Vanessa BEECROFT & Mario SORRENTI

Ahead of the major Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sales in May, collectors have been making their annual pilgrimages to art fairs around the world. During March and April, those interested in Contemporary art have been particularly attracted to the Armory Show, Art Paris, Art Tokyo, Art Brussels, Cige, etc.

A wave of enthusiasm among younger generation collectors has driven contemporary photography prices up by 92% in less than six years, an annual growth rate of more than 12.7%. This kind of speculative rally used to be the preserve of big name German and US photographers, but in the last few months the market seems to have been led by less renowned artists of other nationalities.