British collectors worry about art prices

LONDON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Contemporary art is being sold for very high prices at auctions in London and New York but some are worried that the pieces will decay and lose value.

The chairman of the Hiscox group, Robert Hiscox, said that iconic works such as Damien Hirst's "shark" or Tracey Emin's "My Bed" could lose most of their value as they decompose, The Times of London reported Tuesday.

Hiscox said that the decomposition of pieces is on the mind of many art insurers and collectors who own some of the movement's best-known works, which are steadily moving into their second decade.

"You're buying a concept, but who wants a work of art that 100 years later has to be continually repaired?" he said. "I looked at the Saatchi collection and you could see that the condoms on Tracey Emin's bed had become brittle -- of course they have, it's almost 10 years old. This raises the question: can these things be replaced? Will any old condoms do or do they have to be Tracey's?"