The lead article in this month’s Culture section asks, “How do you buy a work of art?” We’re advising on where to start, how to look, how to seal the deal and assesses whether or not it’s right to go entirely on instinct.
There’s information and inspiration to be gleaned from an art adviser and artist alike. Sure, Lisa Schiff advises big-money collectors but she started small – and I get the feeling that that’s where her heart is too. If, as Andy Warhol said, “art is about liking things”, our guide sets out to equip you with the tools to get liking in earnest.

The timing is no mistake of course. London in early October is all about art thanks to the Frieze fairs, the alternatively dazzling (and tastefully grey) suns around which satellite fairs, auctions, grand exhibitions and parties orbit (including Monocle 24, which will be broadcasting live from both fairs). The Pavilion of Art and Design celebrates its 10th birthday during Frieze, just weeks after the 25th anniversary issue of Frieze magazine reaches the newsstands. Since 1991 it has grown from being the title that tracked the paint, sweat and tears of the 1990s British art scene to becoming a priceless, major work in itself.

The common denominator in all of this is London. This was where the most exciting art came from during that period and where the overseas investment poured in. It was where the big New York dealers opened ever bigger galleries and where Tate Modern opened to become the defining image in the head of much of the world when it thought of contemporary art and what it stood for (big, famous places in which quite big, quite famous art resides).

But why the use of the past tense? Well, can London still hack it? Is it still the cultural capital of the world? The debate is always an interesting one; a parlour game of Top Trumps ranking the strengths and weaknesses of various New Yorks, Parises and Berlins and their cultural clout. But the question has been thrown into more urgent territory by Brexit and by a world that seems to be turning the wrong way half the time. Maybe property prices will tumble and Chelsea will once again become the haunt of starving artists. Or maybe it’ll be such a pain in the arse that European galleries will clear out altogether.

Here’s the rub, cats: maybe you’ve seen the invitation on the Monocle website? Or failing that, just to the left here. We’re doing a panel discussion on this very question on 19 September at Monocle HQ. Our panellists, including the director of the Frieze fairs, Victoria Siddall, will shed plenty of light (both dazzling and tasteful, of course). My money’s on a “yes” but you lot are a tough crowd to read, aren’t you? Pop by if you want the scoop (and a beer, natch).

The sharp eye behind the lens of 2011 documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times has turned his attention to another Manhattan institution: the Metropolitan Museum’s costume institute and Met Gala. The First Monday in May is a fascinating look at curation as elegant feathers fly.

You have some natural performers in your film; did they forget your camera was there?
I think that because Anna Wintour is so frequently subject to the camera’s gaze – she has a natural force field that surrounds her in public. But filming her in the museum, she was so engaged with accomplishing the tasks at hand that yes, she seemed to forget that I was shooting.

The film encompasses a nice mix of inspecting the job of curating while cutting to slightly bitchy party-planning. How did you manage to find the balance?
We follow Andrew Bolton as curator in charge of the Costume Institute and Anna Wintour’s role as chair of the Met Gala. Anna’s work in raising funds for the museum is as necessary to it’s survival as the intellectually rigorous and daring work that Andrew does as the curator. So in this binary narrative we hoped to be able to create a commentary on the marriage of art and commerce.

Showing how people do what they do, be it in the fashion world, museums or media, is hard work. What’s your trick?
I’m very interested in the creative process. I hope to honour the nuts and bolts of that process but also to elevate those mechanics with some sense of meaning. Sometimes there is a conflict between the individual that I’m filming and the institution that they serve. Even if they are totally aligned with the mission of the institution, obstacles emerge. And in those moments a lot of emotion can be found in the process.