The mood among art buyers has shifted unmistakably since the speculative peaks of the early 2020s, according to Edward Warburton, founder and director of the London dealership Princedale Modern. Speaking as the autumn calendar moved from Frieze Masters into the afterglow of Art Basel Paris, Warburton said collectors are now buying for aesthetic reasons and the long term rather than for a quick return, and that the change is visible in the conversations he has with clients.

Recent research supports his reading. Bank of America's Fall 2026 Art Market Update found that the proportion of collectors naming investment as a main motivation for buying has dropped from 50 percent to 36 percent. Figures from UBS and Art Basel, meanwhile, show auction sales of established Impressionist, Modern and Post-War art growing in the first half of the year while younger contemporary categories declined. Buyers, Warburton added, are taking their time over purchases and examining condition far more closely than they did during the boom.

He illustrated the new discipline with the market for Yayoi Kusama, where demand for the late Japanese artist's work remains strong but the market for her prints and multiples has split in two. Collectors will pay more for a work on paper in pristine, original condition, he said, but would rather wait than buy a piece with even a small flaw. He sees the same caution across prints more broadly, following solid results at the Christie's and Sotheby's London sales last month, with the major print sales in New York still to come.

Princedale Modern is a boutique dealership working with private and institutional clients, mainly in prints and multiples, and Warburton founded his art advisory in 2022. Despite the market's changes, he remains enthusiastic about the fair circuit, which he calls a thrill. As the year heads towards its close, he is happy to declare that the market feels healthy and well-calibrated.