Collecting across generations

Gen Z are the biggest spenders on art, with the broadest taste and the most optimism in the market, according to this year’s Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2026, by Arts Economics, published this week. As the Great Wealth Transfer gets underway, such dynamics are increasingly influencing broader legacy priorities within families, find experts at UBS Global Wealth Management.

“When it comes to art, within the broader family assets, we find that the younger generations really speak up and have an opinion. The assumption that collecting art is primarily an individual passion may be true, but I think it can also really be a shared passion,” says Eric Landolt, UBS Head of Family Advisory, Art and Collecting.

The report, which surveyed 3,100 high-net-worth individuals active in the art market and from around the world, found that by far the biggest spenders generationally were Gen Z collectors, defined for this survey as between 20 and 29. Of these, 40% cite the influence of family as their main route into collecting. The average spend across all age groups on art in 2025 was found to be USD 124,265, up 13% on the previous year, while Gen Z’s average sat at USD 347, 460 (up 19%). The trend continued into the first half of 2026, during which Gen Z’s spend was found to average USD 329,000 against a full survey average of USD 136,000.

“For a market that was and is operating in constrained conditions, it is wonderful news, that the youngest generation, most of whom have grown up surrounded by art or going to museums, is collecting so actively,” says Carola Wiese, Senior Art Adviser, UBS.

Also encouraging, says Matthew Newton, UBS Head of Art Advisory, Americas, is that “young people are spending heavily on traditional media”. He cites the survey’s findings that paintings were the most purchased fine art medium in 2025 and 2026, with 82% of Gen Z respondents buying in this category during the period (above the overall average of 76%). Newton notes too the strong drive for uniqueness, particularly among the youngest collectors, of whom an above average 29% chose this as the most important factor of ownership.

Gen Z and the Baby Boomer generation (aged 62-80) were found too to have the most diversified spending across fine art categories, ahead of their millennial and Gen X peers in categories including digital art, video works and photography. Across collectibles too, Gen Z was found to be the most active in all categories barring antiques (the Baby Boomer favorite), with participation at least twice of millennials and Gen X in classic cars, luxury collectible sneakers, sports memorabilia and design works. Future acquisition plans were also most diversified from Gen Z, the survey found.

There is yet some caution, in more volatile times. Gen Z were found to be the most open to discovery, with more than half (56%) buying work by an unfamiliar artist, but the overall share of collectors who did so fell from 66% in 2025 to 45% this year, its lowest level in five years.

While family influence has played an important role for the next generation, and 72% of respondents overall reported to have already inherited art, the signs are that this is now working both ways as younger family members begin to call the shots, and with a strong sense of responsibility.

Legacy and succession planning proved a preoccupation of 17% of those surveyed, ahead of market concerns about long-term taste shifts (16%) and rising shipping costs . The increase in value of some art over time adds to the increased professionalization of planning, Landolt notes.

In his experience, he finds, “there are very strong questions being asked around the purpose of wealth. Rachel Peart, UBS Art Advisory Specialist, finds that “Many collectors today are taking a more strategic view of their collections. She explains: “As collections mature, attention often shifts from acquisition alone to questions around stewardship, refinement and legacy. Collectors are increasingly thinking about how a collection evolves over time and what role it will play for future generations."

The majority of survey respondents (77%) said they were reluctant to sell over the next 12 months. Paul Donovan, Chief Economist, UBS Global Wealth Management, identifies a mix of practical and emotional reasons behind this dynamic. “The evidence to date is that inheritors have an emotional association with art from the older generation, a desire to respect their wishes. What seems to be happening already is that there is a judicious use of art collections to mitigate any inheritance taxes that come through but we should not assume that art is the first choice [form of wealth] to sell.”

Philanthropic goals included planned donations to a museum (23% overall) and gifting to family and friends (26%). Millennial respondents (aged 30 to 45) voiced above average intentions when it came to setting up a museum or foundation for the collection (29%) and Gen Z when it came to making gifts to family and friends (27%). At the same time, they show signs of attaching more privacy to their collections, with 39% keeping these within close family, friends and immediate households, almost twice the share of any other generation.

This applies to their social media presence too, despite (or perhaps because of) their tech-native credentials. Their top concern voiced about the art market was the security of their data when buying art digitally. “What comes out of the report is that conspicuous consumption does not mean conspicuous to the entire world, it means to your social circle,” Donovan says.

Around 20% of the survey’s sample had used their art as collateral for a loan, ranging from 2% in Hong Kong to 45% in the US, where this area of the market is more mature. The most common reason, cited by 53% of respondents, was to release capital to buy more works, while covering the costs of collecting was another significant factor.

Female voices are also much more in the mix of the USD 83 trillion that UBS expects to transfer in the next 20 to 25 years, they predict USD 9 trillion to go first within generations, namely to women who tend to live longer than men.

“It is interesting to see, when the spouse finally is allowed to bring in her own taste and, together with the children, this usually leads to great new concepts,” Wiese says. The Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting finds, for example, that female collectors are more experimental than men, hold a higher share of new and emerging artists (36% versus 33%) while they also had an overall greater share of work by female artists (46% versus 43%), a gap that widened in Singapore and Mainland China.

As billionaire and millionaire wealth continues to ride high, collectors’ overall allocations to art were found to increase proportionately. The average commitment to art by active collectors has fallen from last year’s 20% to 15% in 2026, but those with wealth exceeding USD 50m were found to have allocated an average of 23% to art. Gen Z’s allocation of 18% was found to be higher than for millennials and Gen X (both 14%), “which may be tied to lower accumulation of other assets by younger collectors,” suggests Clare McAndrew, author of the report.

Looking ahead, the leading overall issue for collectors concerns the art market’s lack of transparency, such as opaque pricing structures, undisclosed fees and conflicts of interest. Nonetheless, McAndrew finds there is still plenty of optimism baked in for the rest of this year, particularly from the enthusiastic Gen Z. Of this cohort, 61% predicted art market growth in the next 12 months, with the average at 57%. In the United States, which has the largest market share by far, 74% of all collectors anticipated growth.

Newton says that “the findings give me a lot of encouragement that the art that does come to market will find a home. These are things by artists from a previous generation, there’s no more coming and it’s something that no-one else can have. I think that can be exciting for a lot of collectors.”

Written by Melanie Gerlis who is an art writer specialist, author of The Art Market Check and columnist at the Financial Times. She was previously Art Market Editor for The Art Newspaper (2007-2016) and remains its editor-at-large. Before working in the art world, she was a financial communications adviser at Finsbury in the City of London (1996-2005), with a focus on the financial services industry. Melanie has a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University and an MA in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art. She has authored books on the art market including Art as an Investment? (2014) and The Art Fair Story: A Rollercoaster Ride (2021) and is a regular commentator on art market trends and developments, appearing on television and on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. A freelancer, Melanie also writes for The Times, a monthly column for The Art Newspaper and for UBS’s contemporary art platform. Melanie is a member of the governing body for Sotheby’s Institute of Art and a trustee of The Art Academy, London.