My ruler.

Florine Stettheimer’s 1919 painting “Heat.”

Robert Gober

For the novice collector, I think that one of the best pieces of advice that I’ve been given is to collect what you love. That’s really quite true, if you’re going to be spending your time looking at it, why not opt for something that you like? At the end of the day, I don’t see the value in buying art that you’re not proud to display.

Art is moving online. Websites will not replace galleries, but they allow collectors in lower price points to participate in the art market. The Internet also allows people to research their purchases before they buy. I think online is all about discovery, education and access.

That’s a tough one. I think stand out artists like Nick Cave and Yayoi Kusama will last. Artists who do not have to explain why their work is amazing. I’ve seen people’s mouths drop in awe when they see a Cave sound suit and that is what keeps you relevant for generations.

I determine the value of an “investment” in art by the strength of the secondary market. Is your work worth anything after it leaves the gallery?  95% of work sold today does not have a secondary market.

Many collectors have good taste because they are patient and educated on the market. They also work with great dealers who know which works are important. Every collector’s taste changes and evolves with time.

Tim Walker or Kim Keever photo, Nick Cave Sound Suit or a large Julie Heffernan work, Gerhard Richter small painting.

I feel like there is less selection with an auction. I love seeing the whole show by 1 artist.

If it’s special. Artists who stick gum on a canvas do not impress me. I do not care what the idea is behind the work. Make some effort.

We sell work between $55-$4,000 USD. I price almost all of our editions at the same price points. It’s fun to purchase something by William Wegman at the same price as an emerging artists.

That’s tough. Supply, how many people are collecting in a certain area (if there are only a handful of people interested in a genre, then the market is incredibly volatile). It also depends on the artist and having a good dealer who understands how to create a solid secondary market for their work.

Galleries and auctions usually base price on where the artist is in their career, size, medium, edition and demand.

Fairs are branded. Some fairs like Basel and Frieze can legitimize a gallery and artists.

ArtStar and LittleCollector  I also love Paddle8 museum stores. The New Museum had prints by Rob Pruitt that I wanted so badly!

I collect almost all editions. I love owning something by my art heroes and have a very limited budget.

Start slow. Do not buy something right away. Your taste will change in a year. Editions are great because you can learn while you collect and not spend your entire budget on one work.

Information and the way it is communicated is the biggest change in the art market over the past 20 years.

The reason for this is clearly the Internet. Twenty years ago, information on identification, rarity, quality, value and other key aspects of a work of art was more difficult to come by. Today, however, information is almost instantaneous, which has democratized the market considerably and has allowed for Fine Art to become a quasi-asset class.

In my opinion, artists that will stand the test of time will be the artists that have strong collector interest, expert representation, and the acceptance of today’s top curators. Artists with one or two of these will not necessarily hold their value. But artists with all three have the best chance of being the most desirable 20 years from now. I would suggest Mark Grotjahn, Jonas Wood, and Sterling Ruby are three examples of artists that meet this criteria.

Taste still plays a major role.  The taste of the artist is paramount, but the collector must also consider their own level of taste.  Curators and critics also use their taste to formulate opinions.  The market will be partially shaped by all of these factors. Increasingly however, collectors are making objective decisions based not on taste, but rather by data and cold analysis. Just as taste doesn’t play a major role in the value of stocks; it is also becoming irrelevant to market forces.

For $10,000 I would suggest buying ceramics by the Japanese studios like Otani Workshop which are only recently being represented in America by galleries like Blum & Poe.

At the $100,000 level I would suggest exceptional works on paper by pop icons such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and especially Tom Wesselmann from galleries or auction.

For $1,000,000 I would suggest recent works by Rudolf Stingel, Richard Prince, or Christopher Wool at auction.

There are some artists that have a very wide discrepancy between the price at a gallery and the price at an auction. So it can be very wise to pay attention to the auction process.  However, for some artists, there may not be a regular volume of work showing up at auction. New works can sometimes take five to twenty years to show up on the resale (auction) market and even then there won’t necessarily be a wide variety to choose from. So, sometimes it’s better to have a choice of a selection of work from a gallery.  Established blue-chip artists are easier to find at auction.  For example, a collector can expect to find exceptional works by Pablo Picasso and at a regular interval. But options may be more limited for Vija Celmins, whose work doesn’t show up with any regularity at auction, however, her dealer would be able to supply a variety of works which they control.

For my personal purchases, I tend to trust my eye and think about how a particular work makes me feel at first.  Then I try to imagine whether this work will be something I’ll like to see everyday and whether it will fit with my other collections.

For my business, I try to anticipate what the target market (including demographics of the buyers in the future) will look like.  Then check to see the performance of the artist’s entire body of work and the artist’s history of representation.

I tend to rely heavily on comparable pricing at auction or at galleries. The latter can be difficult to ascertain, so a lot of legwork is sometimes required.

Long term pricing depends on whether there will be a strong influx of new interest in the future. Supply and demand cannot be ignored. For example, there is no expectation that a large group of new young buyers will suddenly become interested in Old Masters markets, so there is not likely to be big spikes in value ahead. Conversely, there is likely to be more interest in top young artists in the future, so many will appreciate dramatically.

Some data and analysis can show when a particular artists work is trending higher than its historical levels, but overall long term value still depends on supply and demand.

So many factors go into this, someone like Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons are more adept at the commercial application and mass marketing than most artists. Primarily, commercial value relates to how wide of an acceptance the work can achieve. 

Art fairs do allow for a greater freedom and experimentation for contemporary artists. Contemporary art dealers can use these venues to brand their business as well as promote an individual artist.

Anywhere that offers curated works that have been vetted by industry leading experts is a good place to buy with confidence. Beware of online venues that don’t let you know what works have sold for in the past. Transparency and expertise is what every buyer should demand.  Artsy and Christie’s online auctions are my favorites.

My personal taste tends toward the abstract and non representational. I also like artists who have consciously rejected historical precedents and who embrace new materials or technologies.

Find an expert and ask questions. Do your homework. There is no excuse for ignorance in this market.

There has been a dramatic shift in the manner in which people view and consume art over the past decade. Art fairs and the major New York auctions predominate and attract a large portion of contemporary art buyers. Today, viewers are more likely to scan gallery exhibitions online, make email inquiries and visit the gallery to see their new purchase. The days of spending Saturdays leisurely gallery-hopping with friends seems to be a quaint exercise from a bygone era.

Ed Ruscha, Mark Bradford, Christopher Wool, Mark Grotjahn, Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Yayoi Kusama, Vija Celmins, Beatriz Milhazes, Georgia O’Keefe and many others….

