The arts in action
For Love or Money
'Over the last 20 years art has been a better investment than real estate or stocks' said Armand Hammer, oil tycoon and collector, announcing the recent merger of a well known art investment company, Modareo, with one of New York's top galleries, Knoedler.
Because of the high price of art it is often hidden away in bank vaults, it is stolen, it is forged and it is bought and sold in secret.
For Love or Money takes a look at what goes on in the international art trade - at the sale-rooms where it comes up for auction, at the dealers who buy and sell, and at the museums where it usually ends up. We tell the story of an Italian masterpiece, sold for a million pounds which has completely disappeared, the story of a so-called 'ring' at a country auction sale and other incidents which help to reveal what goes on behind the scenes.
(Next week: part 2 of 'For Love or Money' looks behind the scenes of the art world and talks to dealers, artists and collectors)