Art collecting has always been the silent and fundamental driving force that powers a substantial part of the art system. It is through the choices of collectors that the market takes shape, that artists receive life support, and that institutions draw inspiration, contributing in often understated ways to the construction of collective visual memory. Faced with such a pivotal role, it becomes crucial to understand what happens when the baton changes hands, that is, when new generations enter the field bringing with them radically different languages, priorities and worldviews.
To map this evolution, ArtVerona and the Collezione da Tiffany blog collaborated in a specific investigation of generational turnover in Italian contemporary art collecting. The primary objective was to decipher how perspectives, core values and buying habits change in the transition between historical collectors and new players on the scene. The results outline a sector that, while holding firm to its roots, is undergoing profound transformation.
The analysis shows that the current landscape remains firmly anchored in the more mature generations: the Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and Generation X (born between 1964 and 1979), added together, make up more than 85 percent of respondents. Despite their still-minority position, Generation Y (born between 1980 and i1 1996, also known as “Millennials”) and members of Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) show a growing interest in the world of collecting. These new cohorts introduce a more dynamic, less rigid and inherently global approach, with a significantly heightened sensitivity to issues of social relevance.
A significant finding underscores the deeply personal identity of collecting in Italy: 86 percent of participants built their collection independently. This figure confirms that the act of collecting is not primarily driven by cold investment logic, but rather springs from a strong individual impulse, often originated by the pleasure of discovery and deep emotional involvement. As reported by one of the survey participants, the beginning of collecting is often a “fun, unexpected love affair” that, with the passage of time, solidifies into passion and finally into a full-fledged collection.
In the context of generational transfer, the most heartfelt question concerns the future of art collections. The survey shows a marked trend toward transmission within the family unit, with more than 60 percent of collectors saying they would like to pass on their art holdings to their children or relatives. Approximately one-third of respondents, although they have reached a certain degree of collecting maturity, have not yet defined a clear strategy for the future management of their legacy.
The prospect of donation to museums or public institutions appears to be in the minority, representing less than 10 percent of the sample. This statistic is not merely logistical, but reflects a deeper cultural reality peculiar to the Italian context: the transmission of works is an issue that is rarely addressed in a structured and planned way. The collection is predominantly seen as a direct and intimate extension of its creator’s personal identity, rather than as a cultural legacy intended to be shared with the community.
In terms of artistic preferences, Italian collectors remain traditional in their choice of preferred languages. Painting and sculpture maintain almost absolute dominance, chosen by as many as 96 percent of participants. They are followed, with a significant gap, by photography (indicated by 53 percent of respondents), installations and performance (24 percent). More recent languages, such as video and new media, come in at 11 percent.
Digital art and NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), although they have sparked vast international debates, have not yet gained a central space in the Italian collecting scene, garnering the interest of only 3 percent of respondents.
Interestingly, perceptions of the future of taste diverge markedly from current buying habits. More than half of collectors (51%) hold the belief that the new levers of collecting will be more oriented toward video, new media and digital art. Only a quarter (25%) believe that painting and sculpture will retain their undisputed leading role.
However, concrete data collected directly among Millennials and Gen Z seem to scale back this preconception. Younger collectors also continue to point to painting, sculpture and photography as among the main languages that appeal to them. These, however, are joined by a growing and more pronounced interest in video and new media. This preference does not configure a replacement of artistic tradition, but rather its innovation and integration, projecting it toward a more contemporary and decidedly more inclusive interpretive horizon.
Comparing different generations of collectors provides a glaring insight into how collecting is evolving from a homogeneous practice to a faithful mirror of the cultural transformations taking place in society. For the most mature group of collectors (Baby Boomers and Generation X), the key pillars guiding choices remain innovation and artistic research (rated crucial by 64 percent of them), followed closely by cultural recognition of the work (52 percent) and, finally, the economic investment aspect (38 percent).
Younger generations (Millennials and Gen Z), on the other hand, have redefined the scale of priorities, placing values that reflect a new ethical and environmental awareness at the center. They clearly favor sustainability and the social impact of the work or artist (42 percent), followed by conscious investment (44 percent) and, slightly distanced, innovation (41 percent).
This significant reversal of perspective signals the beginning of a real epochal shift in the art world. For the new generations, collecting is not limited to the mere purchase of an art object. Rather, it becomes a conscious act of “taking a stand,” a way of actively supporting certain worldviews and identifying with an ethical and cultural system of shared values.
Looking at future projections, collectors show diverse perspectives, but all oriented toward a dynamic transformation of the sector. More than four out of ten collectors (42 percent) foresee a future characterized by increased digitization and marked globalization. Another substantial portion (31%) envisions an art system that will be increasingly oriented toward the logic of investment and financial speculation. Finally, 23 percent believe that the focus will shift primarily to the cultural and social value that art is capable of generating.
Despite these differences in predictions, the survey reveals a widely shared awareness: the activity of collecting will continue to be defined by a delicate balance between personal enjoyment of the work, the cultural responsibility that comes with it, and attention to market dynamics.
The survey, carried out jointly by Collezione da Tiffany and ArtVerona, is not intended simply to take a snapshot of the ongoing change, but has the more ambitious goal of stimulating a constructive dialogue between different generations of actors. Understanding the direction in which collecting is evolving is essential, as it means understanding, by extension, the direction that the entire art ecosystem is taking.
In this complex scenario, the real challenge, as noted by one of the participants, does not fall solely on the shoulders of the collector. The greatest responsibility will lie with the artist, who will have to find ways to safeguard and maintain his or her creative authenticity within a system that promises to be increasingly competitive, interconnected and global.
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| Who are today's art collectors? Here's a map of tastes and values in a new survey |
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