How to Collect Art: The Brutal Truth About Galleries, Power & Pricing

Ever looked at the art world and thought: how does any of this actually work?
I read How to Collect Art (2024) by Magnus Resch to figure out whether a normal person can buy a single great piece… and whether art is actually a good investment.

Resch approaches the art market like an economist: data, power structures, and the brutal reality of gatekeepers. The big theme? The art world isn’t a free market, it’s a pyramid. A tiny number of fairs, galleries, curators, and institutions sit at the top… and they decide what becomes valuable.

In this review, I cover:

Why the “mysterious” art market feels so closed-off

The alpha / beta / gamma / delta pyramid Resch uses to explain status and access

Why “art as an investment” is mostly a trap (unless you’re playing at the top end)

Why the book made me want to buy art for meaning, not resale

00:00 – Intro: why I picked this book
00:21 – The empty wall problem (why I want art)
00:58 – What I hoped the book would solve
02:12 – The book’s style: blue quotes + companion “artist” book
03:22 – Resch’s economist approach to art
04:09 – The real driver of value: representation & institutions
05:11 – The “35-year-old” cliff edge for artists
06:12 – The harsh truth: most art has near-zero resale value
06:52 – Art index vs S&P 500 (and what happens with broader data)
09:11 – When art can be an investment (and the price floor)
10:24 – The better frame: be a patron, not an investor
10:52 – The parts I skipped: emails, CVs, auction house logistics
12:22 – “Networking and Instagram” (useful but irritating)
13:26 – The collector mantra: buy what you love
14:13 – The pyramid: alpha / beta / gamma / delta
18:35 – NFTs + digital art gets a mention
19:11 – Did it help me buy art? What I’m taking away
21:11 – Final verdict + what I’ll do instead

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