Generation Z is fundamentally reshaping the art collection landscape by abandoning traditional hierarchies that once prioritized paintings and sculptures above all else. According to the newly released Art Basel UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2025, young collectors are creating a seamless continuum where fine art, sneakers, digital assets, and luxury goods coexist as equally valuable investments and identity markers.
The comprehensive report, authored by Dr. Clare McAndrew and released Thursday, reveals that Gen Z collectors allocate an unprecedented 26 percent of their total wealth to art and collectibles—more than any other generation. Within their collecting portfolios, they dedicate 56 percent of their spending to collectibles, significantly surpassing the 41 percent average across all high-net-worth individuals. This data demonstrates a dramatic shift from conventional collecting patterns established by previous generations.
Gen Z's shopping preferences reflect this revolutionary approach to collecting. Their acquisitions resemble lifestyle checklists rather than traditional museum catalogs, encompassing limited-edition sneakers, luxury handbags, cars, watches, and sports memorabilia alongside digital and generative artworks. The report's authors specifically note that while Baby Boomers with high net worth focused their spending on fine art, antiques, and watches, and Millennials dominated jewelry, decorative art, and design sectors, Gen Z collectors reign supreme in most other categories.
Particularly striking is Gen Z's dominance in collectible sneakers, where they spend almost five times more than any other generational group. They also lead in collecting classic cars, boats, jets, and sports memorabilia. This flattening of traditional collecting categories reflects what the report's foreword describes as a "widening definition of connoisseurship," where art increasingly sits alongside design, luxury goods, and lifestyle collectibles as equally legitimate forms of cultural investment.
Looking ahead, 41 percent of Gen Z collectors plan to purchase antiques next, while 40 percent intend to buy jewelry. Roughly one-third expressed intentions to acquire watches, design works, and collectible wine or spirits. Even decorative art and design—categories previously dismissed as peripheral to serious collecting—are experiencing renewed interest, with purchasing intentions more than doubling among the two youngest age groups.
Digital art has emerged as a foundational element rather than a fringe interest for young collectors. While paintings remain the top choice for 48 percent of high-net-worth collectors planning purchases in the next 12 months, followed by sculpture at 37 percent, Gen Z shows particular enthusiasm for sculptural works. Forty percent of Gen Z collectors plan to acquire sculpture, a higher percentage than Gen X or Millennials.
The digital art market has shown remarkable growth and resilience. Twenty-three percent of collectors planning purchases this year hope to acquire digital works, up from 19 percent in 2024, with the percentage climbing to 26 percent specifically among Gen Z collectors. In overall collections, digital works now represent an average 13 percent share, rebounding sharply from just 3 percent in 2024, thanks to renewed interest in generative and AI-based art.
A notable trend is the gender and age demographics of digital art ownership. Thirty-two percent of Gen Z women own at least one digital artwork, while 49 percent of Gen X women do not own any digital art. This demographic tilt signals not merely a speculative revival but rather a generational comfort with virtual ownership and digital assets as legitimate collectible categories.
The social and performative aspects of Gen Z collecting represent perhaps the most significant departure from traditional approaches. For younger collectors, art functions as a means of expressing taste and identity rather than simply objects to display in private spaces or store in freeports. As Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz noted in his introduction to the report, "For many, collecting has become an expression of identity, shaped as much by personal pleasure and social connection as by financial motivation."
Social media platforms have become crucial sales channels, fundamentally altering how art transactions occur. The report's sales-channel data reveals that 51 percent of collectors purchased artwork via Instagram without seeing the work in person, while 35 percent bought directly through Instagram links. This shift represents what many consider the true disruption in the art market: collecting's ground zero is moving from traditional white cube gallery spaces to social media feeds.
While art fairs maintain their importance in the collecting ecosystem, the formation and expression of collector identity is increasingly unfolding across digital platforms. Ownership itself has become a form of content, with collectors sharing and discussing their acquisitions as part of their online presence and personal branding.
The implications of this generational shift extend beyond individual collecting preferences to fundamental market structures. The future art market audience appears to see no meaningful boundary between a Takashi Murakami print and a pair of limited-edition Nike Dunks—both function as cultural signifiers with value that is simultaneously emotional, social, and economic.
This hybrid model, where collectors function as part investor, part curator, and part influencer, may represent the first genuine paradigm shift in the art market since globalization fundamentally rewired the industry two decades ago. The convergence of traditional art collecting with lifestyle consumption, social media engagement, and digital ownership suggests that the future of collecting lies not in its democratization, but in its virtualization and integration with broader cultural and technological trends.
