client resources 

The best client is an informed one.

There are several “how-to collect” and “how to invest” books that gush with enthusiasm. Invariably they offer the same advice: “buy what you love.” Love is a many splendored thing. Collecting and/or investing are evolutionary. Neither is mastered overnight. 

We recommend several books that are engaging and informative. Some works are armchair books that are easy to pick up and read leisurely; others demand more focused attention. The readings that we generally recommend survey art since the beginnings of Impressionism in the 1870s to contemporary trends. It is an ever-changing list. We have tailored reading lists to client interests, needs and time availability.

Annual “power lists” and profiles of living collectors rarely provide substance or insight. In fact, the two books that we most frequently recommend about collector experience and lessons are nearly 70 and 50 years old respectively:

• John I. H Baur and Saul Steinberg. ABC for collectors of American contemporary art. 1954

• Eugene Schwartz. Confessions of a poor collector: how to build a worthwhile art collection for the least possible money. 1970.

There are also some exceptional online resources for more ambitious study and analysis, ranging from Art21, which offers up-close-and-personal artist interviews, to artnet’s pay-per-use art price database. For more in-depth research, we recommend using a college, university or museum library. Many welcome visitors enthusiastically, but policies vary.

Art collecting

Art markets

Art history

Online research and management resources