Gen X (those born between 1965 and 1980), historically overlooked for being the neglected middle child between the baby boomer generation (b. 1946–1964) and millennials (b. 1981–1996), are now coming of (collecting) age – and flexing their muscles in boardrooms and leadership roles around the globe. They are also now driving the art market, according to The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2024. As the survey of 3,663 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) notes, Gen X collectors overtook millennials last year to become the biggest spenders on art, with average spending up 3% on 2022 to USD 578,000. Gen X’s lead continued into the first half of 2024, with levels more than a third higher than millennials and double that of boomers and Gen Z. This reverses the trend of 2022, when millennials reported the highest average expenditure, chiefly due to a small number of very high spenders. Median expenditure between generations, which removes much of the impact of the highest spenders, is more aligned. Nonetheless, average millennial spending dropped a significant 54% in 2023 to USD 395,000. Some suggest this could signal that younger collectors have been harder hit by economic uncertainty compared with older generations, as well as reflect the dip in the emerging or ultra-contemporary art market, which has seen a drop in speculative buyers. In turn, more established Gen X collectors, who have been through several art market cycles and retained more confidence, appear to have pivoted to tried and tested artists, whose price points are higher.

‘With greater accumulated wealth, baby boomers and Gen X can comfortably collect across a range of price levels, from rising artists to established names. By contrast, millennials tend to focus on artists of their own generation, typically emerging or approaching mid-career,’ says the New York-based art adviser Adam Green. ‘As the market for rising artists has softened, prompting greater selectivity, the financial resources of the older generations allow them to prioritize higher-priced, more established artists.’ With on average 20 years of workplace experience and now accounting for 51% of top leadership roles globally, according to the global leadership company Development Dimensions International, Gen X are likely to have reached a stage in their lives where they have made, saved, or inherited some disposable funds. ‘Instead of buying another designer bag, they invest in something more meaningful such as a good artwork, which enhances their daily lives. While some may collect to invest – and then store to sell later – more seem to buy because they love it and want to live with it,’ says the South Africa-born, London-based collector and lawyer Liesl Fichardt. Indeed, according to the Survey of Global Collecting, Gen X has more of a preference than other generations for antiques and decorative arts, suggesting homes and interiors are factors in collecting for them.

While Gen X respondents have the highest average spending on fine art, decorative art, and antiques, millennials lead when it comes to luxury objects such as jewelry, gems, and watches, as well as classic cars, boats, and jets. Boomers, meanwhile, like to splurge on alcohol: they lead in terms of average spending on wine, whiskey, and spirits as well as luxury handbags and sneakers.

Where does Gen X buy?

Art fair attendance varies slightly by age, according to the Survey of Global Collecting. Boomers attended eight fairs on average in 2023 and Gen Z seven, while Gen X and their millennial peers went to around six, although these figures converged more in 2024.

All generations prefer to buy from dealers, but Gen X collectors had the highest preference for art fairs, at 32% – compared with 19% for millennials and Gen Z respondents. Fichardt makes the distinction between visiting fairs and purchasing art at them. ‘Fairs are a destination experience, with art being the focal point, but they are also opportunities to learn and explore the narrative and overall movement of the art world,’ she says, noting that when she does buy at fairs, ‘this tends to happen at the time the preview goes out, in advance of the opening.’ Ultimately, she says, ‘Fairs are a great way to see art in a greater context and to see new work and make new discoveries.’

The collector, who is a partner at London law firm Quinn Emanuel, says Gen X are also likely to be seen at smaller gallery dinners where the artist might be present. ‘I do not see the same with millennials,’ Fichardt says. ‘I see them at the larger, more crowded and cooler opening parties. They usually know the artists personally and they stay until late. Gen X tend to leave those parties early, if they attend at all.’

Gen X are also more prone to working with art advisors, according to a separate study published as part of the Survey of Global Collecting. The survey reveals that the Association of Professional Art Advisors  works most frequently with Gen X collectors, who account for 43% of the overall sample. The next largest generational group of clients is boomers, followed closely by millennials. Fichardt says she observes many Gen X collectors working with advisors, often in cases where the advisor is the only way they can access a particular artist. ‘Accessing art remains a problem with some galleries who require you to pay to play – a process where you buy a work you might not like to support the gallery’s program, which in turn enables you to buy the work you want,’ she says. ‘It’s an approach that has many flaws, and never benefits the artists concerned.’

