To have an art work is not only a passion but also a good investment. While the art market's volume has reached $75 billion around the world, the number in Turkey is estimated to stand at $300 million. Turkish auction house Beyaz Müzayede's founder Aziz Karadeniz said, "While one of Cezanne's paintings is worth $250 million, contemporary art's market volume is only around $150 million." However, $300 million of the art market is deemed a good number considering Turkey's art market volume was only $5 million in 2001. According to Agence France-Presse, global art sales set a fresh record in 2014 driven by acquisitions from new museums while China maintained its place at the top of the market, data firm Artprice said yesterday. Works worth $15.2 billion sold at auction during the year, an increase of 26 percent on 2013, Artprice said in its annual report, produced with China's Artron. A record number of 1,679 sales worth $1 million or more were recorded over the year, four times more than a decade ago, it added. Thierry Ehrmann, founder and CEO of Artprice, described the figures as "an amazing result, an increase of 300 percent in a decade." He added that the boom was not being driven by speculators, with 37 percent of lots going unsold in the West and 54 percent in China. 2014 also saw 125 artworks sell for $10 million or more, not including commission, against 18 in 2005.Greater China, grouping the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, maintained its status as market leader, accounting for $5.6 billion in sales, closely followed by the United States. Last year was an exceptionally strong year in the United States, with $4.8 billion being spent at U.S. auctions, an increase of 41 percent from the previous year. British auction houses also put in a solid performance to secure third place with $2.8 billion in sales, up 35 percent from 2013. One of the most spectacular auction results of the year saw "Black Fire 1," a 1961 work by American abstract expressionist Barnett Newman, sell for $84 million in New York in May. It had a pre-sale estimate of $39 million. This month, a work by Gauguin sold privately for $300 million, according to The New York Times.