LONDON (Bloomberg) - Contemporary art values rose 55 percent in the year through June as collectors paid record auction prices for artists such as Damien Hirst and Banksy, said insurer Hiscox Ltd.

Modern art, which includes earlier 20th century works, finished the 12 months with a 44 percent gain, the second biggest, Hiscox said in an e-mailed statement. English watercolors were the losers, falling more than 27 percent.

Publicly traded Hiscox, based in Bermuda, has a division that insures wealthy collectors and tracks art prices as a guide to how much coverage clients need, according to the statement. The insurer's London building has an art collection assembled by the company's chairman, Robert Hiscox.

Hiscox started its art-price index in November 2004.