By Aimee Dawson

Contemporary art is the portal through which many people start collecting: One of the most exciting, dynamic, and accessible parts of the market, it is a vital gateway for new buyers.

That said, the past five years have seen considerable flux. While sales of so-called ultra-contemporary art (made by artists born after 1975) led the sector’s post-pandemic recovery in 2022, the wider contemporary art market (defined as work made by artists born after 1945) has remained a cautious and variable picture, according to The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026. ‘The sales figures reported by dealers in 2025 indicated some lingering risk aversion, with higher prices still tending to be anchored in the most established parts of the market, rather than on newer artists,’ it states.

Here, Matthew Newton, the New York-based head of UBS’s Art Advisory in the Americas, and Carola Wiese, UBS’s Art Advisory Specialist in Zurich, Switzerland, share their advice on collecting contemporary art, from the emerging to the established, in today’s shifting market.

Why buy contemporary art?

One of the exciting aspects of buying ultra-contemporary works is being part of the art world’s avant-garde, says Wiese. ‘You’re not just doing the same things as most other collectors. It takes a certain kind of personality – someone who is informed and mindful, yet adventurous – to buy in this category,’ she explains. Using your personal art historical knowledge and research to detect great new artworks and artists ‘can be a fun game,’ she adds, ‘but on top of it, you are really supporting the youngest next generation of artists., Often this entails your regional art ecosystem as a starting pointWith this you go beyond collecting usually supporting not only the artist and the gallery but also a Kunsthalle or off space and or artist residency program.’

There’s satisfaction to be found in knowing you are directly helping an artist in the here and now, Wiese argues. Another upside is the lower price points in this category, allowing buyers with a limited budget to build a collection. This makes it an important gateway, according to Wiese: ‘We need this affordable niche to entice a new generation of collectors to tap into the art market while enticing seasoned collectors to break new ground.’

Across the broader contemporary art scene, cautious spending has led to a lowering of prices, and that has created an attractive buyers’ market, says Newton. ‘I think we are starting to see a re-established level of confidence in entering into the market,’ he suggests.

While prices are higher for better-known artists, there is often a feeling of safety in buying works by someone with an established market record. ‘You get confidence in knowing that other people who you respect are paying attention to those same artists and even acquiring those same artists,’ Newton says. He adds that when the purchase price is higher, there is a greater sense of where that value might end up in the future. Plus, buying at this level carries a cultural kudos, sometimes offering access to the upper echelons of the art world. ‘Collectors get excited about supporting an established artist, perhaps having the opportunity to lend to museum exhibitions, and the kinds of gallery and cultural activities they might get invited to,’ Newton adds.

Where do I begin?

The more serious collectors in this category, and often those who are younger, tend to look to institutions for support, through patron programs, Wiese says, but they also seek out personal encounters. ‘So, galleries that not only have exhibitions but also offer studio visits are good for discovery,’ she says, linking this trend to the blossoming of regional art fairs, ‘because people want to see artworks in real life.’ Visits to artist residency programs are also a popular way to see the freshest works and deepen the understanding of an artist’s process. ‘This is a softer entry point to the art market and its mechanisms’ Wiese adds.

How do I assess an artist’s career?

Newton thinks that institutional representation is key, as is the sheer length of time that an artist has had commercial gallery representation at a high level. ‘If you’ve had a gallery program that has slowly matured an artist’s market over ten or 15 years and they’ve created a solid base of collectors that are actively supporting that artist, and at the same time you’re seeing an increase in museum exhibitions and critical attention paid to that artist, that’s the type of substantiation that I think really matters for an artist’s career.’ The key is being able to sustain that interest in order to underpin an artist’s market, and Newton says that artists who are able to reinvent themselves and find new territory over time – and have a gallery that supports that – tend to be the most successful.

What future trends should I be aware of?

As seen in Art Basel’s Zero 10 section, ultra-contemporary art today often means digital art and it’s in this area that ground is truly being broken, says Wiese. Paradoxically, she also sees ‘a longing for works that have a contemporary voice but refer to the past’ with many younger collectors seeking out artists that reference art history. ‘If a collector cannot afford certain earlier movements and its iconic master, for example, there are ultra-contemporary works that refer to that style, be it abstract or figurative.’ Many collectors are looking to limited editions, especially prints, as well as photography, she adds.

What steps should I take to ensure I’m making a prudent investment?

It might seem obvious, but both Wiese and Newton say that research is key to ensuring sound purchases in the contemporary category. ‘Ultra-contemporary artists’ CVs are easier to interpret simply by being shorter,’ Wiese observes. ‘Collectors should check if artists already have a strong local support and get a sense as to whether there is interest beyond the region.’

For more established artists, more homework is involved in assessing a longer, more complex career and market. ‘Frankly, I think that’s why people like me have a job,’ says Newton, ‘helping to communicate what other people are saying about artists, what people are paying attention to, what authors are writing about, what curators and galleries are putting in their shows, and what other people are buying. All of that goes into building confidence for collectors when they make a decision to acquire.’

It is also crucial that they make that acquisition at the right price, Newton adds: ‘It’s starting to shift again a little bit, but I think we are still in a buyers’ market on the whole. There’s a lot of room for deliberate decision making about collections right now.’

All that said, Newton nonetheless urges collectors to put aside the investment potential of an artwork to a certain extent, and instead focus on quality: ‘If you do your homework on one of the most interesting artists and one of their best works, then the financial part will take care of itself over time.’