For centuries, wealthy individuals and institutions have collected and consumed art for aesthetic pleasure. While anecdotal evidence suggests that some artworks have appreciated in value over time, few studies have documented investment returns in art systematically. In this article, we...

This paper analysis the global distribution of art collections and collectors' biases with respect to the origin of artworks. Employing a unique dataset we find that the greatest number of private art collections are located in Europe, North America and Asia. There are relatively few collections...