Auction leaders

Gen X are making their presence felt at auction, too. According to Sotheby’s latest figures, which combine luxury and fine art, Gen X are the most active bidders, while Gen X and boomers are the most active buyers. In 2024, Gen X and Boomers spent more than any other generation, each accounting for just shy of a third of the total spend. These figures, released to Art Basel, echo the findings of the Sotheby’s Insight Report, published in December 2023. That report noted that Gen X bidders had become the most important demographic in the USD 1 million-plus fine art market for the first time, accounting for 40.2% of bidders and overtaking the boomer generation, which accounted for 39.5% of bidders. Chiming with the Survey of Global Collecting, millennials were found to be less active, representing 13.5% of bidders in the first 6 months of 2023, down from 16% in 2022. As the Sotheby’s report highlights, the USD 1 million to USD 10 million range is often the first port of call for Gen X buyers, many of whom then escalate over time to higher and higher spending levels.

What does Gen X buy?

According to the same Sotheby’s report, Gen X and millennials are also particularly active in emerging art markets, such as the one for the street artist Banksy (where they account for 84% of bidders) and the contemporary sculptor KAWS (81%).

The Colorado-based collector Ronnie K. Pirovino was one of the first to extensively collect KAWS, beginning in the early 2000s. Working as a creative director in advertising, Pirovino was particularly drawn to the street artist’s early ‘ad disruptions,’ when KAWS would crank open bus shelter advertising casings and remove the posters inside, painting cartoonish faces over the models with crosses for eyes. From there, Pirovino started collecting as an art world outsider, amassing a trove of KAWS collectibles via message boards – online sites where information was exchanged before the advent of social media (such message boards are still very active for artists such as Banksy).

In 2015, the collector says he had ‘an existential moment’ and decided that he had ‘taken his KAWS journey as far as it could go.’ Over the next 4 years, Pirovino sold off his KAWS works privately and via auction; his 2018 sale at Heritage Auctions in Dallas set 50 records.

Since then, Pirovino has diversified his collection to include emerging artists such as Adieny Nuñez and José Lerma as well as Robert Nava, Jonathan Chapline, and Julie Curtiss. ‘I’m looking at Latin America a lot as that reflects my cultural background,’ he says. Pirovino also collects NFTs by CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pak, and Beeple, among others.

Though the art world has been historically slow to adapt to digital innovations, Pirovino thinks we are on the cusp of real change, particularly as the digitally native millennial and Gen Z groups rise up through the ranks. As it currently stands, Gen X are well placed to straddle the analog and digital landscapes.

However, the cliché that young collectors are attracted to non-traditional or digital mediums is not borne out in the findings of the Survey of Global Collecting. Gen Z (and Gen X) respondents have the highest share of paintings (28%), while Boomers have the lowest (22%).

As Gen X work their way up to the top of the art market, their spending on painting is increasing. In the first half of 2024, Gen X HNWIs expenditure on painting averaged USD 89,330, ahead of millennials (USD 74,290) and nearly four times the level of boomer and Gen Z buyers. Fichardt started out collecting works on paper – her first purchase was a mixed media blue iris by William Kentridge – graduating to paintings as her income increased. Her collection is now 80% large-scale painting, 15% sculpture and ceramics, and 5% works on paper.

Historically, baby boomers have dominated the top of the art market, but that too is changing. According to the Sotheby’s Insight Report, between 2018 and the first half of 2023, boomers accounted for an average of 41% of the bidding activity among the top 50 artists, followed by Gen X (30%) and millennials (23%). Now the younger generations are making their presence felt at the highest end of the market: according to Sotheby’s, Gen X and millennials made up 38% of bidders in the Picasso market in the first half of 2023 and 57% of potential buyers in the Basquiat market.

With Gen X set to inherit USD 30 trillion in the Great Wealth Transfer over the next 10 years, their spending power and dominance in the art market is certain to surge. With tastes more diverse than their boomer predecessors, all eyes are on which artists – or luxury objects – they will splurge on.