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[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
It's official: modern art is a boom business. The Saatchi Gallery has had two million visitors. Each year the Turner Prize makes the news. Prestigious galleries like White Cube and Flowers thrive and are being jostled by hip new ones like Modern Art. Even newer collectives and art websites are being set up as you read this. Run-down districts all over Britain are benefiting from the Hoxton effect, when artists move in for cheap studio space and take the neighbourhood up with them.
There's no shortage of new art for sale, and growing numbers of us enjoy buying it. For most, it's a simple process. You see something you like and decide you want to live with it. You do the sums and if you can afford it, you buy it. Even if you can't really afford it, you can always put it on plastic or pay by instalments. After all, art is about so much more than money.
How true. At the top end of the market, it's also about power, status, image and influence. This is a hyped-up, frantic world where works change hands for huge sums, billionaires plead for favours from gallery owners, and a few key collectors wield massive influence.
Introduction | Money | Desire | Collectable | Find out more
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