I have spent the past few months researching NextGens—notably the millennials who are in their 30s and 40s now—and how, or indeed if, they collect art. This is a really hot topic because, as we know, their parents and grandparents are passing on, and the NextGens as a group are set to inherit eye-watering sums of money along with, in some cases, significant art collections. Some hair-raising figures are advanced for the amount of money, real estate and assets of all kinds that will cascade down to NextGens in the next 20 years—around $84 trillion, maybe even more. And it is important from the art market point of view because the trade is relying on them to start buying art where their parents left off. But will they? And, if so, what will they buy?
Here are five things I have learned:
1. They don’t have the same taste as their parents. Well, duh! Few want to imitate their parents or grandparents, and in addition they are not prepared to pay the prices that the most storied artists commanded until a few years ago. There are many artists who do not necessarily light the fire of the younger buyer, from Jasper Johns to Robert Rauschenberg or James Rosenquist, let alone Old Masters… NextGens have different tastes, liking women artists, Surrealists, Basquiat, KAWS and even Banksy.
2. They are motivated by causes their parents probably didn’t pay much attention to. Climate change is one: a 2023 Bank of America report on charitable giving noted that NextGen are two-and-a-half times more likely than older donors to mention climate change as one of the top three causes that are most important to them. Gender equality, racial tolerance and questions of identity are also important.
3. They distrust institutions. The curator Fatoş Üstek told me: “After the Second World War, a citizen would think if my government makes a decision, it is the right decision. But after the 1970s, society and Gen Z, who are the children of that generation, started not to trust the government. And that impacts on cultural institutions as well.” And are we surprised? Some traditional sources of authority, from the church to politicians, have hardly gained anyone’s confidence these days. Which leads on to influences.
4. NextGen generally turn to the internet as their main source of information, from news to researching artists. “Social media plays a huge part in this. You’re able to see what someone has on their wall at home on a post on their Instagram,” Joe Kennedy of London’s Unit Gallery told me. “Young collectors follow the influencers, and they want to be part of that. It is social endorsement amplified by social media.”
5. Do they want stuff? With the “sharing economy”, many urbanites do not even possess a driving licence, let alone a car, being happy to use Zipcar, Uber etc. Experiences and “fun” are often more important than possessions to NextGens.
Now, this could evolve: art is one of the ultimate trophies and I don’t see a Picasso, say, losing its position as a signifier of status and wealth any time soon. But there seems little doubt in my mind that the art trade needs to adapt what it offers to this new generation, its tastes, influences and motivations.
• Georgina Adam’s new book, NextGen Collectors and the Art Market, appears later this year in the series Hot Topics in the Art World, published by Lund Humphries and Sotheby’s Institute of Art
