Art collecting is an activity that goes back centuries—at least to when monied Romans began decorating their homes with Greek sculptures. During the Renaissance, the Medici family put together such a legendary art collection, rich with works by artists like Donatello and Michelangelo, that their name is practically synonymous with “patron of the arts.”
The definition of an art collector has expanded—today’s collectors don’t fit into the traditional mold. Folks from all kinds of industries and backgrounds collect, be they athletes, actors, musicians, TV personalities, or fashion designers. They find art they love not only via traditional channels like galleries, private dealers, and auction houses, but at art fairs, through online sellers like Artnet, or even via Instagram DM.
But collecting can be tricky. Pitfalls abound, like buying artwork from a charming dealer who turns out to be unscrupulous, or falling for a convincing forgery. Artnet spoke to 11 experienced collectors to give those starting out today the benefit of their many decades of experience. Here, in part two of two part series (see part one here), collectors including a dermatologist and a comedian reveal what they’ve learned along the way.
Cheech Marin
Cheech Marin. Photo: Melissa Richardson Banks.
Comedian, film star, and marijuana entrepreneur Cheech Marin began collecting Chicano artists in the mid-1980s and, in 2022, opened the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture in Riverside, California. Measuring (no joke!) 61,420 square feet, it houses works by artists including Carlos Almaraz, Margaret Garcia, Judithe Hernández, Gilbert “Magú” Luján, Frank Romero, and Patssi Valdez.
When you see a piece you really like, trust your instincts, and if you can afford it, get it when you see it, because chances are by the time you go around a show and come back to it, it will be gone. That’s happened to m a couple of times, to my great consternation. You have to sharpen your instincts by seeing a lot of what’s out there. Then, trust your instinct.
It’s nice to have a good relationship with a dealer who represents artists you like because over a long period of time you can get nice deals and they will save certain pieces from you or treat you preferentilaly. But the relationship with the artist is the most important thing. I know just about every artist I’ve bought a piece from. That’s the most important relationship because they’ll tell you what they’re doing. But I don’t say this to undercut the dealers!
Space concerns definitely play into what becomes an addiction, because all of a sudden you’ve put up every piece of art you own, and they’re under your bed and in the closet and you’ve got to store it. I always tell collectors that you’re not really a collector until you have storage space. It was a real thrill to do this museum in Riverside, because it alleviates my storage problem. Now it’s their problem!
Go to museums personally. See paintings in person. They have to be seen in person. Establish that routine of going to museums and get firsthand knowledge of art. See what in museums—and what is not in museums.
Kiran Nadar
Kiran Nadar, founder and chairperson, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Courtesy the museum.
With her husband Shiv, Kiran Nadar founded a private museum in her name at a shopping mall in Sakhet in 2010, the first of its kind in India. They also commissioned architect David Adjaye to design a new building in New Delhi. The pair has collected more than 15,000 works, ranging from 19th-century vignettes by Raja Ravi Varma to Subodh Gupta’s Line of Control, a 26-foot-high mushroom cloud fashioned from kitchen utensils, and commissioned works by artists like M.F. Husain and Arpita Singh. Speaking with Artnet in 2022, she noted works by Rameshwar Broota, VS Gaitonde, and Bharti Kher.
If I were to give my younger self some advice, I’d say—stay open, stay curious, and don’t hesitate to explore the unfamiliar. I had the opportunity to visit museums and see art growing up because my mother was interested, and I’m grateful for that exposure, even if I didn’t fully realize its value at the time.
That’s something we really want to make possible for the next generation—to create those moments of discovery and connection with art early on. Education and accessibility are at the heart of what we’re building at KNMA. We want art to feel open and welcoming to everyone, from every background, so those formative experiences become normalized and museum-going becomes a part of our cultural landscape and education.
Galleries, artists, auction houses, and advisors each play a very important and critical role in the art ecosystem. Each brings different aspects which could be scholarship, accessibility, benchmarks which are all important parts of a collector’s journey. My collection is informed by these aspects and I’ve tried to look at each of them independently and value what they uniquely offer.
I allowed myself the space to grow by being open—to learning, to being shown new work, and to engaging with people who really understand what they do. That’s been one of the most rewarding parts of collecting: the ongoing process of discovery, learning and conversations that informs the way I collect. I wouldn’t tell my younger self to avoid any one path—I’d just say, stay curious, and keep learning from all directions.
As someone who’s been collecting for over 30 years, there will always be a few that “got away”—but I don’t really see them as mistakes. They ’re learning opportunities, and often, they were strategic decisions one had to make regarding acquisition priorities.
Interestingly, there are times when a work you once passed finds its way back to you—and you get lucky enough to acquire it, sometimes even at the same price. So much of collecting is about timing, instinct, and the strategic decisions you make along the way. I vividly recall a moment in March 2008 when Christie’s offered M.F. Husain’s Battle of Ganga and Yamuna at auction. The catalogue was filled with exceptional works, and my attention was on a few other lots. While I did bid on the piece, it ultimately slipped away. Years later, it reappeared on the market, and I seized the opportunity and brought it to the collection
Every choice contributes to the larger journey—and that’s what makes it so compelling.