The market is an aggregate of trends and prices in the art world. Value is subjective: what does an artwork mean to you, personally.

Taste is Illusory: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Look at Sterling Ruby….!

$10,000:

A painting by Evan Nebitt, Samantha Thomas or Martin Basher
Or, a Picasso print

$100,000:

A sculpture by Thomas Houseago

$1,000,000:

Paintings by Mark Grotjahn, Mark Bradford, Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat
Or, a good Picasso drawing

Galleries strive to protect their artist’s market by presenting a reasonable price structure, based on supply and demand, and maintain stability of pricing within the artist’s market.

Galleries provide in-depth expertise, education and understanding of any given artist’s work and the artist’s relevance in the current art world. Often, a viewer will come to understand the nature of an artist’s practice through studio visits arranged by the gallery and by watching the progress of any given artist’s work through sequential gallery exhibitions.

The auction house will sell to the highest bidder.

The auction process is transparent. A buyer can seek the advise of an auction house specialist, who will provide insights into the artwork on offer, procuring history of ownership, condition and insights into the relevance of the artist to the contemporary art market. A buyer will see and hear the bidding on any given artwork in the auction room and know precisely what is being paid, or not.

For me, personally: artworks which have some personal resonance. Artworks which move me in some significant way.

For me, as an art appraiser: artworks which have a track record of sales either in commercial galleries or at auction. As an appraiser, I do not judge art, I simply place a dollar value on each work of art, based on the above criteria.

As an art appraiser, I look at the history of sales in the recent past, both in retail commercial galleries and the auction history for artists who have a ‘secondary market.’ In the absence of auction or retail sales history, artworks are valued on “decorative merit.”

Fluctuation of auction market prices is normal. Many factors can contribute to a downturn in any given artist’s auction history. Condition issues are most commonly associated with poor sales results. Too much of an artist’s work being offered at one time can contribute to poor performance.

Long-term value can only be analyzed through the lens of time, knowing the factors which might contribute to a fluctuation of price and the ongoing stature of any given artist.

Long-term value is speculative. No one knows the future, or which artist’s work will truly stand the test of time: 2-5 decades from now. Artist’s fall in and out of favor. Tastes shift and markets evaporate for many artists. One can only determine the long-term value of an artwork by looking backward.

Fair Market Value is defined as the price at which an item would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.

In a gallery setting, prices are established by a discussion between the dealer and artist, both having an understanding of the market for the artist’s work, the artist’s stature in relation to his or her peers and price structure in relation to the gallery’s and the artist’s buyers.

They are where the art world comes together. The full spectrum of the art world is represented at any given art fair: artists, gallerists, fabricators, shippers, promoters, party planners and financial institutions. Art fairs provide one-stop shopping for buyers. To some, they are a form of entertainment. To most galleries and artists, however they are the most important place for commerce.

Artnet, Paddle8, Artsy, Christie’s online

Works of art which I have a visceral response to, either because of my connection to the artist and understanding of his or her studio practice or, simply because I like it and can afford it. My personal taste tends to run toward reductive, minimal abstraction.

Educate yourself:

Go to museums and galleries and enjoy the pleasure of seeing artists’ work without the pressure of the marketplace. Buy monographs on the artists that interest you, and read the essays. Go to galleries and ask questions. Go to the art fairs and ask questions.

If you do not have confidence in your own choices, seek the advice of a professional art advisor.

Join the “curator’s circle” at any given museum, which provides access to the curatorial process of artist selection and exhibition planning, artists’ studio visits, travel to museums and collections nationwide and the social advantages of experiencing art with other individuals and couples with common interests.

Though the art market has changed tremendously over the last twenty years, here, I will note just a couple of the most significant points.

First and foremost, art has never been more accessible to the general public. With the invention of social media and its pervasive and increased usage, people have been able to discover and view art in a way they never have, before even stepping foot inside a gallery, art fair or museum. Secondly, there has been a notable growth in terms of art fairs and the importance attached to them. This, in conjunction with a growing interest in art in general, stemming from numerous collaborations that have occurred between the art and fashion worlds, as well as a rising interest in a variety of emerging artists – has inevitably lead to increased awareness in artists’ work and a rise in the number of online sales.

I believe the artists that will stand the test of time are: Peter Doig, Marlene Dumas, Neo Rauch, Yayoi Kusama, Gerhard Richter, Julie Mehretu and Ed Ruscha. Their art is already sought after and highly valued, and having become eminent artists in their own right, their work will continue to remain in demand with prices likely to only increase over time.

If I had $10k I would probably buy a Harland Miller limited edition print, or a Kimiyo Mishima ceramics, or a Richard Mosse photographic print.

For $100k, I would buy a painting by either Matthias Weischer, Luiz Zerbini, or David Schnell.

If I had $1M I would buy a painting by Marlene Dumas, Neo Rauch, Adrian Ghenie.  The price, naturally, also depends of the size of work, year it was produced, etc., so the answers I have given are slightly more generalised.

The advantages of buying at galleries are as follows:

One of the advantages is the direct sale from gallery to buyer. Another is that some galleries have fixed prices on works and some (not all) can offer a discounted price.  Contrastingly, auction houses have presale estimates, which means the price often will increase considerably during the bidding process.

Advantages of buying at auctions:

Auction houses have a big selection of artists from every genre and, therefore, also a large inventory database. There is also a public previewing of the artworks before the auction. Furthermore, auction houses always reveal prices before the auction begins, so it is possible to find the prices on their websites, as opposed to galleries’ websites where the prices remain hidden.

The art market model is based not only on supply and demand, but it is also a mix of history and prediction, in terms of the fact that artwork is bought and sold based on its past value as well as its predicted future price.

Fluctuations, therefore, are normal and can sometimes affect the market when the sale of one artist’s work impacts upon a similar or related artist. Long-term value is hypothetical, and thus particularly difficult to predict. We can assume that in 30-50 years time, modern artists such as, Picasso, Miro, Dali, etc., or the impressionists will have a more stable value in the market. But with contemporary artists it’s far more difficult to say, as they still need time to become consolidated in the art market.

The artist ́s price is determined by numerous factors: exhibition history, career level, sales records, etc. Fashion also plays a part in determining the value of art. Artists who are being talked about or exhibiting in well-known galleries, for example, with big coverage in media, are more likely to sell for a high price. In the current market, people are more interested in what’s new and in vogue. Basically, the upcoming artists who are going to become the next recognised set of eminent artists.

My personal taste tends toward the abstract and non representational. I also like artists who have consciously rejected historical precedents and who embrace new materials or technologies.

