Every Step, in the Order You Need It
Five steps. Work out what you can spend, learn how to tell a real thing from a story about one, read the numbers a seller shows you, pick a place to buy that won't leave you stranded, and keep the checklists on hand. Go through them in order the first time, or skip straight to the step you're stuck on.
Step 1 of 5
Getting Started
Foundational guides for collectors who are just getting oriented.
Buying art online safely
Most of the art market now runs through a screen, which removes the one check buyers used to rely on. Here is how to verify a seller, read condition remotely an
Read guide →How to choose your first painting
The first painting is the one people overthink most. This guide covers how to test a genuine reaction against a passing one, what practical questions matter and
Read guide →How to invest in emerging art
Emerging art is the part of the market where research still beats capital. This guide covers the signals that predict a rising artist, the costs nobody quotes a
Read guide →How to start an art collection
A collection begins at the second purchase, when one work starts to argue with another. Here is how to get from a single picture to a group that holds together,
Read guide →How to value a painting
Valuing a painting means answering four questions in order: who made it, what comparable works sold for, what condition it is in and who wants it now. Here is h
Read guide →Step 2 of 5
Trust & Authenticity
How to tell genuine, well-provenanced work from the rest.
Is buying art online safe: authenticity and provenance
Authenticity is a chain of evidence rather than a single certificate. This explains what documents carry weight, how provenance gaps are read and what recourse
Read guide →Step 3 of 5
Facts & Data
Prices, market data, and the numbers behind the art.
Art collecting on a budget: what money buys at each level
Budget decides which part of the market is open to you, and the boundaries are more forgiving than people expect. Here is what each spending level realistically
Read guide →Emerging art price index: how prices actually move
Art price indices look authoritative and rest on thinner data than most readers assume. This is how they are built, what they leave out and what they can honest
Read guide →Step 4 of 5
Where to Buy
Where and how to actually buy, safely.
Where to buy contemporary art: venues compared
Galleries, fairs, auctions, online platforms, degree shows and studio visits all sell contemporary art on different terms. This compares them on price, risk and
Read guide →Step 5 of 5
Free Toolkits
Free checklists and toolkits you can keep.
Ask a curator: how a private consultation works
A private consultation is a working session, not a sales pitch. Here is what an adviser asks, what they produce, how the fee structures differ and when hiring o
Read guide →One-to-one
Tell us where you are stuck
The guides cover the usual road. If your situation is not the usual one, write to us and a person will read it.
- A work you are looking at and cannot place
- An asking price you have no way to sanity-check
- A gallery, dealer or auction house you have never heard of
- Paperwork you were handed and do not understand