Commentary Challenges the 'Great Art Transfer' as a Marketing Narrative

Key facts

• The commentary was published by The Art Newspaper at https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/10/12/the-empty-promise-of-the-great-art-transfer
• Edmond and Jules de Goncourt wrote in their 1866 book Idées et Sensations that a painting in a museum perhaps hears the most stupid things in the world
• Fortune magazine coined the term "Great Art Transfer" as part of the wider "Great Wealth Transfer"
• Deloitte and ArtTactic's 2025 Art & Finance Report estimated $992bn in art and collectables would change hands over the next decade, nearly $100bn per year
• More than $100 trillion is forecast to change hands in the US over about two decades as the Baby Boomer generation ages
• The phrase Great Wealth Transfer has marketed financial services since the 1990s, and Accenture promoted "The Greater Wealth Transfer" in 2012
• Deloitte reported that a quarter of wealth managers offered art-related services in 2011, versus half today, and a 3.2% compound annual growth rate for fine art over 20 years
• Artnet indices include buyers' premiums but exclude seller's commission and other costs, so prices often must rise at least 30% for owners to recover what they paid
• The 3.2% growth figure comes from a separate, annually rebalanced Artnet index of the 100 highest-selling artists at auction, not the whole market
• The author advises never buying art as an investment and instead buying what you like