Ms Michelle McMullan, who works in the Impressionist and modern art department at Christie’s in London, says the most common mistake is to rush. “Often, I see people who start building a collection quickly and within a few years they are already selling the first thing they bought, once they are confident in their taste,” she says.

Most galleries allow clients to borrow paintings and try them for size at home. Ms Tanya Baxter, who runs Tanya Baxter Contemporary, an art advisory and gallery that handles works by Messrs Salvador Dalì, Andy Warhol and Marc Quinn, compares collecting to buying a property. “You should be buying at a comfortable level with an overall view of what you want to achieve,” she says. “So, it’s important to see if you like it before committing.”

Even if you are buying as an investor, you will have to live with the painting, says Ms Sarah Monk, head of the London Art Fair. It should spark more joy than looking at your bank balance. “The core motive should be wanting that piece,” she says. “You want something that provokes a response in you.”

Mr Charlie Phillips, who runs Eleven Fine Art in Twickenham, southwest London, says: “Don’t buy a work of art if you’re going to wonder about its financial value every time you look at it. The art market is the biggest unregulated market in the world. There is no such thing as a sure thing.”