A striking 88 percent of new-gen art collectors and enthusiasts not only have the desire but also the resources to support museums more than they currently do—yet they’re also seeking alternative ways to engage with the system and contribute to it. This is one of the key findings in the newly published 2025 Collector Report from Avant Arte, a start-up that focuses on exclusive artist editions and multiples, with a mission to make art collecting more accessible for younger generations.
Avant Arte’s founders, Christian Luiten, Curtis Penning and Mazdak Sanii, are Millennials and closely attuned to the needs of the demographic they serve. Originally conceived in 2015 as a curated marketplace to help a new generation of art enthusiasts discover and collect art at a range of budget levels, it has evolved into a global platform connecting contemporary artists with a global audience. But over time, the company has turned its focus toward the intersection of collecting and patronage, actively partnering with institutions and raising over $10 million for major international museums and cultural organizations—including LACMA and the Dia Art Foundation—through the sale of limited edition artworks by high-profile artists. The caliber of artist participation has been critical to Avant Arte’s success; collaborators include Ai Weiwei, Jenny Holzer, Daniel Arsham, KAWS, Takashi Murakami, Mickalene Thomas, Elmgreen and Dragset, Cai Guo-Qiang, Claire Tabouret and George Condo, among others. In 2025, the platform will spearhead six major fundraising collaborations, including a limited edition print by Robert Longo benefiting the Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen, slated for release in April.
According to Sanii, who serves as CEO, the company’s audience is primarily composed of young entrepreneurs and global professionals—most of them under 40. “Often either entirely new to collecting or very early in their collecting journey, but they are very international, split roughly evenly between North America, Europe and Asia,” he told Observer. “Our report just demonstrates what we knew of them—that they are culturally engaged, omnivorous in how they interact with the art world (from museum shows to social media) and believe strongly in the cultural and societal importance of our arts institutions.”
This emerging body of collectors and patrons largely came of age consuming art content on social media. They visit museums and galleries first, then buy art for their homes. In terms of spending, new-gen collectors are not shy—over a third invest more than €10,000 annually, with the highest proportion of buyers hailing from East Asia. Between K-pop stars and other cultural tastemakers, South Koreans are leading the charge: nearly two-thirds of Avant Arte’s young collectors in the country reported having spent over €10,000 on art in a single year, despite a slowdown in the nation’s economy and art market over the past year.
The report further reveals that 86 percent of new-gen collectors believe museums are essential to a healthy society, 92 percent view them as central to preserving, educating and championing the role of art in civic life and 75 percent think museums need to do more to welcome younger visitors. These institutions are more than just destinations to new-gen patrons—they serve as meaningful touchpoints in the global cities these art enthusiasts visit or have called home—and roughly half of the new-gen collectors surveyed for the report are already members of museums or galleries. Still, 42 percent of those don’t feel they’re getting enough value for their membership and expressed a desire for more personal engagement—through both social media and in-person events that create opportunities to connect with peers who share their interests.
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Most respondents are already engaging actively with museums through digital channels, virtually consuming art-focused content with enthusiasm. A full 73 percent follow more than five art institutions on social media, 53 percent follow over ten and 29 percent follow more than twenty. But Avant Arte’s findings reveal this engagement is largely educational in nature—50 percent of respondents believe institutions should be more compelling in their social media outreach. Crucially, this generation is engaging with institutions and experts not just to be inspired but to access practical information: how to purchase artwork, access non-institutional artist-produced content and engage with the artists themselves.
The report also shows that 75 percent of next-gen collectors surveyed have donated to a cultural institution within the past twelve months, and an overwhelming 94 percent agree that museums are in need of additional support—a sharp increase of nearly one-third over last year’s data. While most of these contributions are modest—two-thirds of donors give under $100 annually, and half give less than $50—the trend points to a strong and growing willingness to financially support arts institutions, affirming their societal relevance. More significantly, 88 percent of respondents said they have the means to donate more, and 83 percent expressed the appetite to do so.
One of the key messages emerging from the report is that this new generation is ready to support culture with the resources they have—or the wealth they are beginning to accumulate—but they want their giving to have purpose. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said that alignment with an institution’s mission is a decisive factor in their support. Two-thirds said they would be more likely to give if the specific impact of their contribution were clear, while 82 percent noted that they are more inclined to donate when there is a transparent, tangible value exchange—such as through museum memberships or access to artworks.
“The scale of opportunity for museums to better engage the new generation is only matched by the urgency to do so,” high-profile arts patron Sarah Arison noted in the report. “These are the patrons of tomorrow, and yet the stewardship path, from visitor to member and benefit editions collector through to major donor, will only be made possible through an in-depth understanding of their beliefs and attitudes towards museums today.”
Avant Arte’s program of institutional fundraising is an example of the ‘tangible value exchange’ many younger patrons prefer. (Notable examples of time-limited, philanthropic drops include last year’s collaborations with Grayson Perry for the Contemporary Art Society and Ed Ruscha for LACMA.) A striking 70 percent of new-gen collectors surveyed view fundraising editions as the ideal way to support museums—merging personal passion with institutional impact. The company’s hybrid ‘collecting-as-philanthropy’ approach seems to have tapped into something real, igniting long-term commitment to the cultural ecosystem.
That said, Avant Arte’s audience isn’t necessarily thinking about supporting museum operations when adding to their collections. Storytelling is a big part of how the company markets the art, whether that’s the story of the painstaking work of the bronze foundry in Japan with which they regularly collaborate or the story of what inspired an artist to create a work. “The perception of value is for collectors to establish,” Sanii acknowledged, but added that when they tell the right stories, the response is “overwhelmingly positive.”
Still, the company has not been immune to the disruptions reshaping the art market. According to Sanii, the conditions that defined a successful project in 2021 no longer hold. “But now, with the experience of over 750 projects, we truly understand the formula for what makes a project successful for the artists and museums we work with, so I genuinely wouldn’t trade any of the formative challenges along the way for serene smooth sailing.”
Avant Arte is arguably playing a meaningful role in promoting arts patronage in younger audiences by tying collecting accessible art to financial support for cultural institutions. According to the report, more than half of those surveyed who purchased a fundraising edition from Avant Arte are more likely to support the recipient institution in the future. By contrast, only a third of museum members say that membership today increases the likelihood they’ll continue supporting the institution in the future. “We know from experience the power this new generation has to impact art and artists today positively, but we believe that is dwarfed by their potential to do so in the future with the right care and stewardship,” Sanii concluded.
The report, which surveyed over 3,100 individuals, offers plenty for institutions and galleries to consider as they confront the untapped potential of next-gen patronage. It also delivers a cautiously optimistic outlook for the sector’s future—despite the recent wave of regressive government actions, at least in the U.S.
