Refining your taste

What does refining your taste mean?

It is the ability to recognise quality, which shifts and sharpens over time. As with wine, the more you taste, the better you tell the genuinely good from the average. It is not a gift one is born with but rather a skill that ripens slowly.

How does it develop?

The more art you see and come to know, the more surely you know what genuinely speaks to you and what has depth. You go to galleries and auctions, you look at works in the flesh and in books, and gradually you notice connections. That sense is built slowly, visit by visit, work by work.

Why does it matter to a collector?

A refined taste helps you choose works that will hold up years later, rather than being led astray by the fashion of the moment. With it, a collector better recognises when something is genuine quality and when it is only a good-looking surface. And is there better support than your own confidence that you know why you like a work?

What should you watch out for?

Refining your taste cannot be rushed or bought as a shortcut; it needs time and your own experience. A good start is to look at as many works in the flesh as possible and to notice which ones you keep returning to. Someone else's opinion or a trend can be an inspiration, but the last word should belong to your own instinct.

— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club