Find an expert and ask questions. Do your homework. There is no excuse for ignorance in this market.

The Internet! Facebook, gallery websites, Instagram (notably my presence i.e @nielskantor/#nielskantor), Twitter.

Alex Israel – He’s smart, slow to produce, educated and understands the art market.

One is real, one is false.

99% eye, 1% luck.

$10k -Walter Price, $100k -Peter Halley,$1 million-Yayoi Kusama/Yoshimoto Nara

Buying from an auction that has positioned itself in the art world for decades has the advantage. The price is more established!

My eye!

Price is determined by current auctions or past sales of auctions. Off the bat, young stuff and art of upcoming artists should start around $1,000 and $10,000.

That is where the 1% luck comes in. It’s evolutionary.

Supply and demand!

Fairs introduce new artists to the world, more so the younger fairs such as NADA.

Paddle8, Sotheby’s, Christies, Phillips–It all depends on what art is available.

Color and something I love, after that it needs to follow in the footsteps of our existing collection.

Start slow and buy editions until you get your feet wet.

There are many different Art markets.

In terms of the smaller local and regional Art markets, the internet has offered Artists who otherwise had no way to establish a public presence outside their state or region the ability to erect a billboard on the information highway, although I don’t know in reality how much career opportunity or financial benefit that has created for Artists in those smaller markets.

In terms of the larger national and international Art markets, the populist growth in the audience for Art has wrought a deep change on Art itself, and therefore, on how one advises and collects. Today, the most popular Art magazines and websites have turned into simple picture sheets, charting the shifting micro-fashions of the newest Art and Artists. The avant-garde has fallen away because, as in the fashion industry, there is now the desperate expectation of novelty – but no longer of development. The shift from seeing Art as an intellectual pursuit (and, therefore, advising or collecting as an intellectual pursuit) to one that is seen as a lifestyle/financial issue is a profound one.

Finally, an increasing professionalization of the cultural production system has taken place in the past two decades, and therefore a marked translation of culture into consumer product, or the commodification of culture. The increasing economic rewards for cultural production mean that Artists, in the broadest sense, have become well aware of the potential to transform their symbolic capital into an income.

Art’s value is fundamentally about generating new ideas and new forms through the creation of the Artist’s personal language. As a creator of language (rather than a packager of language), Artists do not belong to a social group already molded by culture, but to a culture which they are themselves building up here and now, at this very present moment in time. In order to create a personal language, every great Artist continually breaks with the past by refracting the entire historical and cultural range of earlier ideas and forms.

The Art market, on the other hand, is only about the packaging of the Artist’s personal language, and the marketplace where that language can be branded, bought, and sold. The Art market, therefore, is simply an apparatus through which the Artist is threaded into the Art world.

How does a consumer form their idea of taste? If cultural and artistic success is so unpredictable, who is most important in creating a more certain chance of success? The great mystery is why does a certain person buy a certain thing?

The cultural economy, and how we evaluate Art aesthetically and as an investment, is about taste, not performance, and so, unlike a kitchen appliance or computer or car, there is no methodology to evaluate it. Consumption of creative goods depends on taste and not performance, but for creative goods those tastes emerge from distinctive processes. Success in cultural industry ultimately relies on a skilled network – certain people and institutions have enormous power over consumption – they virtually define taste and create status. Creative producers must work fervently to catch the their attention, as their livelihood depends significantly on that skilled network’s approval.

When one buys at auction, one is not establishing an intellectual rapport with the Artist or the Artist’s gallery. And that is a thumping, epic disadvantage.

The lack of centralization in the Art world today means that many collectors seemingly go to galleries less and less these days. They just go from auction season to auction season. Because of this, auctions have come to constitute their own mini-economy in and of themselves, and an understanding of their internal logic and means of operation is also applicable to our understanding of Art and its value in general. Auctions have become ‘tournaments of value,’ or status contests. At stake in such auction ‘tournaments’ is not only a simple economic transaction, but the establishment of the perceived rank of Artists’ importance, as well as the status and fame of the collectors who can afford the most desirable Art work on sale. Therefore, it is impossible to see/interact with Art in any meaningful way via auction. Auctions are not places where aesthetic or intellectual fields of value are created. Auctions are competitive fields where the destruction of aesthetic and intellectual values takes place for the benefit of consumptive value.

The Artist’s role is not to lead us out of the havoc that we find ourselves in the midst of everyday. Nor is the role of the Artist and their imagination to comfort us while we are constantly barraged with an onslaught of information from myriad sources. I think that the role of the Artist is to make their imagination ours, to gradually watch their imagination spark in our mind. The role of the Artist, in short, is to help us live our lives. The Artist does this by creating a world to which we can turn to, again and again, so that we eventually are unable to conceive of our lives without that Artist’s imagination and feeling. Art is the crucial interface between the imagination and reality, the thing that makes life deeper and broader than what it might be without such insight.

It is impossible to interact with Art in any meaningful way – aesthetically or monetarily – if the only discussions taking place are about its price. The value of Art collapses under the brute weight of pure quantification of data, without the requisite education and real world experience to qualify that information meaningfully. And if the value of Art collapses, so will its price – sooner or later. Art is not a growth industry.

What drives long-term market value is not supply – it is not the sheer availability of more contemporary Art than ever before that sustains the seemingly infinitely expanding number of galleries, auctions, and Art fairs worldwide. And there is more exhibition space world-wide in institutions, galleries, auction houses, and Art fairs than there is good Art that actually deserves to be exhibited. Nor is it quality. Art today is no better or worse than it was 10, 20, or 30 years ago, the number of historically important Artists in any given decade or generation is no larger or smaller than it was 10, 20, or 30 years ago, and gallerists and collectors are no smarter or dumber than they were 10, 20, or 30 years ago, when I began working in the Art market. The force behind all of this, quite simply, is increasing demand.

One only has to open a lifestyle or fashion magazine to find articles on Art fairs such as Art|Basel Miami Beach, the attendant parties and dinners, and what the Artists are wearing. Art fairs are now staged as purely theatrical events, despite their poor attempt at window dressing them selves as ‘intellectually serious’ with a few panel discussions thrown into the mix. Art fairs have become an extension of our ‘experience economy’ – an ad-hoc mixture of show business, Hollywood, and Wall Street.

This results in “Art fair Art” – a proliferation of meretricious Art called into being by market demands – Art that has what one might call ‘wall power,’ a kind of immediacy, a style of ingratiating effect, many times a jumbo economy-sized scale; in short, the ability to stand out amongst so many other artworks in a crowded salon like setting where everything is clamoring for your attention in the midst of a total visual/sensory overload. At places like Art fairs, Art and money exchange roles: money becomes ‘divine’ by being translated into Art, and Art becomes commonplace by being translated into money.

