RETURNS FROM THE ART MARKET. PRICE INDEX EVALU-ATED FOR THE MOST-TRADED POLISH PAINTERS

Relatively new approach toward investing is to concern pieces of art as in-vestment instrument or collateral. In order to decide whether art is a good in-vestment, it is necessary to evaluate expected returns, which might be ob-tained from such investment thus an art price index should be developed. The aim of the paper is to discuss artworks as investment assets and evaluate price index of paintings produced by 11 Polish artists whose artworks were traded the most often on auctions that held in Poland in the years 2007-2010. In our research, employing data concerning 750 objects, we apply he-donic index methodology to estimate returns from the paintings market. Our results justify the opinion that art can be treated as safe asset class, especially in comparison to equity market.