Reuters has a short preview of the London sales that asks whether the art market hasn’t already come too far too fast:

Jussi Pylkkanen, president of Christie’s Europe, said he was confident going into 2011 that the strength of the market was sustainable and that there was room for further growth. The number of new clients who registered for a sale at the world’s largest auction house last year rose 23 percent on 2009, and the number of people who bought an item was up 13 percent.

“It’s that rise of new registrants which really for me signals both sustainability and actually further potential growth,” he told Reuters in a recent interview.

“This new influx of buyers … continues to grow, and that really is the vital piece for me,” he added. “I am very comfortable that it is sustainable.”

As Art Market Booms, Some See Risk of a Bust (Reuters)