«IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE»

Aug 15 (Reuters) - A decade ago, the questions Annelien Bruins got from clients who wanted help building art collections were about how to find pieces they'd love.

Bruins, an art consultant and chief operating officer of Sarasota, Florida-based Tang Investments LLC, said buying art then was a "passion purchase." Nowadays, it's become more about love and money.

As investors grow frustrated with tepid returns of traditional asset classes, art has become an alluring option, and demand is outstripping supply in the high end of the market.

U.S. billionaire Leon Black, for example, paid an eye-popping $120 million for Edvard Munch's masterpiece "The Scream" in May, according to the Wall Street Journal.