Investing in art as an asset? - Article for the day 20 Sept

In the last few years there have been a lot of people talking about "diversifying" by "investing" in art. Well how does one find out the fair price of art? Well, you turn to the "experts". Experts who can't seem to distinguish between an original and a fake it seems. Add to that

That art market pretends that great artists are inimitable, and that this inimitability justifies the often absurd prices their work commands. Most famous artists are good: that is not in question. But as forgers like van Meegeren and Pei-Shen Qian, the painter who turned out Ms Rosales’s Rothkos and Pollocks, show, they are very imitable indeed. If they were not, the distinction between original and knock-off would always be obvious. As Ms Rosales’s customers have found, no doubt to their chagrin, it isn’t.

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21586580-fakes-say-some-interesting-things-about-economics-art-emperors-new-pictures

P.S. The logic behind these posts can be found in this post