Jorge Pérez
Jorge Pérez.
Florida real estate developer Jorge Pérez has been around the art collecting block more than once, literally. He built a collection beginning in 1970, and donated it in 2011 to the Pérez Art Museum Miami, and then started collecting again, ultimately opening the private museum El Espacio 23 in Miami in 2019. Speaking to Artnet News in 2020, he had just picked up works by Friedel Dzubas, Per Kirkeby, and Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum. In between, he has focused on areas ranging from Abstract Expressionism to the African diaspora, Alex Katz to Olga de Amaral, Ann Craven to David Salle.
When it comes to collecting art, I live by a few phrases: do your research, trust your gut, buy what you love and don’t be afraid to take risks. The best collections aren’t built on investment strategies or safe bets; they’re built on passion. For me, collecting has never been about chasing value, but rather an opportunity to get to know artists, understand their creative processes and believe in their vision. If a piece speaks to you or tells a story that moves you, that’s when you know it’s the right time to buy.
If I could give my younger self advice, it would be to explore more, sooner. Our first research trips to Africa in 2014 opened my eyes to contemporary art from the continent, which created fascinating dialogues with existing works in the collection from the diaspora, particularly those from the U.S., the Caribbean, and Brazil. Looking back, those experiences were pivotal in shaping the collection. Over the years, I’ve made it a priority to visit as many exhibitions, museums, and art fairs as possible, from the U.S. and Latin America to Europe and Africa.
Milica Perovic and Evan Rieder
Evan Rieder and Milica Perovic with Eva LeWitt’s work Untitled (2022).
Over several years, New York dermatologist Evan Rieder and his wife Milica Perovic, a healthcare technology marketing expert, have built a collection of mostly emerging female artists including Grace Carney, Elizabeth Glaessner, Jo Messer, and Robin F. Williams.
Collecting art is exciting, but it’s also time-consuming and sometimes stressful. We started by going to museums, because they seemed most accessible and represent the best of the art world. We learned that you can also see museum-quality shows at blue-chip galleries in Chelsea, but the spaces are not always easy to connect with.
For some people collecting can be purely transactional. For us, collecting has always been emotional, and not always rational. We see our love for art deriving from the medical subdiscipline of neuroaesethetics, which describes the way the brain responds to the aesthetic experience. Being in the presence of art stimulates us in a way akin to nature. For us, art is more than just an object; it’s a source of well-being. It can be intellectually stimulating, healing, uncomfortable, and many more things, which makes it a constant source of inspiration in our home.
Don’t be intimidated by white cube galleries and the sometimes cold and unfriendly people behind the front desk. You can find art that is accessible and at any price point. At the same time, know that this is often a relationship-driven industry. You can have infinite wealth and still not have access to some things.
At times we felt a lot of pressure to make decisions quickly. You have to develop the confidence to say no; it’s okay to wait for the work you want to live with. You might miss out on some opportunities because of this, but you can take action with confidence when everything is aligned. In retrospect we would have perhaps visited more museums and seen more art before we started collecting. We bought some things early without giving them much consideration or refining our collecting style. And while there’s a story for every piece, we might not have acquired as much if we had developed a better plan ahead of time.
If, like us, you don’t come from families that collect, collecting can be a complex system to navigate. If you don’t follow an unwritten etiquette, your intentions aren’t always understood. You can feel there’s a whole education you have to have before you can participate. But we have found that we have learned a lot from other collectors, artists, and gallerists who have helped ease our transition into the art world.
The toughest lesson has been when we have not been able to acquire the pieces we really liked. Sometimes you feel strongly about a work but you’re not always in a position to get it, or you overthink and someone else acquires it. We like to remember that we live in the epicenter of the art world with so much art that we love. There’s always something new to be excited about.
People who have been collecting longer tell us, “You have to sell some to buy new.” But we haven’t yet figured out how to part with our favorite artworks just yet.
Amanda Precourt
Amanda Precourt.
Collecting for a decade, Colorado real estate developer Amanda Precourt has amassed works by 20th- and 21st-century artists including Huma Bhabha, Tara Donovan, Theaster Gates, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Anselm Kiefer, Sterling Ruby, and Mary Weatherford. A trustee at the Denver Art Museum, she is founder of the Cookie Factory, a contemporary art space that opened in Denver in May.
Number one is to trust your intuition. There’s a piece, a Dayani White Hawk, that I loved. I don’t know why I didn’t get it. My intuition said to get it, and I didn’t listen, and now the artist is really beloved. If you have that ping in your stomach, get the piece.
Another bit of advice: connect with artists and start to understand the work from the artist’s eye. They will tell you, “This is what I’m trying to say or elicit from my own perspective.” I appreciate my Rashid Johnson and my Theaster Gates more now that I know them personally. So if you have an ability to, meet the artist.
And, you should be working with people you want to work with. Collecting should be fun!
