Installation view of work by Angelo Plessas at Breeder Gallery\u2019s booth at Frieze New York, 2016. Photo by Adam Reich for Artsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all the talk about the struggles of emerging and smaller galleries, much of the commentary has been focused on how fairs can better support galleries, or how galleries can experiment with new models to survive. But what about collectors? As the party that comes to the table with arguably the most resources, do they have any role or responsibility in ensuring gallerists can keep the lights on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European dealer Thaddaeus Ropac isn\u2019t so sure. For him, the collector\u2019s primary duty is to the art and the artwork; galleries, he said, aren\u2019t a charity. But others believe collectors do have a role to play. Sean Kelly launched \u201cCollect Wisely\u201d in May, a multimedia campaign to encourage collectors to be more thoughtful and less financially driven in their practice. \u201cThe art world is an ecosystem,\u201d said Alain Servais, a Belgian collector who often takes to Twitter to criticize art market goings-on. \u201cDefinitely collectors cannot complain about the current state of things if they don\u2019t do their own work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some (hopefully) obvious things collectors can do to make dealers\u2019 lives easier: Buy art. Pay for it on time. Be gracious. Don\u2019t flip the work. But there\u2019s a lot more collectors can do if they want to see the galleries they care about survive and prosper. Artsy spoke to a dozen gallerists and art-world professionals during Art Basel week about how to build the perfect collector. What should collectors do more of? Less of? What\u2019s the best way they can support galleries, both materially and emotionally? Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Installation view of work by Angelo Plessas at Breeder Gallery\u2019s booth at Frieze New York, 2016. Photo by Adam Reich for Artsy. With all the talk about the struggles of emerging and smaller galleries, much of the commentary has been focused on how fairs can better support galleries, or how galleries can experiment with new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",740,493,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",150,100,false],"medium":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",300,200,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",740,493,false],"large":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",740,493,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",740,493,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",740,493,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",18,12,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2-300x300.avif",300,300,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2.avif",600,400,false],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/550616_7cabcced0c124184a1ff4d4dded51038mv2-100x100.avif",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"art deal","author_link":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/author\/art-deal\/"},"uagb_comment_info":50,"uagb_excerpt":"Installation view of work by Angelo Plessas at Breeder Gallery\u2019s booth at Frieze New York, 2016. Photo by Adam Reich for Artsy. With all the talk about the struggles of emerging and smaller galleries, much of the commentary has been focused on how fairs can better support galleries, or how galleries can experiment with new…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":922,"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions\/922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theartdeal.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Trust the gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Multiple respondents wished collectors took a broader view of their programs. Rather than buying just one or two artists, get curious about the other artists in the stable, and how they relate to one another. After all, said Dmitry Komis, director of New York\u2019s five-year-old David Lewis Gallery, \u201cthere\u2019s a reason why they\u2019re together in this program.\u201d Hannah Robinson, founder and director of Glasgow\u2019s Mary Mary, said she\u2019d like to see a more consistent engagement. \u201cThere\u2019s a trust in you when the name is doing something,\u201d she said. But she would like to see collectors \u201copening up their parameters a little bit,\u201d to look at other works that maybe \u201caren\u2019t selling like hotcakes like the other ones\u201d at that particular moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consider unorthodox financial arrangements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jaring D\u00fcrst Britt and Alexander Mayhew started their gallery D\u00fcrst Britt & Mayhew three-and-a-half years ago, they approached three collectors they knew for loans totalling \u20ac50,000 in exchange for deeper discounts on works by their artists, including Puck Verkade and Wieske Wester, both of whom were showing at Liste. D\u00fcrst Britt and Mayhew needed the money to build a track record at smaller fairs in order to pave the way to Liste, where they had set a goal to show by their fifth year in business. They pay back the loans each month, but can also pay off a chunk at a time if a collector-lender sees a work he likes. D\u00fcrst Britt also said the arrangement encourages collectors to buy more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In another example, Servais said he worked with a gallery that wanted to try Zona Maco, the Mexico City art fair, but was hesitant to risk the \u20ac15,000 it would cost to participate in case nothing sold. The gallerist asked Servais to prepay for \u20ac15,000 worth of art, which he could choose within 12 months. This helped them cover their costs for the fair, and spread them out over the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many dealers came back to the idea of \u201cengagement\u201d as one of the most rewarding parts of their jobs, even if it doesn\u2019t lead to sales. Ask questions, spend time talking to the dealer, learn about the artist. Polina Stroganova of Mexico City\u2019s ROYECTOSMONCLOVA stressed that collectors should keep asking questions until they\u2019ve gotten satisfactory answers, or feel they\u2019ve genuinely understood the artist\u2019s practice. Sometimes dealers might answer in hard-to-understand art-babble. \u201cIf something doesn\u2019t make sense to you, ask again. Sometimes people are maybe afraid\u2014you give them the blah, and maybe they are still lost. Maybe things are making sense to the gallerist, but not to the collector,\u201d she said. \u201cAsk uncomfortable questions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bring your friends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most important thing collectors could do is \u201cget their wealthy friends more excited about art,\u201d said Marc Spiegler, the global director of Art Basel. He cited the evolution of Latin American collecting circles, which grew through informal social networks since the region lacks other channels into collecting, such as museum young patrons groups. Instead, a core group of collectors started inviting friends to Art Basel in Miami Beach, where they made a fun weekend of it\u2014fun enough to invite more friends the following year. Plus, he added, if you\u2019re a heavy social media user, \u201cpost the hell out of what you\u2019re buying and what you\u2019re liking, so your friends who are not buying art will be inundated with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pick up your work<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