If, however, we take an alternative look at Art fairs and their effect on the Art market, we find a different, but partially hopeful story. Art can take us into new worlds, new countries, new kinds of culture, new sets of priorities, new social systems, and new impetus to society and its commerce. Art Fairs can open different kinds of windows for us into societal culture and its values.

A compelling concept that is manifested as a compelling object.

Keep your wallet shut.

Build a reservoir of connoisseurship.

People love to offer the pablum “collect what you love.” It’s utter nonsense. Educate yourself as much as possible. What one ‘loves’ today may bore one of tomorrow, and what one does not understand today might be deeply appreciated next week.

Ask questions and listen aggressively.

And when asking questions, always be aware if the advice being offered is fully objective, or compromised by a conflict of interest. This leads me to the next point…

Know who the client is.

Remember that while gallerists want to be helpful, the collector not the gallerist’s client – the Artists are the gallerist’s clients – it is the Artist’s best interests that gallerists have to look after. That means that your best interests as a collector are a lower priority, so you must have enough education to represent yourself wisely when dealing with a gallerists (or auction house, or dealer, etc.).

There has clearly been a heavy shift in the market towards Contemporary art. We have had a substantial number of clients become interested in more Contemporary artists than ever before. One way that we’ve been able to educate our clients is to take them around art fairs or auction previews. If they find something they like, we will negotiate for them directly with the dealers or bid on their behalf at auction.

On the sales side, we have noticed an increasing amount in Modern and Impressionist art come to market. This is mostly caused by a change in taste; newer generations favor different styles and decide to sell family collections. Further to this, we have seen many more stamp and coin collections come up for sale. We have been asked to advise several large transactions over the last 3 years of sizable and important numismatic or philatelic collections. Simply put, younger generations often have different collecting tastes and styles than their parents and grandparents.

As independent and objective appraisers, Winston Art Group often gets asked these types of questions. There are many different types of values: Fair Market Value, Retail Replacement Value, or Marketable Cash Value which have their own uses from accounting, to insurance, to collateral loans, respectively. Inevitably, the importance of artwork, collectibles, or jewelry should not depend on its value or cost, but the enjoyment you get from it. Nonetheless, it is still important to consider these objects as tangible assets that should be monitored and cared for with yearly reviews and condition checks which we regularly perform for some of our largest clients.

Whenever we are asked to buy for clients, we normally start with identifying artists that they like from a stylistic perspective, and then locate the best pieces by those artists on the market, whether offered by a gallery or in an upcoming auction. Galleries are great for clients who have a particular artist in mind but auctions let clients discover a whole range of artwork available. For us, we do not have a preference when advising. It mostly depends on the type of art and its availability on the market.

I think it would be useful to differentiate between pricing art and appraising it. While the methodology behind both is fairly similar, pricing suggests an interest in selling it while appraising provides solutions to issues. These solutions could be providing clients with a donation valuation, a loss in value after damage, or suggested insurance amounts to mitigate risk. In both instances, we rely heavy on market comparables and past public sales records.

Personally, I’m a fan of smaller-scale pieces; works that my graduate school professor would proclaim as, “great for a New York apartment!” I stick mostly to contemporary art and design and have found it enjoyable to meet the artist and get to know him or her if that is possible. The price has to be right too, of course!

It’s hard and intimidating to start collecting especially if you don’t have any formal background in art. We have had many clients like this over the last few years and we take the time to really figure out what they like. The best advice is to team up with an advisor who can help you get a foothold in the art scene and can guide decisions. No matter the price point, it is always good to have a seasoned professional by your side when you want to buy or sell any collectible.

At least at the more emerging level (which is what I’m more familiar with firsthand), there are considerably more galleries out there now than there were in the late nineties, especially in big industry cities like New York or London. Collectors are also better informed in recent years up and down the market (or at least they have more access to information), so generally speaking there may also be less deference to the dealer when it comes to assessing demand or setting the price of an artist’s work.

While these changes may amount to a more competitive landscape for dealers, the overall size of the collecting population has also grown significantly during this same period—caused in important part by the internet creating unprecedented access for new collectors who might have been shy or reluctant to enter a gallery or auction house before but who can now be introduced to galleries or participate in auctions more conveniently online. This growth in the collecting population is also due to focused efforts by dealers to reach new segments of the population (for example, collectors working in the tech industry), as well as to what appears to be a generally increasing mainstream interest in the art world, although that’s harder to quantify. This increase in overall demand helps to meet the larger supply out there in the market, at least in theory.

Another important if obvious development is that the market has become much more globalized, art fairs and the internet being two big contributing factors. Even at the emerging level, dealers frequently work with collector clients in other cities or countries—and more collectors are looking and purchasing work from galleries outside of the collector’s hometown. It’s encouraging to see this long distance contact between dealers and collectors, as reaching a wider collector base is probably necessary for the smaller and mid-sized galleries to sustain themselves and grow in a crowded market—and the health of smaller galleries is critical, as they are the ones who normally collaborate with emerging artists to provide those early shows that can bring an artist’s work into the public discussion.

Some artists have also been taking matters more into their own hands commercially, starting their own galleries and acting as dealers in their own right. While I can’t think offhand of any artist-run galleries that have turned into major businesses (although some may exist), artist-run spaces certainly help emerging artists to gain visibility which can lead to future opportunities, for instance, opportunities to work with larger galleries. There are also some innovative artist or curator run exhibitions out there functioning as quasi art fairs—Spring/Break Art Show in New York and Satellite Art Show in Miami are two that immediately come to mind—that provide significant visibility for artists who may not have gallery representation, and that support projects which are bolder or more experimental than the work you might see at the larger commercial fairs. Satellite was hands down the most rewarding art experience I had during the recent Miami art fair week—granted I wasn’t down there to buy or sell six figure paintings.

Impossible to say. But historically—and this is obvious but I think worth mentioning—the artists who’ve stood the test of time were all extremely dedicated to their practice as a lifelong pursuit. Some great artists may start creating later in life, and some may even claim (with varying degrees of irony) to have retired, but the artists who are remembered after their time have usually practiced more or less continuously throughout their lives, whether from a sense of compulsion, discipline, or some combination of the two.

Market is about how readily and at what price something can be bought or sold. Value is a broader idea that goes beyond the market and includes the critical, cultural, and conceptual meaning of a work or an artist’s practice. If value is defined more as cultural significance, then of course it isn’t limited to tradeable artwork and can be used equally to describe an exhibition, a performance, a piece of critical writing, etc. Value—or the perception of value—is often a primary factor determining an artist’s market. That said, as you know, there are other influences in the market so value isn’t always the main concern.

