Starting or Growing Your Art Collection? Here’s What You Need to Know for 2025
Building a valuable art collection requires more than just an eye for beauty—it demands a deep understanding of the art market and the potential returns on your investment. Whether you’re a seasoned collector or just beginning your journey, staying informed is essential.
Julia Bell, Founder and Principal Partner of Independent Art Advisory, Parapluie, shares her expert predictions and practical advice for navigating the art market in 2025. Keep reading to discover her insights and strategies for making informed art investments this year:
At the start of every calendar year, I am often asked what the art market looks like for the year ahead. I understand – navigating what is often seen as an opaque market can be daunting in the best of times, and 2024 was quite a challenging year for the art market. Like many markets, the art market doesn’t like uncertainty; geopolitical instability, rising interest rates, and changes in political leadership make both sellers and buyers nervous.
What does this mean for those who want to dip their toes into the art market or develop a burgeoning interest in buying more art?
Well, 2025 remains a buyers’ market, particularly at auction and even at primary market level. Reverberations from last year mean that commercial galleries are now more accommodating to new buyers than ever before. I am seeing better access to artworks and better terms in sales, although all galleries remain cautious of buyers flipping artwork – a term used where buyers purchase primary market artwork and resell them at auction within three years, creating a detrimental effect on the artist’s market. To mitigate this, many galleries have introduced resale clauses within their sales transactions, preventing the buyer from reselling for up to five years in some cases.
So, what should you do?
My advice is always to do your research, take advice and manage your own expectations. The high risk/high return area of emerging artists requires a serious understanding of who you are buying and why. You need to understand why an artist is promising, what they are adding in terms of a dialogue within the art world ‘canon’, where they are exhibiting, which commercial gallery has signed them, and what the next five years look like for them in terms of career trajectory.
This often requires the honed eye and knowledge of an art advisor who monitors the market daily. Whilst your financial outlay may be less, your expectations may be high, buoyed by an overzealous gallerist or trends that rarely stand the test of time. Everyone wants to have that punt that pays exceptional dividends, but figures have shown that a good return on contemporary artworks can take around 12 years. Make sure you love the piece and are prepared to sit on it.
As you move into middle art market purchases, you can undertake more of your own research, as the risk to your hedge is less. Artists’ work may have a higher price point, but their careers are more established, with a stronger track record that denotes critical endorsement. This is often demonstrated through the artists’ representation in major exhibitions or collections, giving you confidence to buy. In this scenario, advisors provide a strong sounding board. If you are busy, you can hand the research over to them, as many have the insights to hand. You can also turn to art market analysts such as ArtTactic, who produce insightful reports on art market data.
At the top end of the market, the value of seeking external advice from advisors becomes even greater and, in some cases, crucial. You may know the artist well, perhaps they’re a ‘household’ name, and the kudos of owning one of their artworks is incredibly enticing. However, you need to take sound advice on how much you should pay. These pieces are going to be at the top of the market, but how much is too much? At this stage, the hedge is safe but often the room for significant growth in financial investment is less. The market is justifiably strong, so it must be about passion.
When the desire to own a specific piece overtakes the desire to hedge an investment return, you need someone who can temper this excitement to ensure you don’t overpay or buy the wrong work within an artist’s’ oeuvre. As I always say to clients, not all Damien Hirsts are considered equal, it’s essential to know which ones are worth it!