One staffer at a German gallery, who did not want to be named, said he\u2019d love to see more collectors simply pick up or arrange to ship the work they\u2019ve bought. That\u2019s first and foremost because art is meant to be in circulation, and having it piled up in a storage is not only inconvenient for the gallery, but means the art is not doing its job. Secondly, it makes for awkwardness at fairs or other events. \u201cYou have this situation when you see them in person, and the first thing you talk about is\u2026\u2018Hey, when are the works going to be picked up?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt precedes other discussions about selling more works, and that\u2019s a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Offer some advice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collectors, noted Spiegler, are often people who\u2019ve had a lot of success in their own careers, and may have management wisdom to impart. \u201cThey could potentially offer advice to gallerists about running their own businesses,\u201d Spiegler said. D\u00fcrst Britt from D\u00fcrst Britt & Mayhew said one of the collectors who lent them money when they started out had run a successful car rental business in Holland. While he had initially seemed skeptical, he wound up giving them \u20ac20,000 because he felt a kinship with them as entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go to the gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cherine Karam of Beirut\u2019s Marfa\u2019 Projects wished her collectors attended more of the events that the gallery puts on, which tend to draw more young people and academics. Servais, who makes an effort to visit galleries when he visits cities around the world for fairs and biennials, agreed. \u201cThe minimum we can do is to see the exhibition,\u201d he said. Plus, he added, it\u2019s a gift for the collector, since art looks far better in the gallery than at fairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t just buy, support<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether that means funding the production of work in exchange for a discount or first right of refusal, or chipping in to support a museum show or biennial presentation of an up-and-coming artist, gallerists encouraged collectors to take that extra step beyond just collecting work. These types of steps often have mutual benefits. \u201cFrankly, it\u2019s enlightened self-interest, because obviously, if you know an artist\u2019s work and they\u2019re going to be featured in a major biennial, it\u2019s to your advantage\u201d to support that artist, Spiegler said\u2014both materially, since those types of events boost an artist\u2019s market, but more importantly, on a reputational level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex Freedman of Los Angeles and Paris\u2019s Freedman Fitzpatrick said collectors who \u201csupport certain types of museum shows, certain projects which you don\u2019t anticipate any kind of return on,\u201d can really help early-stage artists. Conversely, it can be tedious when collectors \u201cbuy works [and] then complain that the artist isn\u2019t able to develop,\u201d she said, noting that much like start-up companies, artists need continued investments, even small ones, to allow for transformation and growth. Guillaume Sultana of Paris\u2019s Galerie Sultana described two Marseille-based collectors in their forties\u2014around the same age as the gallery\u2019s owners and many of its artists\u2014who he said are incredibly supportive, always talking about the gallery to their friends and traveling to see shows, growing, in a way, with the gallery itself. \u201cIt\u2019s as if they are part of the team,\u201d he said. Additionally, Mayhew cited video work as something that\u2019s often costly to produce, and suggested that collectors help fund production in exchange for a first edition or other perk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be responsive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a collector gets an offer for an art work, the least she or he could do is write back. \u201cRespond to an email politely, even if you don\u2019t like the work,\u201d said Jasmin Tsou of New York\u2019s JTT Gallery, as this makes it more likely she\u2019ll reach out with other offers, perhaps of something the collector is interested in. \u201cIt\u2019s harder for me to want to reach out if I don\u2019t feel like they respond to emails.\u201d And the same goes for confirming sales, especially during fairs. Stroganova said she understands everyone is super busy during fairs and may not be at their computers, but responding to confirm a sale at a fair, especially, is \u201ccrucial.\u201d \u201cIf a gallery reaches out\u2026it\u2019s great if the clients are responsive,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes everybody\u2019s life very easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do your own homework and research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Komis, who was showing at Liste, said he enjoys that fair in particular because he tends to see more ordinary collectors who are adventurous and do their own reading and research. That tends to be the case across Europe, he noted, where there are more middle-class people buying art for themselves as a part of their daily lives, rather than relying on art advisors to hunt down trophies or assemble collections on their behalf. \u201cWe like collectors that do research and read books, and don\u2019t just listen to art advisors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collect in depth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a collector does fall in love with a particular artist, it makes the artist and the dealer happy to see the collector buy pieces from each series. Aleya Hamza of Cairo\u2019s Gypsum Gallery described one collector who first bought two pieces by one of her artists, Taha Belal, when he saw the work two years ago in Dubai, and later bought two pieces from the series of intricate works-on-paper that were up at Liste. \u201cThat way, in the future when I\u2019m showing the work, I know that, okay, I have this guy\u2026 it gives a sense of security,\u201d she said. In addition, \u201cartists like to know where the work is, and that it\u2019s going to a good place, it has other pieces it\u2019s in dialogue with.\u201d Plus, she noted, it makes it easier to organize museum shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t just buy over the phone<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rose Lejeune, a researcher and associate curator of the \u201cCollecting as Practice\u201d program at London\u2019s Delfina Foundation, said most of the collectors she works with are aware that galleries are facing a challenging business environment. Part of collecting responsibly, she said, is not just to buy whatever a gallerist sends them. She has seen those easy sales translate into a gallerist second-guessing other parts of the program, or encouraging artists to do more in the vein of what sells easily. \u201cThe more you think you know what someone wants to buy, the more you pressure your artists to make that stuff,\u201d she said. \u201cThen you\u2019re narrowing the spectrum of practices that can be visible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"