“Over the last few decades art collectors bought into a market, not a vision. They collected momentum, not meaning. Now, the focus is shifting back to magic and wonder.” — Steven Alderton

The path forward for building collections - and the love of art again - isn't more sophisticated financial engineering. It's creating new front doors into art; ways for people to engage that feel meaningful from the first moment. Not opaque and intimidating.

The Hurun Global Art List 2025 just dropped, and Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun's Chairman, made a prediction worth paying attention to: "The global art market should pick up within the next three years."

Here's why: The number of billionaires in the world just hit a record 3,400—the highest ever. Half are from the USA and China.

The art market recalibrated in 2024, but that created something valuable: clarity. When markets contract, quality wins and opportunities open up for collectors who understand what they're building.

Chinese ultra-high-net-worth collectors are reshaping how Australian contemporary art is valued — not through volume, but through cultural intelligence. As cross-border lives become the norm, collectors are gravitating toward artists with institutional credibility, Asia-Pacific relevance, and the ability to command space.