A U2 owned painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat has sold at Sotheby's in London.
A work by the late American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has sold at Sotheby's in London for almost six and a half million euros.
The painting 'Pecho/Oreja' was owned by Dublin rock group U2. The band's bass player Adam Clayton spotted the work at the Robert Miller Gallery in New York and U2 purchased it in 1989.
Despite the credit crunch, some people are still investing in art and paying big prices in the process.
Michael Macaulay of Sotheby's says that the demand for art remains strong and there has been an increase in buying and selling of art in emerging markets.
Last May, Russian oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is said to have paid almost €22 million for a Lucian Freud painting. The next day, he spent over €55 million on a Francis Bacon painting. A Monet painting sold anonymously last month for a record €52 million.
The high-end art market depends on the availability of a lot of cash; a ready supply of high-quality art; and absolute confidence that the art market is not going to collapse.
Not everyone is so confident in the art market. Robert Read of Hiscox Global Markets believes that it is inevitable that the art market will go the same way as the property market.
But for now, the good times are still rolling.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 July 2008. The reporter is Brian O'Connell.
