If you’re considering buying art, the next piece you purchase may already be in your pocket. Providing, of course, you have an Instagram account on your smartphone. Search #Artist and you’ll have access to a mind-boggling 186 million posts, with something in every genre, from painted landscapes and portraits, to political illustrations and still lifes.

Online investigations have become an important part of the work in the search for young talent. This is also confirmed by professionals on the art market:

“I check Instagram regularly,” says Cem Angeli, of CA Contemporary gallery in Vienna. “I’ll see what they’re about, and if I like the look of them, I’ll reach out to them.” Marcello Kwan, Vice President, Senior Specialist, and Head of Sale of Contemporary Asian Art at Christie’s Hong Kong, agrees: “Try finding art-related hashtags to find not just artists to follow, but galleries and museums, new trends, and new names.”

Learn more about the art of finding young, emerging artists in the in-depth article on luxurydefined, the online magazine of Christie’s International Real Estate.