At a Christie's auction in New York last month, Andy Warhol's Liz sold for $23.561 million.

The seller, actor Hugh Grant, bought the screen print of Elizabeth Taylor in 2001 for $3.6 million.

That's a pretty neat return on investment. Even so, the sale price fell below the auction house's estimated price of $25 million to $35 million.

Such is the special world of fine art, where prices have spiraled upward in recent years amid a dramatic expansion in global wealth that has increased the number of well-heeled individuals buying art. But should the boom make art an investment option, like stocks or bonds or real estate?

Some art experts say definitely; others, definitely not.

''Art has been proven as an investment. Compare it to the S&P500 or the stock market: It brings higher returns,'' says Gary Nader, a Miami art dealer. Still, he adds, it's not a realm for the novice.

``People who don't know what they're doing are putting a lot of money into the art market.''

''Art can be viewed as anything you want,'' says Todd Levin, curator for the Sender Collection in New York. ``You can see it as an emotional, spiritual, intellectual experience. If you want to see it as an investment vehicle, it's that too.''

Most experts agree profit shouldn't be the primary motive in purchasing a piece of art. Buying art as an investment ''is a mistake. All serious collectors are not collecting principally as investors. They are spending extra disposable income,'' says Allan Schwartzman, a New York art advisor.

``It's inevitable they put a substantial amount of money into art. But I don't know any serious collector who is in as an investor.''

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