Buying routes · 16 articles
The 16 articles on buying routes published by Art Market Compass. Independent editorial research, reviewed by the publication's editorial board.
Buying routes · 8 min read
The same artist can be encountered through three very different transaction environments. The right route depends on the work, the evidence and the collector’s priorities.
Read the analysisBuying routes · 7 min read
What a private sale is, who uses them, and what the collector and the advisor need to know before, during and after the transaction.
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What to know before the first auction bid: how the sale works, what the costs are, where the risks sit, and how an advisor levels the field.
Read the analysisBuying routes · 9 min read
What the major U.S. art fairs are, when they run, who shows at them, and how a collector plans a fair season that fits a real collection strategy.
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What negotiation looks like on the secondary market, where the room to move is, and how an advisor manages the conversation on the collector's behalf.
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How the secondary market for contemporary art actually works, where the supply comes from, what prices look like in 2026, and how a buyer navigates the market with discipline.
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A commission is the only route where the collector shapes the work before it exists. It is also the route with the most that can go unsaid until it goes wrong.
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The invoice is the beginning of the cost. Cross-border acquisitions add freight, insurance, customs treatment and — for some works — a licence the seller may not have mentioned.
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Primary-market access runs on relationships, and the first conversation sets the terms of all the ones after it. What actually helps, and what quietly does not.
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Graduate shows are where many artists first become visible. How sales usually work, what to judge and how to buy early without harm.
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Online art sales range from gallery sites to private listings. Who is selling, how to judge condition and how to avoid payment fraud.
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Edition size, proofs, signatures, publishers, paper and the catalogue raisonné: the checks behind a sound purchase of a print or edition.
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Photographs raise questions paintings do not: edition structure across sizes, vintage versus later prints, print processes and fading.
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Sculpture brings questions of casts, foundries, weight and installation. What to confirm about the object, the floor and the route in.
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Studio purchases reward collectors who understand gallery relationships, pricing parity and paperwork. How to buy directly and do it well.
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Drawings, watercolours, pastels and collage: how medium, light sensitivity, condition and framing shape a sound purchase of work on paper.
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