The Groove 214 - Building Your Art Collection in 2025: What to Look For
Welcome to the 214th issue of The Groove.
I am Maria Brito, an art advisor, curator, and author based in New York City.
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BUILDING YOUR ART COLLECTION IN 2025: WHAT TO LOOK FOR
The art world is buzzing with innovation, bold voices, and the unexpected. It’s massively bloated too. There are too many artists and too many galleries. Whether you are a seasoned collector or just starting, this year is all about embracing work that pushes boundaries, tells compelling stories, and offers a fresh perspective. From emerging talent redefining what art can be to established names taking daring new turns, the landscape is brimming with opportunities to build a collection that’s both meaningful and enduring. Remember these last two words when buying art.
Art collecting is about taking chances and getting out of your comfort zone. Throughout history, great artists have created what might be called “disruptive artworks” - those that defy easy rules of taste. These pieces often unsettle viewers or challenge societal norms, making them slow to be embraced despite their undeniable brilliance. Instead of offering instant appeal, they demand thought, provoke debate, and ultimately redefine what we consider art. If something doesn’t speak to you right away but sparks a reaction in you, make sure to follow that lead.
I have already argued that in the vast sea of contemporary art, it’s hard to single out one masterpiece. There are, however, many hundreds of wonderful artists at all stages in their careers and at all price points. The premise to be thinking about is: what is their contribution to art and art history? Are they making things that are moving us forward or just copying what was done in the past? Or worse, copying what’s being done now by a peer?
Besides embracing a mix of mediums that goes beyond painting, including sculpture, photography and works on paper, your collection should evolve with you and with the times.
Here’s what to look for in 2025:
1. A Unique Visual Language
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Arroz con Pollo, 1981, oil on canvas, was exhibited in his first gallery show at the Annina Nosei Gallery in SoHo.
Look at a lot of art. Look at pictures in books. Go to museums and galleries. All the time, whenever you can. If you encounter a piece of art that you want to buy, ask yourself: Have I seen anything like this before? If the answer is no, you may be witnessing innovation. Think about composition, color, form, technique and narratives that don't echo trends or established styles.
When Jean-Michel Basquiat broke into the art scene in 1980 at the Times Square Show and later in 1981 at the New York/New Wave at PS1, he blended street art, African diasporic history, and historical art references that created a visual language entirely his own. New York gallerist Annina Nosei took note and gave Basquiat a basement to paint in large scale the works that would eventually sell out in his first solo show with her. Nosei saw Basquiat’s raw, street-level energy while addressing race, power, and identity in ways that were both personal and universal. Quite a confrontational and unusual style for the established elite of art collectors of the time.
While there won’t ever be another Basquiat, who is now making art you have never seen before?
2. A Sense of Urgency
Artists with a sense of urgency often feel compelled to respond to current events, creating work that captures immediate emotional or societal truths. Their art demands to be felt and can be unsettling.
For example, Rashid Johnson’s “Anxious” and “Bruise” painting series, which he has been exploring since 2014, depict distressed faces drawn with expressive gestures. They grapple with themes of fear, uncertainty, and collective anxiety. Johnson captures the psychological toll of modern life, particularly for marginalized communities, making these works resonate deeply in today’s turbulent social and political climate.
3. Depth of Concept
Cindy Sherman – Untitled Film Stills #21, 1978 (top) and Untitled Film Stills #03, 1977 (bottom).
Some art can be pretty to the eye but woefully empty. Innovation isn't just about how something looks; it's also about ideas. Pay attention to the artist's concepts, narratives, or philosophies. Newness often arises when an artist challenges how we think about art, identity, or the world itself.
While the medium of photography has been trashed by the advent of the smartphone camera and Instagram, it is undeniable that Cindy Sherman’s depth of concept and execution challenges concepts of identity, gender roles, and representation. By using herself as the subject, she questions the construction of identity in media and society.
Sherman’s seminal series Untitled Film Stills (1977-1980) features 69 black-and-white portraits of Sherman, who transforms herself with makeup, props, and costumes into characters that seem plucked from classic Hollywood movies, European cinema, and film noir. There’s a small-town ingénue, a femme fatale, a housewife. The series interrogates how media shapes and reinforces societal roles for women while Sherman exposes their constructed nature, encouraging viewers to question the authenticity of these depictions. Her work transcends portraiture, turning the lens on societal expectations and cultural constructs.
4. The Weird and Uncomfortable
Francis Bacon, Seated Figure, 1983, oil on canvas.
Art that feels weird or uncomfortable often holds the greatest potential to captivate, challenge, and endure. These works demand attention because they defy expectations, forcing us to confront something we might otherwise avoid. Embracing the strange and unsettling is a vital part of appreciating and collecting art.
In a world saturated with images, art that feels offbeat or disorienting forces you to stop and look longer. That pause is where its power lies. Francis Bacon’s grotesque but mesmerizing figures evoke both fascination and discomfort, compelling viewers to wrestle with their emotional response.
Art that makes you uneasy often digs into uncomfortable truths about society, history, or ourselves. It pushes past politeness to reveal deeper, often unspoken realities. Kara Walker’s silhouettes confront viewers with the brutal legacies of slavery, juxtaposing beauty with horror to spark essential conversations.
Known for his provocative humor, our banana man Maurizio Cattelan, creates sculptures and installations that are as absurd as they are thought-provoking. His works blend satire with discomfort, often challenging notions of good taste.
5. The Artist's Commitment
As my friends in galleries always say, it’s always easier to work with a dead artist than an alive one. Galleries will always go after estates that they believe have been underrepresented or misunderstood and need their dues. Now, this doesn’t always pan out commercially, because while highly desirable, if there are only a small amount of lesser works in a prestigious estate, it’s not going to translate into massive sales.
But take the case of Lynne Drexler, a second-generation Abstract Expressionist who spent most of her life painting in seclusion on Monhegan Island, Maine. Without proper gallery representation, she lived and died in relative obscurity in 1999, leaving behind hundreds of extraordinary paintings and works on paper. For years, private dealers quietly bought her work at auction for around $5,000. Then, New York gallery Berry Campbell began representing her estate, giving her a long-overdue solo show. Collectors quickly recognized the exceptional quality of her work, which began appearing in prominent group exhibitions. In 2022, two of her paintings sold at auction for over $1 million. Today, her estate is co-represented by White Cube, cementing Drexler’s place in the art world she long deserved.
The interesting thing is that there are many artists like this, maybe not as commercially-friendly as Drexler given the colors, timelessness and harmony of her compositions, but opportunities exist nonetheless: Perle Fine, Helen Lundeberg, Emma Amos, Charmion von Wiegand, Marguerite Zorach, Eileen Agar. Some of these estates have gallery representation, some don’t; their works consistently show up at auction and are all worth taking a serious look.