Contemporary art has gone up in value by 55 per cent in the last 12 months alone, according to a study of auction sales from around the world conducted by Hiscox, making art an attractive prospect for those looking for a different kind of investment. In August, an investment group bucked the trend, paying an unbelievable £50 million for Damien Hirst's For the Love of God, a human skull covered in platinum and encrusted with thousands of diamonds.Work by the likes of Hirst may be out of most people's price range, but modern and contemporary art is looking to be a smart investment for those in the know.While demand for - and consequently the prices of - more traditional pieces like watercolours has slumped, art produced from the late 19th century to the 1970s has experienced a jump in value of about 44 per cent. Charles Dupplin, an art expert at the specialist insurers Hiscox, commented on the findings: "It has been a tremendous year for modern and contemporary art. It seems that every few weeks, another record-breaking price is being paid for a leading artist. The market for this art has never been so buoyant. "You don't have to have a Banksy hanging on your wall to see huge returns on art. Even relatively modest pieces are increasing in value."

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