For those interested in art as an investment, what factors should they pay attention to?
Art is not an asset class in the traditional way and as much as people have tried to make it a parallel with watches or wine, or even luxury bags, it’s not liquid like that unless you are buying at the literal top of the market. For mid-career, emerging artists it’s a different story. If you want to make sure you’re not overpaying for something, there are some great checks and balances to bear in mind, like gallery representation – is the gallery genuinely invested in the artist’s long-term career? Exhibition history – are they showing in credible institutional spaces as well as commercial ones? Critical attention – is the work being written about seriously? And auction history, if there is one – not just whether it’s selling but whether prices are holding. Also, be honest with yourself about your timeline. Art is illiquid. If you need to sell it in two years, you may not get what you paid. The people who do well out of art as investment are almost always people who also genuinely love what they bought and hold onto it for ten years. There’s a great article about Paul Allen that compares his collection to other indexes like the stock market, gold and housing. Art doesn’t do so well. So, skip the art as investment stuff and go into art buying as a way to invest in an artist and your own cultural wealth.
So, is there a clear distinction between buying art you love and buying art that will appreciate in value – or can the two ever overlap?
They can absolutely overlap and when they do it’s a genuinely wonderful thing. But it’s important to be honest about which is driving the decision. If you’re buying primarily for investment, approach it like an investor – do the due diligence, understand the market and accept the risk. If you’re buying because you love it, accept that it may never be worth more than you paid – and decide whether that matters to you. The collectors I respect most buy because they understand the real value of art and culture, and they want to support it or they simply can’t imagine not owning something. The financial upside, when it comes, then feels like a bonus rather than the point.
Are there any artists – emerging or established – you think collectors should have on their radar?
The work I’m most excited about right now sits at the intersection of materiality and memory. Take a look at Eva Dixon’s work, or Bronson Smillie – these are artists asking serious questions about what objects carry and what they leave behind. There’s a generation of artists working with textiles, archive, found material, who are doing some of the most urgent work. Theaster Gates is the godfather of this movement.
You’ve spoken about making the art world more accessible – what does that look like in practice?
Seen – that’s what we built it for. The idea was to create a space where the information and access that used to require knowing the right people is just… available. Editorial that explains things without talking down to you. Short-form video that takes you inside studios and into conversations you wouldn’t normally get near. It’s about building a community where emerging artists and collectors can actually find each other. Accessibility isn’t about lowering standards – it’s about removing the unnecessary barriers.
How much should people consider where a piece will hang before they buy it?
More than most people do. I’ve seen work that was electric in a gallery become somehow diminished in the wrong domestic setting – and the reverse is also true: pieces that feel modest in a white cube come alive on a coloured wall. Before you buy, think about the light – natural and artificial – the wall colour, the scale of the room and what else lives nearby. That doesn’t mean you need to be rigid about it, unless we are talking about whether the work is going to fit through the front door (I once had to crane a work into an apartment). Sometimes buying something and finding the right place for it is part of the pleasure but going in blind can also lead to expensive regret.
