On 11 November 2022, the Luxembourg Association for Art Galleries and Practitioners (LAFA) organised a very well-attended conference before the preview event of Luxembourg Art Week, the international contemporary art fair in Luxembourg.
Moderated by art entrepreneur Pierre Naquin, “Next Gen Collectors, Artists and Sales Channels: How Is the Art Market Changing explored the primary and secondary art market from the perspective of young collectors, asking questions such as: “What do young collectors want?” “How will they buy art – physically or digitally?” and “How much of a disruption will their entry into the market cause?”
The panel was composed of art market experts from diverse horizons, including art critic Georgina Adam (Financial Times, The Art Newspaper), art collections manager Eugenie Dumont (Degroof Petercam), gallery owner Maria Lund, (Galerie Maria Lund) as well as Roman Kräussl, professor in Finance at the University of Luxembourg, who focuses on alternative investments with a special interest in the art market.
Drawing on his recent research, Prof. Kräussl spoke about NFTs, fractional ownership, machine learning and price prediction and how young collectors will interact with these new technologies. Prof. Kräussl also touched on themes such as gender and the art market and how the gender effect is evolving with the next generation. Prof. Kräussl speculated on the essential question of why people buy and collect art. “Art offer values that no other investment options offer,” said Prof. Kräussl. “The reasons for investing in art go beyond investment or monetary value alone.”
Concluding, Prof. Kräussl gave the audience five non-financial reasons for collecting art:
- Aesthetic value: Art provides the owner with greater utility in form of aesthetic (intrinsic) value
- Passion for collecting: Philanthropic nature of certain collectable items; being passionate about an artwork; missing piece in a collection
- Doing good: Financing young/upcoming artists; cultural environment
- Social status: pleasure obtained from signalling to others that the owner has certain level of wealth
- Prestige: getting to know the artists; going to art fairs; being invited to openings/vernissages; homes presented in magazines and differentiation and signalling cultural capital