People spent a record 881 million on art last year

The allegedly most expensive sold artwork is Paul Cézanne's painting The Card Players, which the family of the Qatari emir bought for more than 250 million dollars (approximately 4.7 billion crowns) from a private collector.

Prague - Collectors and investors spent a record 881 million on domestic fine art auctions last year. Last year's turnover surpassed the previous record year of 2009 by 17 percent and exceeded the previous year of 2011 by 36 percent. A prospective buyer would need more than 200 million crowns to purchase the ten most expensive works of last year. Last year, 138 paintings and sculptures were sold for more than one million crowns, which is a quarter more than the year before.
     Representatives of the Artplus.cz portal told journalists today that they summarized the results of last year's auction market in their regular annual report, which also includes the auction premium. According to experts, the auction market is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Collectors are more selective than ever, seeking out quality works even among the productions of famous authors. The context of the artwork and its provenance are important for buyers, and they are also educating themselves and seeking advice from experts. Collaboration between gallery owners, antique dealers, and state institutions is also becoming more apparent, said Robert Mečkovský.
     According to Jan Skřivánek, around 25,000 items appear at Czech auctions each year, with over 10,000 being sold. Last year, the auction success rate was 41 percent. Works over one million crowns accounted for 61 percent of the turnover. "It holds true that ten percent of the most expensive sold works account for 90 percent of the turnover," said Skřivánek.
     Last year at Czech auctions was particularly marked by the record set by František Kupka, but also by the works of Emil Filla and Chinese art. The most expensive piece of the year became Kupka's painting Shape of Blue, which was sold at an auction held by Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery in the spring for a record 55.75 million crowns (including the auction premium, the buyer had to pay 57.42 million). This is the highest price paid at auction for a work of Czech art not only in the Czech Republic but also on the global market. However, the auction may be jeopardized, as the Czech state has definitively refused to lift the monument protection from the piece, Skřivánek noted.
     Another phenomenon of last year was Asian art, especially the works of master modern ink painter Qi Baishi. While the turnover of Asian art was about 30 million crowns in 2011, last year it exceeded 120 million.
     Over the past ten years, collectors have spent approximately 5.4 billion crowns, and around 750 works were sold for more than one million crowns.