The global art market has recovered from the financial crisis, with both confidence and prices continuing to rise. And one of the growth centers is the Asian market, particularly Beijing and Hong Kong.

Compared to other investments, art is relatively unaffected by political and economic changes and has a good long-term performance, which lays a foundation for the art market recovery.

Increased transaction volumes and astronomical artwork prices indicate that the global art market has recovered.

CRISIS AND RECOVERY

The European Fine Art Foundation said the financial crisis exerted a strong influence on the global art market, which witnessed a recession in 2008.

"The credit crunch really affected the art dealing industry," said Zhan Xuhua, art consultant with Artability Art & Collection, adding that some famous paintings were sold at discount prices in auction houses in 2008 and 2009.

The U.S. and European financial crises were reflected in the art market with a dramatic drop in transactions, said Ma Xuedong, researcher of Art Market Research Center.

In Britain and France, artwork sales were to some extent handicapped by a "resale levy" imposed on art dealers, Ma said. According to the resale rights, "the price received for artworks must be returned to the artists."

The French art market was losing ground to the United States, Britain and most importantly China, a French auctioneer said, adding that despite a formidable reservoir of works in private hands, France is "looking for communication with China because today we are all linked."

Artwork is an alternative to other investment assets, such as stocks, bonds and property. And currently it is regarded as a safer option, some art experts said. Besides gold, it is the only commodity that gives steady returns and can gain value over time.

Fine art funds -- a rather recent development -- are drawing more interest from investors who seek to diversify portfolios. They find that art can be an attractive option because, like real estate, it is a real and tangible asset.

CHINA: NEW GLOBAL ART MARKET LEADER

The global art market has experienced a revolution in recent years, as the Chinese art market rose to be one of the world's top art markets in 2010.

China now leads the world's fine art auction sales with an annual fine art revenue totalling 3 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, overtaking the United States, which now finds itself in the second position with 30 percent of the global revenue. Britain ranked the third with a global share of 19 percent and France the fourth.

The Chinese art market experienced its exploratory, developing and flourishing stages since 1992. China opened its own auction markets for art in 1993. And from then on, the Chinese art market saw an increase in artwork prices, transaction varieties and the number of participants, auctions, galleries and exhibitions.

"The global market center has moved from the West to the East. In this aspect, China is the most representative power," said Zhao Li, a professor of China Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Within less than 10 years, Hong Kong has evolved from a small center with 40 million to 50 million dollars worth of auction in good season to an important international auction center and even an art center estimated at around 500 million dollars, said Francois Curiel, president of Christies' Asia, one of the world's top three auction houses.

Chinese artworks and Chinese buyers have started to lead the international art market trend, said Henry Howard-Sneyd, Sotheby's vice chairman of Asian Art.

Art travels to where economies are strong, said Colin Sheaf, chairman of Bonhams Asia.

As China becomes stronger economically, Chinese buyers are more capable of buying Chinese cultural treasures in international auction centers and return them back home, thus playing a significant role in heritage recovery from abroad, he added.