The fifth edition of the annual Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting, authored by arts economist Clare McAndrew and out today, delved into some new areas. For the first time this year, the author asked high-net-worth collectors how they got started on the road to collecting and how they think about granting access (whether physical or digital) to their holdings versus keeping them private. It also found that these well-to-do collectors are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence, considerably more than just last year. To write the 235-page report, McAndrew surveyed 3,100 wealthy collectors over 10 key markets worldwide. While this is, on a global scale, a microscopic sample, it’s generally thought that the wealthiest collectors have outsize influence and can drive markets, so their attitudes are closely studied, not least of all by those who would like to sell to them. As for what led new collectors into..
