34
Yves Klein
FC1 (Fire Color 1)
1962, dry pigments and synthetic resin on panel with artist's frame
Price Realized: $36.5 million

Courtesy Christie's

Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction | June 27, 2012 | Christie's London 




Lot 9
Yves Klein
"Le Rose du bleu (RE 22)," 1960
Price realized: $36.8 million

Courtesy of Christie's Images LTD. 2012

Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale
3 July 2012, Christie's London


Lot 37
John Constable
The Lock
Oil on canvas
Price Realized: $35.2 million

Courtesy Christie's

Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction | June 27, 2012 | Christie's London 




Lot 25
Francis Bacon
"Study for Self-Portrait," 1964
Price realized: $33.6 million

Courtesy of Christie's Images LTD. 2012







The Ashok Art Gallery is internationally known for one of its most important holdings: more than 2000 major works by the world's most significant Artists.Over the past years, as Ashok Art Gallery has become a major centre for contemporary visual art, the Gallery has built a strong collection of contemporary work of different artists, we became a sponsor of the STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Artshow, Organized by Art Of Living Foundation and United Nations.Organized an International Contenmporary Art Exhibition including artists from USA, The Nederlands, Pakistan and India.We have also participated at Art Expo India 2008, 09 Mumbai and India Art Summit 2008 New Delhi.