Taste is of course one of the most important and common factors in collecting decisions up and down the market, whether we’re talking about new or established collectors. That said, the role of taste in the decisions of established collectors naturally depends on the situation and on the collector. Are we talking about someone who likes to acquire as much work as possible by a given artist in order to affect their market? In that case taste probably matters less for any individual work. Maybe a similar dynamic exists with collectors looking to build a comprehensive collection across a range of artists or types of art, where they may be willing to purchase something they don’t personally love in order to acquire an object that fills a representative gap, which is of course a perfectly valid motivation and may help to account for some of the more encyclopedic collections out there. For instance, I recently visited the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena—which is just an incredible collection spanning Eastern antiquities through post-war Western art—and even though most of the objects are very beautiful, the collection is so diverse that it’s hard to imagine taste playing an equal role in the decisions Mr. Simon made across the different collecting categories.

10k – Work by my friends.

100k – More work by my friends, and probably some work by other artists towards the start of their exhibiting careers. Collecting emerging art is one of the best—and definitely one of the most direct—ways to support emerging artists.

1m – I wouldn’t spend it all in one place. But if I had to, something by Richard Diebenkorn.

Not reinventing the wheel here, but if we’re talking about work by living artists, collecting through a gallery usually offers a nice chance to speak with someone who knows the artist personally and can offer some fairly direct insight into their practice. If you go to a gallery opening, you may have a chance to meet the artist. If you go to an auction, you normally won’t see an artist in the room. That said, auction house specialists are of course extremely knowledgeable as well and have plenty of information to share. For my time, it’s an advantage when you can establish a personal link back to the artist.

Am I responding to it physically? How was it made? What are its material or visual qualities? Am I responding to it conceptually or emotionally? Am I enjoying myself when I engage with it? Is it making me uncomfortable? Why or why not? Where does it fit into the artist’s practice as a whole? What meaning does it have in a broader artistic context (i.e. relative to the artist’s peers and other artists who are more or less senior)? What meaning does it have relative to the larger social/political/etc. situation in which it was made? I suppose there’s a fair amount of subjectivity in all of those!

Art fairs make everyone busier. For artists and galleries, fairs are of course an invaluable opportunity to reach new clients and audiences, but there are the related risks and pressure of participating. For gallerists, fairs mean a more intense operating schedule and additional overhead. For artists, fairs can mean additional studio deadlines that force artists to work faster than they might have otherwise.

Apart from the basic commercial aspect of the fairs, it’s been exciting to see more fairs producing supplemental programming, panel discussions, special exhibitions, even charitable prizes or collaborations with institutions—for instance, the recent NADA Acquisition Gift for PAMM where NADA allocates funds from its Miami tickets sales to support an acquisition by Miami’s Perez Art Museum from one of the fair’s exhibitors. Fairs are playing a very prominent role in the contemporary discussion, so it’s encouraging to see some of them showing a sense of reciprocity and also an increased focus on geographical diversity and curation in their selection process and floor plans—as opposed to more of a curatorially agnostic, transactional format (granted, the primary purpose of fairs remains to help connect galleries with collectors, which is of course a critical function in its own right).

The only time I’ve ever bought art online was bidding in a benefit auction for the Brooklyn Academy of Music a couple of years back on Paddle8. That said, for those who want to collect work from galleries, Artsy is a very helpful platform that features literally thousands of galleries from all over the world and is a great place to discover work for sale and connect with dealers. Artsy also features a growing auction platform where they host sales by commercial auction houses and also host benefit auctions for non-profits (I worked at Artsy for several years as their legal counsel and it was great to be a part of those projects).

There are also some platforms out there selling limited edition prints in collaboration with artists, which is a nice format that lets you collect work by talented and sometimes fairly well-known artists, just at a more modest price point. Sugarlift, for instance, is a service you can access online that has produced some great collaborative prints with artists, but that also provides collectors with custom advisory services to help them find original works by a range of artists that Sugarlift knows personally. The idea there, as I understand it, is to help emerging collectors discover work by emerging artists, which I’m all for.

That said, I’m no longer so focused on online sale platforms—and I’ve actually spent the past year developing a new platform, Foundwork, whose purpose isn’t to sell work to collectors, but rather to help create more visibility and connections between artists, curators, and gallerists, i.e. the people who play a key role in collaborating with artists, organizing shows, and advocating artists’ work to the public. For every artist and gallerist who have the chance to meet and decide to work together, there are of course others out there looking for new opportunities, including opportunities to collaborate with people who don’t necessarily live nearby or share the same network. It seems like a lot of potential opportunities are missed due to a basic lack of access or visibility across this group (both locally and at longer distances), and that’s what Foundwork is designed to help address. This dynamic applies equally to curators and educators who want to research or connect with new artists for shows or other projects. In terms of the market, this sort of connective platform ultimately enables more artists to show and sell their work through galleries—and enables galleries to promote and partner with a wider population of artists. In the end, more work makes it out into the market and into the broader art arena, and more people have a chance to participate.

The handful of works I’ve collected have all been objects I wanted to live with aesthetically, but—as my dad sometimes says about plays or films that he likes—they also have something on their mind, which in this case means work that gets me thinking about something other than its appearance. Guess I’m keeping my options fairly open there.

This advice is cliché for a reason (it’s critical): make a habit out of seeing a lot of art. Get to you know yourself better in that context. If you live near galleries, visit them often and don’t be shy to talk with gallerists and ask them to tell you about the work—that’s what they love to do. Also, do some reading about the artist before you purchase their work (even just a quick online search will often tell you a lot). If we’re talking about collecting work by young or emerging artists, you probably shouldn’t start your collection with a profit motive. At the same time, in you’re going to invest in someone’s work at any level, you do want to know that they have a dedicated practice which they’re likely to continue pursuing into the future.

The art market has changed drastically over the past 20 years… First in terms of size and overall value, for example the size of the contemporary art market has at least multiplied 20 times in terms of total revenues at auction globally over the course of the last 20 years… Values for many artists have increased ten or twenty-fold, like for example artworks from Jean-Michel Basquiat, or Keith Haring, and many others… Second in terms of market structure, the market today is more transparent and liquid that it has ever been, with easy access to all auction sales through online databases, and numerous new sales platforms, making the buying process more consumer-friendly and approachable. This incredible growth is notably driven by a massive entry of new collectors from all over the world and at all market levels (both lower end and higher end), it is a global phenomenon, the strong development of art fairs globally, the construction of new museums, the growth of online sales platforms. Of course, the art market is also much more publicized today than it was then when it was more reserved to an “elite”, nowadays, social media platforms, the numerous museum shows dedicated to well-known artists, are driving new buyers at all levels.

