Making an investment in fine art is a matter of balancing the head and the heart, Mr Bryan Greene, the managing director of Adams, the fine art and furniture auctioneers, told a meeting of the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants yesterday.

Mr Greene, whose firm is based in Blackrock, Co Dublin, said it is important to bring "professional and analytical skills to bear when investing in fine arts, but also more subjective faculties should also influence the decision". He said art prices were often determined by factors which cannot be quantified, including quality, fashion and the mood of the market.