Pull the other one: It can take a few minutes of looking at these utterly convincing works of perspective before the eye determines what is happening
Both countries are still lagging behind the U.S., which has a 34 per cent share, while France is the only other significant international player with a six per cent share. The rest of the world accounts for the remaining 15 per cent.
The world art market hit a peak of €48 billion in 2007 and had been declining since then, dropping by around 33 per cent to €28 billion in 2009, the biggest decline since its previous recession in the early 1990s.
But it recovered strongly last year, more than doubling in value to €43 billion.
'This recovery was driven by the US and China, while European growth was much more sluggish,' said the Tefaf report.
'The recovery in 2010 was also driven by strong spending by Chinese art buyers as the geographical distribution of wealth continues to shift East.'