This is the right question… there are so many artists nowadays, so many art fairs, so many online platforms, it is more and more difficult to differentiate those artists who will stand the test of time from others… The reality is that nobody truly knows in the complex and rapid world into which we operate, but this is the absolute question for a collector who is willing to collect on the long-term.

There are no simple rules, but rather a set of circumstances… Is the artist represented by a well-established gallery, is the artist motivated and committed to his work, is the artist creating a set of work that can be qualified as innovative and impactful, is the artist art-educated and well aware of where his works stand in place of art history, is the artist already involved with the secondary market, and collected by savvy collectors…

Many artists are knowing extended notoriety through social media platforms, outside of the “traditional” gallery platform, I am not sure those artists, who are sometimes already selling their works at high prices, will stand the test of time…

All value and pricing related questions are very tricky in the art world… Pricing does not always meet the basic economic equation that consists in balancing demand with offer… there are many parameters involved and multiple platforms that still make the art market quite inefficient in terms of pricing. Let’s say the market value is whatever a buyer is willing to pay for an artwork, this number is still highly dependent on the sales platform (auction, market, private market, online, art fairs, galleries,). The value is, to my point of view, a more theoretical concept attached to more objective matters, whether it is replacement value, fair market value, insurance value, it can only be attached to artworks from artists that pertain to the secondary market, with a strong track record at auctions. This question is more tricky for artists who are only present in the primary market, in that case, the galleries are fixing the prices, and sometimes in a very erratic manner, the key parameter here is the reputation of the galleries themselves and their ability to drive their artists’ careers.

TASTE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MATTER FOR REAL AND TRUE COLLECTORS. Of course, value is an important matter that goes hand to hand with taste, but in my experience, real collectors and serious buyers are always driven by what they truly love and by their personal taste. Important and true collectors are buyers and not sellers, and they are chasing the works that will enrich their collection in a cohesive matter.

My current advice to all collectors is to educate themselves with the “urban art” movement, that to my point of view, is one of the most relevant movements right now in the art world, it is global, it is linked to our modern societies, and it is extremely dynamic. Out of the 10 most sold artists at auctions in 2016, by number of lots, there are no less than 4 urban artists, including Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey, Kaws, and Banksy. Those artists, and many others already, have a very dynamic and active auction market. They are collected widely, and will with no doubt increase in value tremendously over the course of the 10 next years.

A collector nowadays should purchase through all channels, at galleries, at auctions, online, depending on what she/he is looking for. The auction market is very liquid, there are numerous auctions everyday all over the world, it sometimes allows collectors to purchase vetted artworks at a very reasonable price, depending on the competition in the auction room or online. Buying from a reputable auction house gives you some guarantees on the quality and the authenticity of the artwork, but still any collector should carefully do their own due diligence, notably in terms of authenticity and condition of the work. Buying through a commercial gallery is also critical to the good health of the art market, it allows for a more direct contact with the artist, and the person who represents him and supports him. Building a long-term relationship with a credible and serious gallery also allows to follow the career of the artist, allows to buy and potentially resell, and supports a strong cultural local ecosystem.

We are not here to judge art. It is a highly subjective matter, subject to cultural differences, art education, and personal taste. I would rather come back to more basic language linked to liking or not liking art, it is about taste education. Any form of artistic expression is relevant if it finds its public, and purchasing any artwork, depending on the context, can provide infinite pleasure and personal satisfaction. However, depending on taste and purchasing strategy, I do use many parameters to identify artworks for my clients, studying in details the artist’s resume, its overall portfolio, and the credentials of the gallery that represents the artist.

There are many criteria to be used to price artworks, the most important one being to understand which art markets the artist pertains to… Does the artist have a well-established secondary market? If so the best way is to check comparable artworks that previously sold at auction. If not, the market is organized by the artist’s galleries, and it is mostly about knowing what sells and for how much. There is no easy rule, nor rules that do not involve a matter of subjectivity, ultimately the price is the price that any buyer is willing to pay for a given artwork…

One needs to be cautious about market fluctuations… The reality is that there is not “daily” price fixing in the art world, and by nature, prices are volatile and changing between platforms. One cannot say that prices fluctuations are seasonal, the reality is that no artwork is exactly comparable to another artwork. Even prints from the same edition, and different numbers never have the same provenance history, nor condition issues, hence the fluctuations and prices. All the more than the market is not perfect; a very comparable print can sell at much higher price within an auction sale where there is a bidding competition for such lot. It is quite clear however, that over the long-term, well established artists with deep secondary market tend to increase in value, driven by an overall increase in demand globally…

This question is a bit redundant, most of concepts attached to value have been addressed in previous questions.

Art fairs are now a critical sales platform for the art world. There are numerous art fairs happening all year-long and all over the world, opening market windows for thousands of galleries, artists and artworks. They are extremely important in the way the art market works today, and even more for buyers to be able to purchase artworks within market windows where dealers are motivated to sell, and compete against each other. It brings fluidity to the market, and I strongly advise my clients to buy at art fairs as they have a unique opportunity to compare, to speak with dealers, and to purchase artworks at competitive prices from motivated sellers.

The online market platforms have been developing strongly for the past few years. On top of the “traditional” platforms that mostly sell online like artnet and artsy for example, most “brick-and-mortar” art institutions also have online platforms, including many commercial galleries and auction houses that regularly sell part of their inventories online. I advise only experienced buyers to use those platforms as it is always more complicated to “apprehend” an artwork online, and to make the right purchase at the right price.

I mostly buy what I love from artists and dealers I know personally.

My best advice is first to attend as many art events as possible, art openings in galleries, art fairs, but also go to museums and try to understand better one’s taste and objectives in starting a collection. Then, I must say that the best collectors are often the ones who work with the best art advisors. The art world is so vast, that one must be very involved to build an expertise. The art world is also misleading in the way that it seems very approachable, but the reality is that there are a lot of rules and codes that one can only learn with time and relationships. As a consequence, hiring an art advisor can allow any buyer to gain considerable time and will allow a beginner collector to acquire more knowledge and experience in a limited time and often save money in purchases. It is mostly about understanding one’s tastes and adapting the budgets to various objectives that are not always cohesive, in a constantly changing world, which is not as easy as it may seem. However, collecting can provide infinite pleasure, can be shared with friends and family, and can also in some instances result in wealth expansion.

