Art News

Affordable art boosts ranks of Singapore collectors

By: Kevin Lim
SINGAPORE (REUTERS).- As the ranks of middle-class art buyers in wealthy Singapore grow, galleries representing artists such as Damien Hirst — best known for works featuring preserved animal corpses that cost millions — are aiming lower, taking advantage of an art-buying boom. Around ten pieces by Hirst, all of them prints, will be offered for less than $8,000 along with thousands of other works of art at the Affordable Art Fair Singapore in November. In line with the art showcase’s name, nothing will go for more than S$10,000 ($8,296) — an effort to lure budding art investors unable to afford the stratospheric prices commanded by pieces in more conventional auction rooms or art events. Singapore, Asia’s private banking hub and home to more millionaires per 1,000 households than any other country, is also a regional base for many banks and multinationals. A growing number of these relat