The Art Market Is Changing: What Are Collectors Looking for Now?
For a long time, the art market conversation seemed to revolve around the same questions.
Who is the next big contemporary artist? Which work will break an auction record? What is happening at the major art fairs? Which artists are suddenly “hot”?
But something interesting is happening in the background.
Collectors are looking beyond the most obvious parts of the market.
Recent Old Masters sales in London are a good example. In July 2026, Christie’s and Sotheby’s generated around $102 million from their Old Masters evening auctions—nearly 10 per cent more than the comparable sales the previous year. Artnet described the renewed interest as being driven less by speculation and more by discovery, with a new generation of collectors exploring the category.
That shift raises a bigger question:
What are collectors actually looking for today?
It is not simply about what is “trending”
The global art market returned to growth in 2025, with sales increasing by 4 per cent to an estimated $59.6 billion. Auction sales grew by 9 per cent, while dealer sales increased by 2 per cent.
At first glance, that sounds like a straightforward recovery.
But the numbers tell a more complicated story.
The growth was not evenly distributed. Higher-value works performed particularly strongly, while some lower-priced auction segments remained under pressure. At the same time, Modern art sales grew 9 per cent, and Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works saw a significant rise in auction value. Contemporary art, meanwhile, was relatively stable rather than experiencing the explosive growth it saw earlier in the decade.
So perhaps the most useful way to read the current market is not: “This category is winning.”
It is:
Collectors are becoming more selective about where they place their attention.
Why are Old Masters interesting again?
Old Masters might sound like a category belonging to another generation of collectors.
But that may be exactly why they are becoming interesting again.
There is a sense of discovery involved. A painting can have a complicated history, an overlooked artist, an unusual provenance or a story that only becomes visible after serious research.
That creates a different collecting experience.
You are not simply buying an artist whose name everyone already knows. You may be investigating a work, comparing records, asking questions about attribution and provenance, and understanding why a particular object has survived.
For newer collectors, that process can be part of the attraction.
It also reminds us of something important at Artlune: collecting does not have to begin with knowing everything.
Curiosity is a perfectly good place to start.
The online art market isn't disappearing, but it is changing
Another interesting shift is happening online.
During the pandemic, buying art online became almost unavoidable. Today, the market has moved again.
Online-only sales fell to an estimated $9.2 billion in 2025, their lowest level since 2019. Their share of the overall market also declined, although online platforms remain important for discovering artists and buying at lower price points.
This does not mean people no longer want to discover art digitally. Quite the opposite.
Digital platforms can make it easier to find an artist from another country, follow a gallery, compare artworks or discover an exhibition you might never have encountered otherwise.
But when it comes to higher-value purchases, collectors still seem to want something more: conversation, context, trust and the opportunity to experience the work physically.
Perhaps the future isn't online versus offline. It is both working together.
Art fairs are becoming important meeting points again
The renewed importance of physical encounters is also visible in the growth of art fairs.
In 2025, art fairs accounted for 35 per cent of dealer turnover globally, the highest share since 2022. Mid-sized galleries saw particularly strong increases in the contribution of fairs to their sales.
Why does this matter?
Because a fair is not only a place to buy art; it is a place to compare.
You can see how different galleries present artists. You can discover work you weren't searching for. You can speak to dealers, meet artists and understand how different practices fit into larger conversations.
For emerging artists especially, these encounters can be valuable because visibility is not created by auction prices alone.
It is built through relationships.
But a stronger market doesn't mean an easier market
There is a tendency to read market growth as universally positive.
The reality is more complicated.
Dealer operating costs increased by around 5 per cent in 2025, faster than overall sales growth, putting pressure on profitability.
And although the market returned to growth, it remains below its 2022 peak. This matters because the art market is not just made up of major auction houses and headline-making sales.
It includes artists trying to build sustainable careers, smaller galleries trying to stay open, independent curators, art workers, collectors making their first purchases and audiences discovering artists for the first time.
When we talk about the “art market,” we should remember all of them.
So, what should collectors pay attention to now?
At Artlune, we don't think the answer is simply to follow the next market trend. A healthier approach is to become a better observer.
Look at the artist's practice rather than one popular work. Understand what informs their work. Follow how their ideas develop. Ask where the work has been exhibited and how it fits into their wider career.
And perhaps most importantly, ask yourself why you want to live with the work.
The current market is showing us that collectors can move between categories. Old Masters, Modern art, contemporary practices, emerging artists and other forms of collecting can coexist.
That is a useful reminder.
There is no single “right” way to collect art.
The market will continue to change. New names will emerge, old categories will return to attention, and some trends will disappear as quickly as they arrived.
But curiosity tends to last longer than trends.
And perhaps that is the most interesting opportunity for collectors today: instead of asking “What should I buy?”, start asking “What am I curious enough to keep looking at?”
That question can lead you somewhere the market headlines cannot.
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