Roberto Toscano: My first work was an etching by Richard Serra – I’ve since added quite a few more etchings by Serra into the collection, so, this body of work was certainly important to the development of my collection and my ideas about collecting more generally. I’ve never sold a work and have no plans to ever sell anything.

Nadia Palon: My first piece was a set of skate decks by Marilyn Minter, of course I still have them!

Roberto Toscano: Sculpture, by far. Most of the work I acquire is either by sculptors or plans and preparatory drawings for sculpture.

Nadia Palon: I really love the light and space movement – I’ve always been fascinated with James Turrell’s use of light as a sculptural medium. Roberto and I are about to make the trip up to Massachusetts to see Into The Light at MASS MoCA.

Roberto Toscano: Yes. IG has been very useful in finding new artists and keeping up to date with what is happening in the field.

Nadia Palon: I’ve bought work directly ON Instagram! I wanted to surprise Roberto for his birthday and so I direct messaged Elias Hansen to secretly make a piece for him which I surprised him with on his birthday.

Roberto Toscano: I’m a composer and musician, in a sense, the collecting was a means to an end – finding solutions to analogous problems in aesthetics by looking at the visual arts as opposed to just music.

Nadia Palon: I’ve been exposed to art since I was a small child; my mother would regularly take me to museums and I really fell in love with the whole experience.

Roberto Toscano: I have a soft spot for much of the work I’ve collected – hard to pick among them.

Nadia Palon: A red hologram by James Turrell, Roberto gave it to me as a gift and we installed it in our room! I look at it every day.

Roberto Toscano: Daniel Turner, Sterling Ruby, Oscar Tuazon are the three who come to mind immediately; I collect their work in depth.

Nadia Palon: Gerhard Richter and his ability to work through so many styles and idealogical positions while still refraining from becoming dogmatic, as a writer I especially admire that position.

Roberto Toscano: Important but not vital – I don’t mind if artists want their space and rather not engage in a more formal dialogue on their work and my view on their work.

Nadia Palon: I love meeting them! Studio visits are incredibly important and really inspire me. I always look around at every detail and try to catch a glimpse of how they work, what they read, how they live, etc. We just came back from Los Angeles and we had the honor of having a three hour tour of Paul McCarthy’s studio. It was one of the most disturbing and thought provoking experiences of my life. Paul spoke in depth about his ideas and really took his time to explain his positions – he was incredibly friendly and I was extremely impressed by how involved he was with every stage of the development of every piece in that gigantic space. It’s the largest studio I’ve ever seen – and we also had a tour of Sterling Ruby’s studio this same trip, which many people know is gigantic in itself! So this gives an idea of just how large Paul’s studio is! Another highlight was meeting Larry Bell and spending time with him and Pinky (his dog and the clear boss of the studio). Larry invited us to visit him in New Mexico to see the production of the larger cubes and glass pieces, I can’t wait for that.   

Roberto Toscano: Find artists in your own generation who are pushing the envelope – try to start by collecting the work of your peers.

Nadia Palon: I agree with Roberto.

Roberto Toscano: I don’t usually think about price at all (or markets) – if I become obsessed with it and I can afford it, I will try to acquire it ASAP. The body of work I’m currently most interested in that is above my current budget and which is hard to source are the resin sculptures from the KANDORS series by Mike Kelley.

Nadia Palon: I’ve had a life long obsession with Richter, if I could I would definitely buy a major work of his.

Roberto Toscano: I’m on many of them – if work appears that I care about, I try to at least get a bid in! I’ve used PADDLE 8, Artsy, and all the main art auction houses as well.

Nadia Palon: That seems to be Roberto’s domain 

So much has changed. 20 years ago I was 14 years old, so I wasn’t exactly privy to the art world at that time, but in just the last 10 years, so much has changed. The ability to access images is overwhelming– you can see artworks around the world via the internet and social media, whereas 15/20 years ago you had to physically go to a gallery or museum to view something. I still strongly believe in seeing works in person when possible, but I will admit I’ve bought many artworks via jpeg! Artist’s markets are sharply affected by this shift in access to information. We have witnessed young artists works reach record level auction prices within the first few years of their emergence and then seemingly drop off from the market. The speed with which the business now moves is hard to keep up with and can be disheartening for young artists.

There are the obvious ones of course, but I think the artists who are using their medium and voice to support social justice issues through their work will be the ones who stand the test of time and ultimately guide our society forward. A few examples include Rirkrit Tiravanija, Andrea Bowers, Theaster Gates, Sam Durant, Goshka Macuga, Barbara Kruger, Ai Weiwei and the Guerilla Girls.

Taste is very important and is usually what initially determines the direction of a collection and the early purchases. You have to like what you are buying – there is so much out there and so many reasons to invest and support different artists. Taste is usually intrinsic and should be utilized to guide your collecting.

$10K – a Naotaka Hiro painting or drawing or a Mimi Lauter work on paper

$100K – Rodney McMillian carpet painting or Andrea Bowers cardboard painting

$1M – David Hammons tarp painting or a Felix Gonzales-Torres last light sculpture (from the larger edition)

The benefits of buying through the galleries, particularly primary galleries, is endless. By doing so, you can create a real and lasting relationship with the gallery and with their roster of artists. You can also rest assured that your hard-earned cash is going to the artist and not to a collector or auction house trying to make a profit. Of course, auctions are very useful for sourcing specific or historical objects and for gaging the secondary market, but I always prefer to buy from the galleries.

I try not to “judge” art but rather experience and understand it and use it to educate myself. There is so much out there to see and I think after a while, you start to develop an inner eye that you can really trust and depend on. I usually have an instinctual response to artworks; whether it’s positive or negative, I try to really pay attention to that response and understand why it is manifesting itself as such. The works that I have strong negative reactions to are often the ones that I end up thinking about the most and interestingly, usually circle back around to loving, if only for the reason that it challenged me in a profound way.

Art fairs are tricky – they are incredibly seductive and exciting, but I don’t like to buy art at fairs. It always feels rushed and chaotic and it’s not an ideal setting for taking the time to really understand a work and its varied nuances. I prefer to use art fairs as a tool for research and to connect with dealers outside of Los Angeles, rather than as a source for acquisitions. There are of course, always exceptions!

Artspace and Tappan.

I look for many things including the artist’s mastery of their concepts and media, curatorial support for the work, market support for the work and probably most importantly, is seeing that the artist continues to push him/herself in new directions and takes risks. For me, the best part of collecting and supporting artists is watching them and their career take shape and change over time. It’s so exciting to see how one series informs the next. When an artist surprises you, it can be the best feeling.

