In the 10 years since launching Partnership Editions, founder and advisor Georgia Spray has been on a mission to demystify the process of collecting art. “For a lot of people, the term ‘art collector’ brings to mind someone who’s a regular at Basel, with a Geneva vault full of canvases by blue-chip artists,” she tells with a laugh, “but really collecting is just another form of self-expression. There’s no art history degree or six-figure budget required.” Today, her client list includes interior designers such as Sophie Ashby, while Partnership Editions represents more than 80 emerging artists globally.

Partnership Editions represents artists ranging from photographer Lily Bertrand-Webb to ceramicist Freyja Lee, with prices for original works starting at just £50.

Published by Thames & Hudson this month, Spray’s first book, How to Start an Art Collection, distils her first-hand knowledge of the art world for fledgling collectors. Alongside guides to studio visits and glossaries of market lingo are Elena Bazu’s intimate photographs of seven collectors’ homes: prop designer Kristina Beddall’s rental flat in King’s Cross; the Lewes cottage from which Charlie Collins and Matt Harris run the Southover Gallery; perfumer Maya Njie’s semi-detached home on the Isle of Dogs… “Each place offers its own lessons in curation as well as collecting,” says Spray.

Ahead of publication, the Partnership Editions founder shares five guiding principles for novice collectors.

Trust your instincts

“Remember, taste is subjective,” Spray says. Rather than worrying about what you’re supposed to like, visit galleries and see what you naturally gravitate towards. “It sounds obvious, but it teaches you so much, even if what you’re looking at is way out of your budget.” If your favourite piece in the Royal Academy’s upcoming exhibition is a Kandinsky canvas, you might be drawn to more abstract works. Make a note of the colours, forms, and textures you’re most attracted to – or better yet, get postcards to bring home. “It’s a great way to see how it feels to live with a particular type of work before you commit.”

Ceramics line the shelves either side of Charlie Collins and Matt Harris’s bedroom fireplace in Lewes.

Prioritise the personal

“The most interesting collections are visual diaries of the owners’ lives,” Spray says, citing homes that blend family heirlooms, memorabilia, and found objects with artworks. (Think of the Norfolk pebbles that line the shelves of Kettle’s Yard, or the newspaper clippings on the mantelpieces at Charleston House.) Maybe you’ve gathered a trove of seashells over years of beachcombing; those might well be the anchor around which you base the artworks in a given room. If you’re looking for inspiration, lighting designer Rowena Morgan-Cox’s 1950s house in Southeast London is one of Spray’s favourite examples of how to display “art without hierarchy”, an approach Morgan-Cox honed while working with Tobias Vernon at 8 Holland Street. Picture a Nicola Tassie sculpture next to mossy bark picked up on holiday in San Sebastián.

How to Start an Art Collection includes guidance on displaying art as well as purchasing it; here, a gallery hang pops against a sunflower-coloured wall.

Make the art scene work for you

Don’t be intimidated by Cork Street. Even if the contents of W1’s galleries are well out of most people’s budgets, it’s still worth keeping tabs on what’s coming up at Mayfair’s commercial stalwarts. Most exhibitions, such as Hauser & Wirth’s forthcoming presentation of Lorna Simpson’s works, are free and open to all. Consider getting a ticket to Frieze London this autumn – there’s so much inspiration to be found among the tents in Regent’s Park – and don’t overlook smaller fairs, either. For high-quality prints, Spray loves Imprint, which runs for four days in Westminster Hall this October.

A detailed shot from the house Dom Hamdy shares with his partner, Gathered Things creator Mattie Hamdy.

Always factor in framing

“Framing is an art form in and of itself,” says Spray, “which means it often costs more than people realise.” She suggests approaching frames as “mini sculptures” with the potential to transform how you see a work. Her go-to material is walnut – “it bridges the contemporary and the traditional, in many ways” – but you can also play around with statement frames (Notting Hill’s Lacy Gallery has a brilliant antique collection) or lean into contrast, as restaurateur Dom Hamdy (Crispin, Bistro Freddo, Kismet) has done with textural oils and galvanised metal throughout his East London home.

A pinboard hangs beside Chantal Joffe’s “Maggie’s Song” (2024) and a commissioned painting by Colette Woods.

Resist the algorithm

While Spray loves connecting with artists through Instagram, “there’s so much imagery being fed to us by algorithms now; it’s hard to tell what’s actually your taste versus what you’ve just been served again and again,” she says. It’s one reason she’s such a fan of analogue moodboards. Install a corkboard wall like the one in the Partnership Editions studio, or invest in a design by Volga Linens or Beata Heuman. As you add photos, clippings, swatches and more, pay attention to any emerging patterns. It’s through moodboarding that Spray realised she prefers earthier tones – “there were lots of umbers, terracottas, and ochres” – which helped inform both the colour palette of her Stoke Newington home and her future purchases.

How to Start an Art Collection by Georgia Spray is out now, published by Thames & Hudson