Contemporary art can be an attractive investment. Hiscox, the specialist insurer, says that prices for modern British works climbed by 12 per cent last year.

Although many galleries charge tens of thousands for avant-garde pieces that baffle all but the sharpest of experts, there are specialist websites that offer accessible works by both up-and-coming and established artists at prices starting at less than £50.

Among the newer contenders is Newbloodart.com, which sells paintings, drawings, photographs and prints by artists in the first phase of their careers, most for £50 to £500. Sarah Ryan, a former art tutor, founded the site to give art students and undiscovered artists a cheap platform and the public a chance to pick up promising works at speculative prices. She says: “We don’t have the overheads, so we can offer a better deal for artists and buyers.”

Ms Ryan and co-founder Ceri Elliston visit art schools across the country to recruit outstanding talent. Several of the artists they first identified two years ago have had high-profile exhibitions and demand for their work has sent prices soaring. For example, Keren Luchtenstein has sold 14 paintings to Sir Paul Smith, a keen collector, and recently exhibited at The Mall Galleries, London.

Robert Read, a fine-art underwriter at Hiscox, says that the contemporary art market is “booming – like an out-of-control rocket”, but adds that it is very difficult to spot a good investment in the work of artists early in their careers. Mr Read estimates that one in 100 art school graduates will make the big time and advises potential purchasers to buy what they like and can afford. Ms Ryan suggest that clients consider their buys as an “emotional investment”.

Visitors to her site can browse by date added or category: artist, subject, media, size or price. The page for each piece includes a photograph, some background on the artist’s inspiration and a link to his or her biography and other works. Each image can be viewed against a background colour of your choice – to help with hanging – and against a human icon to see its relative size.

Mr Read is not convinced that browsing online gives buyers a feel for each piece. He says that colours are altered in reproduction and the texture of brushstrokes on paintings is lost. Customers can view work listed on Newbloodart by appointment in Chiswick.

For those interested in the safer investment territory of more established artists, sites such as Eyestorm.com and Galleryonline.com have plenty on offer at low prices.

CASE STUDY: One for the future

Michael Le Fort, of Alresford, Hampshire, bought a small semi-abstract landscape by recent graduate Emily Gregory-Smith at Newbloodart. The £420 work in oils shows a view of the Irish Sea from Aberystwyth which, Mr Le Fort remembers well from his student days in the town.

The 39-year-old says that he buys what he likes, but looks to invest in artists that he thinks will go on to bigger things. “I keep half an eye to the investment and work to the assumption that I’m not going to lose,” he says.

Ms Gregory-Smith’s painting is Mr Le Fort’s first online purchase. Increasingly, he feels priced out of mainstream galleries and is likely to shop at the site again, saying: “It is a great website: affordable and very easy to use.”

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