Record auction prices, successful art fairs, and quick gallery sales in 2010 may have reflected both pent-up demand for exceptional pieces and an increasing interest in art and antiques as the still-affluent sought to invest in tangible assets.

Segments of the art market seemed to perform spectaculary well during the still-churning economic crisis, including antiquities, Chinese works of art, diamonds, wine, English furniture, 20th c. fine and decorative arts, collectibles, rare books, contemporary art, among other categories.

 But "...the broad health of the art market is somewhat fictional. In 2010, the high end ($1 million-plus) showed signs of real strength, and the low end (under $100,000) was also robust at fairs and in the smaller galleries," wrote Adam Lindemann in the New York Observer. "The middle market is what has softened the most, because people are far less motivated to chase things that are neither trendy nor of trophy quality."