Our top 5 books for Art Collectors

We’ve listed our top 5 books for art collectors. Whatever your motivation to read, remember: just like art, there’s something for everyone. ‘Art Collecting Today: Market Insights for Everyone Passionate about Art’ by Doug Woodham (2017)

Our first pick is your ‘Art Collecting 101’: ‘Art Collecting Today’ by Doug Woodham- a great introductory read to how the Fine Art marketplace works today. Woodham, the author of this practical guide, is an art financial consultant and his focus, (as you may well be guessing), is on the investing aspect of art collecting. In this book, Woodham guides you through some tips & tricks on how to evaluate an artwork and also helps you to find your ‘whys’ to start art collecting. The author goes deeper than that though, as he also explains how to understand tax and cultural property laws which are extremely valuable for your long-term journey as an art collector. This is the right book for you if you’re starting your collecting journey,and especially if you identify yourself as a ‘Value-Hunter’ type collector. An accessible yet insightful read, it is guaranteed to make you go from clueless to connoisseur after just 200 pages.

• ‘The Value of Art: Money, Power, Beauty’ by Michael Findlay (2012)

If your motivations for collecting go beyond just money, you will surely enjoy ‘The Value of Art’. Written by prominent art dealer Michael Findlay, this book explores how art acquires value - both commercial and social, but it also delivers the important message that art has an essential worth beyond both its market-assigned and socially-created value. Findlay believes that buying art just for investment's sake is quite selfish and damaging to the art market because we are giving a purpose to art for which it was never intended, and art should just be beautiful.

“As a general rule, when something becomes useful, it ceases to be beautiful.” 

― Michael Findlay in ‘The Value of Art’

Full of insider anecdotes as well as providing great art business knowledge, this book is complemented by aesthetic illustrations that take the reading experience to the next level. If you enjoy buying art for its meaning and the emotions it evokes - this one's for you. 

• ‘Could Have, Would Have, Should Have: Inside the World of the Art Collector’ by Tiqui Atencio (2016)

Looking for that ‘inside scoop’ on the world of art collecting? If you want to hear a first-hand account of the experience of collecting directly from a collector, Tiqui Atencio has got you covered. As the result of interviews with over 80 collectors, this book explores the complex and diverse motivations behind collecting. But instead of making sweeping generalisations or coming up with cast-iron rules, it shows that there are as many individual collecting journeys as there are collectors. Complete with illustrations by satirist Pablo Helguera, this is an entertaining and unconventional ode to the art of collecting.

• ‘Confessions of a Poor Collector: How to build a worthwhile art collection with the least possible money’ by Eugene M. Schwartz (1970)

One of the first books ever written about art collecting,’ Confessions of a Poor Collector’, is an easy and quick read (only 30 pages long) that is organised quite systematically by sections and bullet points, highlighting the basic (yet, insightful) art collecting learnings from the famous art collector, Eugene M. Schwartz.  

Schwartz was a successful copywriter in the late ‘60s and despite his renowned art collection, he had no formal art education, so everything he learnt about collecting, he learnt with passion, time and dedication. And that’s why he wrote this book: he wanted to democratise the art collecting experience and inspire others to start too. Schwartz believed collecting was a lesson in open-mindedness and humility - what he valued was neither the social flare nor the million-dollar spending, but the sheer interaction with art and experiencing the truly unique world it opens our minds to. 

"The only important thing about this art, as any art, is the art itself"

– Eugene Schwartz in ‘Confessions of a Poor Collector’

Schwartz departs from a basic set of assumptions, which were the ground rules for his collecting journey, in order to deliver a lasting message. Despite being the oldest book on the list, the combination of its short length coupled with the straight-forward writing style makes it an inspiring and timeless read, perfect for beginners.

• ‘Playing to the Gallery’ by Grayson Perry (2014)

Last but not least, a critical perspective we were missing in this list until now is that of the artists themselves, The author of this book is none other than one of the most well-known English contemporary artists of our time: it’s Grayson Perry! In his book, Grayson addresses complex questions - What is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ art? Is art still capable of shocking us? - and answers them all in a very clear, honest and non-patronising way. 

“Now we are in a time of post-historical art, anything can be art but not everything is art. In an age without boundaries I am more fascinated than ever by their possibilities.” 

- Grayson Perry in ‘Playing to the Gallery’