Art - buying for pleasure or investment?

The art market continues to grab headlines. Despite or perhaps as a result of the ongoing problems in the financial market and a shrinking economy, record prices are being achieved for impressionist, modern and contemporary art, as witnessed at the major auction houses in London earlier this month. The general feeling seems to be that there is enough confidence in the art market - at least at the higher end - to ensure it corrects itself rather than crashes, owing to the increase in global wealth and money being poured in from economies like Russia and the Middle East. Collectors have di...