How to Start an Art Collection: A First-Time Buyer's Guide

Art auctions follow a set cycle: sellers consign works to an auction house, which catalogues each one as a numbered lot with a presale estimate, exhibits…

To buy art at an art fair, research exhibitors, set an all-in budget, and visit with a short list plus time to explore.

Choose an artist whose established practice fits the project, then agree in writing on the subject, format, dimensions, materials, review stages, changes,…

To understand abstract art, begin with what the work actually gives you: color, line, shape, space, surface, scale, rhythm and material.

Store art prints flat in individual archival-quality folders or sleeves, inside a rigid box or print drawer, in a cool, clean, relatively dry, stable room.

Mixed media art combines more than one material or process in a single work.

Performance art is art organized as an event: actions, movements, gestures, speech, stillness, sound or other activity unfold through time.

The primary art market covers a work's first sale, often by an artist, studio, or representing gallery.