The Aesthetics of Value: How Art, Influence, and Auction Houses Are Rewriting Luxury

Written by Daria Knurenko (CAS '28) & Edited by Nina Rawal (W ’27)

Luxury is being rebranded — again. But this time, it’s not about quiet logos or minimalist wealth signaling. It’s about a shift in what we even consider worth collecting. Increasingly, cultural capital is competing with material status, and nowhere is that more visible than on social media, especially with trends like “top three paintings to buy instead of a Birkin.”

For decades, luxury was defined by scarcity and a high level of craftsmanship, like in a Hermès Birkin bag or a limited line of jewelry. Today, a new generation is reframing that equation. Instead of handbags, there’s a growing interest in, unexpectedly, buying paintings ,or at least imagining doing so. A viral TikTok trend by Amélie Carrara and other creators, titled “Three paintings I’d buy instead of a Birkin,” is a perfect example of this.

This shift is unfolding at a moment when the traditional art market is showing signs of struggling like many other fields impacted by instability and worsening economic conditions. Major auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have reported softer sales cycles, with global auction revenues declining roughly 15–20% in recent years and high-end lots increasingly struggling to meet estimates. Even marquee evening sales have seen higher buy-in rates, signaling a cooling at the very top of the market. 

Against that backdrop, the rise of the “Three paintings instead of a Birkin” trend seems less like a straightforward shift in taste and more like a recession-era mindset. When ownership of traditional luxury goods feels less attainable, there’s a turn toward symbolic ownership through the projection of cultural capital and performance of taste. Ironically, the artworks referenced in these social media trends remain just as financially out of reach as the handbags they replace, reinforcing a paradox where access is simulated rather than achieved.

In that sense, the trend mirrors broader economic behavior. During periods of financial uncertainty, consumers often pivot from tangible accumulation to experiential or intellectual forms of status, like art. 

Art, or even the language of art collecting, becomes a proxy for wealth. S, and social media accelerates this dynamic, allowing users to participate in the optics of connoisseurship without entering the market itself. What emerges is a version of luxury that is less about possession and more about proximity, but it also blurs the line between genuine appreciation and well-curated persona since connoisseurship is being turned into content.

So where does that leave art as a status symbol? Probably not fully replacing the Birkin just yet, but evolving into something trickier and more entertaining. The future isn’t just about owning the masterpiece, — it’s about knowing which one you would own, and making sure everyone else knows you know.