Go slowly and do your homework. The contemporary art world and market can be very overwhelming. It’s constantly growing and changing, which is what makes it so exciting but also daunting at the same time. There is always more to learn and more to understand. Get to know your inner eye and what makes you excited and really trust your gut. Befriending experienced collectors or curators doesn’t hurt either! Their expertise and knowledge is priceless! This business is all about relationships and trust, play the game fairly and transparently, and usually you’ll win.

The market is a lot bigger now with more artists, more galleries and more collectors. It has become harder for beginning collectors to navigate and even for seasoned ones to keep up with. The galleries are also experiencing a very big shift in the way they operate, with many smaller ones closing their doors, moving, joining forces or reinventing themselves.  It will be a different art world five years from now.

There are too many to list here really but it will be those that either reflect upon the time with poignancy and relevance like Kerry James Marshall, George Condo or Mark Bradford or those who are also very strong in who they are as artists, exploring ideas and techniques, materials and art itself such as Teressita Fernandez and Frank Stella.

Value is determined by the market. It is tested and can change based on the demands and mores of the market.  The value is set initially and will fluctuate depending on supply and demand but also on taste and fashion.

Taste plays a role up to a point and that point is a price point. In the certain stratospheric point brackets, it is not about taste but only about investment value of the works.

 For $10k I would buy emerging artists’ works and there are many I have seen in recent months that I would readily buy.  Works by artists such as Sissi Farassat or Lala Abbadon. For $100k my first purchase would be an artist like Zaria Forman and on a different angle, a tondo by Nick Cave or a neon by Ivan Navarro.  For $1 million, I would look at Mark Bradford, Yayoi Kusama, Rudolf Stingel, Anish Kapoor. The list is too long.

At auction there is not as much of a personal relationship with either the dealer or the artist that can develop if you are buying from a gallery. You are also buying on the secondary market and not from the studio and for many collectors, it doesn’t have the same value. But it also depends on what it is that you are buying. If you collect Old Masters or Impressionist paintings, then I would recommend doing both. If you collect contemporary, I would opt for developing a relationship with galleries and artists and buying from them directly.  With an auction there is less certainty that you will get the work, it is more of a risk that one takes when buying from an auction.

I use aesthetics, integrity, quality, content, where the artist is going and where the artist stands at the present time, what gallery he/she is with, what shows she/he has been in.

The entire body of work of that artist and what it was a year or two ago versus what it is now.

The gallery sets the prices together with the artist and that depends on time put into the work, materials, production, artist’s career as a whole and how much has already been sold and what that demand has been like.  There are many factors and they can change over time.

Art fairs have dramatically changed the way the art world operates not always for the positive.  Many galleries have suffered because of the fairs and there is a fair fatigue happening now. We will see what happens but I believe there will be a reduction in the number of fairs, while at the same time there will be new ones in smaller cities.  Galleries have had to compete with the fairs so there is pressure on the commercial gallery world because of them. At the same time, it has enabled some artists and galleries to show in cities where they don’t have a presence so it has benefited collectors to an extent.

I don’t believe in buying art online unless it is inexpensive. I believe in only buying what you see or know in person.  I believe in using technology, such as the one I created via my App called Discover Galleries and Beyond by Artmuse, to guide you to the art but I think its imperative to keep the brick and mortar operations alive and well.

I look for impact on the eye and the mind, it can be composition or the effect of color or the narrative but it has to speak to the viewer.

Try to see as much as you can at galleries and museum shows.  Educate your eye.  Try to get professional advice as well to narrow down your choices, to give you a better sense of where to look taking into consideration the budget, taste, space and the intent of collecting in general. Don’t be afraid to be bold in your choices!

A large Sam Francis print that I still have. I love it and I think I always will!

I find woodblock fascinating. Prints and multiples are sometimes deemed a lesser medium, but when you learn about the production process you understand the labour and the skill that is involved. I remember seeing images of Polly Apfelbaum’s woodblock prints in the making and witnessing the dynamic process of individually carved and inked woodblocks being arranged into a complex puzzle to form the final image. Everything was meticulously hand-made and the artist’s hand was so close to the finished product.

While I have not yet purchased any art discovered on Instagram, I have definitely come across new artists that are of interest to both me and my clients. I anticipate I will one day!

My love for art developed at a young age. I grew up in a family of collectors, including my grandparents and my parents. Being exposed to quality art at as a young girl fostered in me a great appreciation for visual culture. This early connection with the arts was further bolstered when studying Art History in high school and throughout my graduate and post-graduate studies.

My most treasured artwork is a large black and white Tom Wesselmann print I bought with my husband. We started a tradition to purchase one artwork every year for our anniversary. The Wesselmann was our first purchase together.

My grandparents are definitely a big inspiration for me. As esteemed collectors, they bought what they loved but they also bought wisely. They had an uncanny ability to collect artwork of an artist before his or her market strengthened tremendously. They had an enviable artistic sixth sense.

It is not necessarily important to me to meet the artists I am collecting. If an opportunity arose to meet the artist of a prospective artwork for purchase at a gallery or at a fair, it would certainly be an added bonus!

Simply buy what you love and what you can afford. And when looking for what you love, try not to get overly influenced by what is hot and trendy. Investing in artwork with any budget is a commitment and it is important to consider longevity. A good question to ask yourself when pondering a piece is, “would I want this hanging on my wall ten years from now?”

In a vast sea of contemporary artists, I believe the few who will endure are the ones who are able to develop a unique, instantly-recognizable and appealing aesthetic that is cohesive throughout their body of work. With most big successes, you are able to discern the artist by merely looking at the artwork. I also believe it is necessary to receive promotion by a reputable gallery or museum. At the end of day, however, there is undoubtedly a considerable amount of luck involved!

Auction often offers good buying opportunities, however, purchasing through a gallery or a private dealer eliminates many of the risks associated with auction. There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to auction, as price estimates are not necessarily indicative of what selling prices will ultimately be. And in a fast-paced, high pressure environment, buyers can unwittingly enter into bidding wars and end up paying significantly more than anticipated. Purchasing through a gallery or dealer alleviates pressure and allows buyers to sit in the driver’s seat. Additionally, there are no exorbitant premiums that auction houses collect.

Tough question!

$10k – A series of small Jacob Hashimoto prints

$100k –Al Held black and white canvas

$1 million – Richard Prince text painting

Artsy is a great website where I browse through artists, galleries and fairs. It has been a very helpful tool when researching artwork for my clients. It has also enabled me to establish connections with many galleries and dealers across the globe.