Can Research Replace a Conversation With the Painter?
Angela Simeone · Last updated: 13 October 2026
In short: Collectors are researching more than ever: the Art Basel and UBS survey found 72% did moderate or significant independent research before buying, and use of apps and AI research tools rose to 22% from 4%. Research tells you what a painting has done. Only the person who made it can tell you how it was built and how it will live in your room. Plato noted that painted figures keep a solemn silence when questioned; a painter does not.
How much research do collectors do now?
More than ever, and the share keeps rising. Wealth Professional's coverage of the Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2026, published 9 October 2026, reports that "72% of high-net-worth collectors conducted moderate or significant independent research before purchasing art," up from 62% in 2025. Among Gen Z the figure climbed to 80%. Use of apps and AI-enabled research tools rose to 22%, up sharply from 4% in 2024.
The same coverage reports that Gen Z collectors are outpacing every other generation "by more than double" and accounted for nearly half of all purchases of artworks priced above $1 million in 2026. John Mathews, head of private wealth management for the Americas at UBS, says "collections are increasingly being viewed through a multi-generational lens." The buyers doing the most checking are also the buyers doing the most buying.
What can research tell you, and what can it not?
It can tell you a painting's record: where it has hung, what it has sold for, who has written about it, what it is made of. That is worth knowing, and a buyer who arrives knowing it asks better questions.
It cannot answer back. Plato saw the problem in writing, in the Phaedrus, and chose painting to explain it: "The creations of the painter have the attitude of life, and yet if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence." (Benjamin Jowett's translation.) A search result keeps the same silence. It will not tell you why the plum sits beside the gold, or what the painter did when the first version of the canvas failed.
Which questions are worth asking the painter?
The ones research cannot reach. How was the canvas built, and in how many layers? What was the color story the painting began from? How does the surface change from morning light to lamplight, and from the near side of the room to the far? Which part of it was decided early and which was argued over for weeks? What would the painter change if the room changed?
I work in oil and mixed media, building a surface up in layers until it settles, and I begin each painting from a color story. Those are answers I can give in a sentence, and the follow-up questions are where a buyer learns what the painting will do on their wall. For a commission I paint two options at once, so the conversation ends with two finished directions to choose between.
How does a studio make that conversation easy?
By answering directly. There is no gallery rep between you and the painter, so a question goes to the person who made the work and the answer comes from her. Before a painting ships, a short video of the finished canvas shows what a photograph cannot: the surface moving as the light moves. Paintings travel rolled to a framer near you, who stretches them, and they arrive ready to hang.
Michel de Montaigne ranked conversation above reading as an exercise for the mind: "The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation." (Translations of the Essays vary slightly in wording.) Research prepares you for the conversation. It does not replace it.
→ Browse the current work: Paintings available now · Start from a conversation: Commissions · Meet the painter: Angela Simeone · For designers and art consultants: Trade Program
Frequently asked questions
How much research do collectors do before buying art?
The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2026 found that 72% of high-net-worth collectors conducted moderate or significant independent research before purchasing, up from 62% in 2025, and 80% of Gen Z collectors did.
Can AI tools replace talking to the artist?
They can organize a painting's public record, but they cannot tell you how the work was built or how it will live in your room. Use research to prepare, and ask the painter the rest.
What should you ask an artist before buying a painting?
Ask how it was built and in how many layers, what color story it began from, how the surface changes between morning light and lamplight, and what the painter would adjust if your room were different.
Can you buy original art directly from the painter?
Yes. At this studio the person who made the painting answers your questions, shows you a short video of the finished canvas before it ships, and can paint a commission as two options so you choose between finished directions.