The Young Collectors

Ed Tang and Jonathan Cheung have set up their own advisory company to guide aspiring collectors through the opaque world of galleries and trade fairs

- Eric Wilson.

Building an art collection is a deeply personal thing, a pursuit that collectors like to say is ruled by all their senses. Some people are driven by aesthetics and tastes, others by emotions and feelings. But almost everyone, when it comes down to it, is ultimately influenced by what they hear.

“We don’t want collectors to necessarily collect with their ears,” says Ed Tang, the global art advisor and London and Hong Kong native who has nurtured numerous aspiring patrons through his work at auction houses including Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips over the last decade. “Someone might hear that this or that is going to be a hot thing, and they just buy it. But we really don’t want to jump onto trends that may not have longevity—because longevity, I think, is the key.”

Of course, for those with the means to access the notoriously opaque and move-it-or-lose-it art world, any opportunity to land a potential trophy can be tempting, and it’s not always easy to trust the senses alone. With art collecting on the rise in many corners of the world, a trend that has only grown stronger with people spending more time in their homes, Tang and his longtime friend Jonathan Cheung, the Hong Kong public relations veteran known as JC, decided to branch out with a new consulting service, called ArtBureau Advisory, launching this month. Cheung, a co-founder of Buzz Agency Hong Kong and now a partner and executive director in Occasions Asia Pacific Group, will be based in Hong Kong, while Tang will work from his home in New York, where he has lived since 2014.