Insight - Art and soul.

(From Financial Director)

Byline: Amon Cohen.

Anyone who visits Deutsche Bank's London headquarters at Winchester House can see instantly how much corporate taste in art has changed in recent years. On the wall hangs a canvas by Damien Hirst of what look like hundreds of Smarties arranged in a geometric pattern. In front of that sits an Anish Kapoor sculpture strangely resembling a huge metal doughnut. There are no portraits of venerable company elders, or any oils of stags braving wind-swept Highland mountaintops. On the other hand, Gissings, sponsors of the Slade School of Art end of year show, does have an upside down horse on its lobby wall.

Financial institutions and other companies have been shifting their preferences towards contemporary works for well over a decade, but art experts have noticed the trend intensifying in the past few years. In fact, buying modern art has become so de rigueur that it is bordering on being a new orthodoxy. "It is difficult for companies not to buy contemporary art today if they want to be seen as creative, exciting businesses," says Alistair Hicks, art adviser to Deutsche Bank in London.

Susanna Beaumont, director of the commercial contemporary gallery doggerfisher in Edinburgh, which has sold works to Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS, agrees. "Businesses want to show not just that they have been established since the year dot, but that they are at the forefront of contemporary culture, too," she says. "Businesspeople and their clients are younger and more diverse. Their art must reflect that."

Cat Newton-Groves, a curator who advises Unilever on its art collection, says: "Companies are taking more risks in their art selection because they are taking more risks in business."

Contemporary art is also seen as more inspirational. "Our collection is not just there for decoration. Artists look at the world afresh," says Hicks. "We aren't relying on them for ideas, but it does ...