RECENT ATTENDANCES at auctions and reports from the major auctioneers suggest that many first-time buyers are entering the art market.

Buying art can be a good investment but – like the stock market – has pitfalls for the uninitiated. Remember that prices can fall – sharply – as well as rise and most art is never going to become really valuable. While the volume of sales may be healthy, prices for many Irish artists have fallen – by 50 per cent in some cases – since the peak of the economic boom.

Anyone contemplating buying art for investment purposes would be well advised to do some research before taking the plunge. As with any other commodity, the monetary value of a painting on any particular day is only what someone is prepared to pay for it. There are no absolute prices in the art world.

Prospective buyers should learn the ropes by visiting commercial art galleries to check out prices; study auction catalogues – most are available free online – and go to auctions. For desk-based research, the internet has countless pages devoted to all aspects of the art market and the main fine art auctioneers also have good websites. Many auctions are now broadcast online. Public libraries are a good source for art reference books, which tend to be expensive.

For anyone interested in buying contemporary art but doesn't know who is who, Robert O'Byrne's lavishly-illustrated hardback Dictionary of Living Irish Artistsprovides a comprehensive overview of 200 of Ireland's leading contemporary artists. The price, €75, may seem expensive but is a lot less onerous than buying a dud work of art. Available from good bookshops or directly from Plurabelle Publishing at livingirishartists.ie.

Also recommended is the most recent edition of A Buyer's Guide to Irish Art, published by Ashville Media Group in association with Adam's, which provides detailed lists of prices achieved at auction for works by hundreds of Irish artists from July 2007 to January 2010. Containing almost 400 pages of data, and a section on 45 artists whose work "should be watched closely at upcoming auctions", it is easy-to-use and generously illustrated. It costs €40 and is available from good bookshops and the main fine art salerooms.