When Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s painting of William Morris’s wife goes up for auction next week, it is expected to fetch a record-breaking £7m.
This may not seem to have much to do with business but it is more proof that art is where the money is right now.
While many ventures have struggled or failed during the past five years, the recession has actually been good for the art business.
John Eades and fellow art collector Steven Daniels felt confident enough to launch the Albion Gallery in Chipping Norton, which stocks paintings priced from £500-£6,000, earlier this month.
Mr Eades, who lives in London but is house-hunting in the town, said: “Our view of the art market is that it has held up well in the recession.
“We want our clients to know that even though they have to have a piece because they love it, they are not just pouring their money away.
“It’s something that will retain and increase its value.
“If you are going to spend a relatively large sum of money, you want to know it’s still going to be worth something if you want, or need, to sell it off.”
Art dealer Aidan Meller of Meller Merceux Gallery group is also finding art has bucked the recession.
Mr Meller, who trained at Sotheby’s, opened two art galleries in Oxfordshire 15 years ago, one in Oxford’s High Street and the other in Witney.
He relocated the Witney one to larger premises in Broad Street last summer and will open a third in London next year.
Specialising in work by pre-Raphaelite and Victorian artists Rossetti, Millais and William Morris, modern such as Lowry, Magritte, Cocteau, Dali, Matisse, Chagall, Henry Moore and contemporary pieces by the likes of Damien Hirst, prices range from £1,000 to £100,000.
He works with private collectors, who want to start or develop their collections.
This is not unusual and most pieces of art change hands, never having come on to the open market.
According to the Artnet database of auction sales, 1.8 million works of fine art were auctioned in 2012 but this is thought to be just half the total number sold.
Exact figures are hard to come by but there is no doubt the market is growing and has reached an estimated £35.6bn worldwide.
Prices for some artists have soared and there are numerous stories of collectors who have made spectacular profits on particular works.
Savvy investors have realised that apart from its aesthetic appeal, art makes a good investment and one that is potentially less risky than volatile stocks and shares.
And they like the fact that art, in common with bricks and mortar, is a tangible thing to invest in.
One of the other main factors that is fuelling growth is the huge rise in China’s middle classes who now have cash to buy the finer things in life, such as vintage wine and art.
China overtook the US for the first time in 2011 to become the largest art and antiques market worldwide and the price of traditional Chinese works of art rose by a massive 163 per cent between 2005 and 2013, according to the Coutts Index.
The Sinolink Gallery in St Clements, which opened two years ago and specialises in oil paintings, drawings and watercolours from Chinese artists, is thriving and has future plans to expand.

Another boost to the market has come via the wide availability of credit, often arranged by galleries themselves, means buyers can trade-up to something they would not otherwise be able to afford.
The Arts Council’s Own Art scheme spreads the cost of a purchase over 10 months with an interest-free loan of £100-£2,500 and covers 250 galleries, including Iona House Gallery in Woodstock.
Mr Meller says a key element is that a succession of city-related scandals over insider-dealing and rate-fixing, has left investors wanting more control over their money.
He said: “Big business has a slight question mark over it.
“Recent jitters in the market for stocks and shares have left them less inclined to invest all their money there
“You would think the recession would make people batten down the hatches and not buy anything non-essential.
“But those who have money and want to invest are buying much more shrewdly and carefully and that has put them on to art.
“So, in some weird way, the recession has been the best thing that has happened to us.”