Wealthy Gen Zers’ quiet love of art collecting, revealed: They’re outspending boomers and millennials—but keeping their collections off Instagram

Wealthy Gen Z art collectors are spending more than twice as much as their baby boomer and millennial counterparts.

Just don’t expect their purchases to show up on Instagram.

The youngest collectors surveyed in the Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2026 reported average fine-art spending of $328,880 in the first half of the year.

That compares with $155,530 for baby boomers, $122,410 for millennials, and $72,430 for Gen X.

Gen Z was also the most private generation about who gets to see its collections, both in person and online.

Some 39% limited in-person viewing to their household or close family and friends, almost twice the share of any other generation.

Gen Z is richer at the same age than millennials, Gen X, or baby boomers ever were, according to BCG economists —even if it doesn’t feel that way.

At the top of that distribution, the money is going into paintings, jewelry, handbags, and whisky.

It’s also being kept off the public feed.

The report itself, citing research from NielsenIQ and World Data Lab, describes Gen Z as already expected to be “the largest, wealthiest, and highest-spending generation to date.” “Perhaps surprisingly, the youngest collectors were the most private, both in person and online,” Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics and author of the report, said in a statement accompanying the findings.

“Gen Z collectors were the least likely to share details of their collections publicly online, preferring invitation-only spaces, with privacy central to their personal and cultural identity.” Arts Economics conducted the research in collaboration with UBS, surveying 3,100 high-net-worth individuals across 10 markets, including the U.S., the U.K., mainland China, and Brazil.

Gen Z, defined as ages 20 to 29, made up 9% of the sample.

The figures are averages, and a small number of very big spenders pushes them up.

Across the full sample, 77% spent less than $50,000 on fine art in the first half of 2026.