The "Milano Finanza" newspaper quotes the Nomisma research group and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo to estimate the state of the art market in Italy.

Investors are rising. An average art collection multiplies its value by five times as more as an average flat.

Nomisma estimates art sales throughout Italy to top 600 millions Euro. Painting eats 46% of the market, while sculptures have a 30% share, and drawings 15%. Photographic works are gaining attention. "Betting on young artists may be a risk but then again it can be a source of great satisfactions" - says Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, president of Confindustria, the industrials union. "Art is valued more during troubled times".

(Sources: Milano Finanza, 19.01.2008 and Nomisma)