The best collector is someone who knows how to balance aesthetics and commerce.
Often works from different epochs, types, and genres – vintage and modern abstract art, impressionist or surrealism art, sculpture, or graphics – are sold at auctions for a lot of money. Famous collectors such as Roman Abramovich or François Pinault can afford them. And you may be thinking: I could never be a collector, it’s too expensive and complicated. But today there are new opportunities to buy art. Let’s find out how to become a collector.

Collect what you like

The first step is to find out what kind of art you want to collect: paintings, drawings, sculpture or photography, oil or watercolor, portrait, landscape, or still life? If you like fantasy and mystique, have a look at modern surrealism and learn more about contemporary surreal artists and their work. If your main interests are shapes and colors, check out contemporary abstract art. If you prefer eternal values, get into realism oil painting. Many famous collectors started out because they were fascinated by a painting, an art movement, or the work of an artist. A collection should delight the owner, whatever the price.

Attend exhibitions and fairs

A collector who doesn’t know what’s going on in the art world is nonsense. Visit exhibitions, meet artists, gallerists, and curators. Often an exhibition in a small gallery on the other side of town that you were too lazy to go to gives you an incredible experience. For example, you’ve never liked abstract art, but you see such beautiful work that you immediately decide to buy abstract art. At the exhibition, you can see the work in person, assess its size, imagine the view in the interior and even smell it (oil smells so good)! You can also choose and purchase surrealism, impressionism, realism, or any other style of artwork. And of course, an important event for the art lover is the international fairs, where you can see works from all over the world and get acquainted with the major trends. Exhibitions and fairs broaden one’s horizons, which is very important for understanding contemporary art.

Buy art online – easy and convenient

The covid pandemic has encouraged the development of social networking groups for the sale of art. They are convenient because they bring together hundreds of artists and thousands of works in different styles and genres in one place. There are usually low prices because of the great competition and there are often sales. Choose groups that have strict moderation – a guarantee of the quality of the work they offer. Another way to buy original art is through an online platform with a pool of professionals, G.ART is one of them. On this platform, artists from 24 countries of Eastern Europe are presented with biographies, interviews, and information on local trends, all to make it easier for buyers to explore the art of the region. . Eastern Europe oil on canvas, acrylic painting, drawings, and others is a large selection of very high-quality work by popular contemporary artists. In addition, platforms such as G.ART accompany the purchase from start to finish, advise the buyer, and can give a discount on the work they like.

Buy young art

An important question is which artists to favor, the young and unknown or the mature and famous. On the one hand, the work of popular artists can be of higher quality, more effective, and financially promising. On the other hand, all such artists are already “sold out” by gallerists and art dealers and the prices of their works are quite high. And now let’s remember that famed impressionists, surrealists, and abstract artists, whose works are worth millions today, had great difficulty selling their first works. And perhaps among us are artists who a few decades later will be called geniuses and stars. Maybe you have a chance to discover a star? Look out for young artists, talk to them – they are bold, fun, and talented.

Learn to understand prices

When starting a collection with a financial perspective, you need to learn about market realities: read analytics, talk to art dealers, find out the price level of artworks. A great way to understand how much art is worth is to visit online and offline auctions, feel the excitement, and try to buy something. If large abstract canvas oil paintings will sell for too much, there will always be a small surrealist portrait or realism landscape painting that will fetch a reasonable price. Explore different ways to buy directly from artists (which can be cheaper) or from dealers. And, of course, make sure that you get the paperwork right, so that nobody will doubt the authenticity of your collection in the future. If you want to involve a professional in these and other matters, ask an art advisor who knows the secrets of the art market.

Live in harmony with art

The beginning collectors first decorate their homes and live among works of art.The important thing here is not to make a mistake by choosing a painting or sculpture – you should still enjoy the work today, and perhaps five years later. Is it possible to mix different types of art in the same room, to place contemporary abstract art alongside modern surrealism and impressionist styles? Yes, of course! Does the work have to fit in with the other pieces in the interior? Yes, but that’s not the goal. An art object is important on its own, and you should think about its presentation – the lighting, the placement, the choice of frame for the painting. It is useful to move a collection around from time to time to find better combinations. Then your life around art objects will be harmonious and entertaining.