An Art Basel show floor is like a biotope. It brings together a complex cast of protagonists, from gallerists to artists and collectors, each playing a crucial role in shaping the unique experience an art fair can be. Starting in the 1980s and gaining in numbers in the 1990s, a new figure emerged within this ecosystem: the art advisor. What is it that these industry professionals, who have since become an integral part of the art world, actually do?
‘An art advisor is a person who helps build art collections with collectors, and opens doors to the art world for them, and to them,’ explains Maria Brito, a New York-based art advisor. ‘The advisor also helps with all the aspects of an art transaction: insurance, display, transport, and customs.’ At an Art Basel fair, they can be seen guiding their clients through the bustling aisles, showing pre-selected work and introducing new gallerists and artists.
Art advisors must not only keep up with fast-changing trends – new artists, galleries, discourses, and market developments – but also filter out those things that a given client might not be interested in. Advisors’ close connections with galleries increase the chances that collectors, especially ones new to the scene, have access to sought-after works. ‘A lot of people now have the resources and interest in collecting, but want to compartmentalize it within their lives. They want to find great artworks and live with them, but they don’t have the time or interest to immerse themselves in the whole landscape. So a good adviser becomes an advocate and a conduit for those people,’ says Alex Glauber, founder of AWG Art Advisory and president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors (APAA).
In their everyday lives, art advisors visit galleries, art fairs, museum shows, and artist studios. They attend events, meet dealers, and do research. In the weeks running up to an Art Basel fair, though, the pace quickens: Brito receives up to 30 preview PDFs per day from galleries around the world. ‘The volume really intensifies about two weeks prior,’ she explains.
Ahead of this year’s edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, both advisors are studying these and matching them up with what clients might be interested in. ‘Knowing and understanding my clients’ tastes requires showing them a lot of things, taking them to a lot of shows and art fairs, listening to them very closely and offering as much knowledge and information as possible,’ says Brito. Glauber’s relationships are similar, and before the fair he assembles master PDFs of potentially interesting works, gleaned from preview information, with highlights for each client.
At the fair, an advisor usually personally guides individuals (generally up to six people over the course of the fair), through preselected highlights, which can take all day. Then there’s counsel for any new works that catch the collector’s fancy. ‘The point of having an art advisor is learning how to navigate the art world without making terrible mistakes,’ says Brito. Dinners hosted by galleries and sometimes the clients top out the social agenda, and Brito also visits local galleries outside the fair with or without her collectors.
Glauber works with about 15 clients. Most are individuals, but he is also in the process of creating a collection focused on emerging and mid-career artists for a leading international bank. For most advisors, a client base stays small, and is based on deep trust and aesthetic complicity. ‘It should be really hard to find great clients,’ he says. ‘Think about it – the prerequisites are high. You need somebody with the financial resources to collect. They need to want to collect art, and they need to want to pay somebody to help them spend their money on art. They have to decide that it’s you and you have to like them. So there are a lot of hurdles to clear.’
Brito goes further: ‘Some people think [art advising] is easy, but the galleries have to like you, the secondary market people have to like you, and other art advisors have to like you.’ Her clients – five to ten active ones, plus older collectors who come with specific requests – range from doctors, dentists, and lawyers to celebrities and Broadway producers. But she notes that 75% of them are in some branch of finance.
The longer an advisor works with a client, the more they can source art that matches that client’s tastes, and maybe even nudge them to give a new artist a try. On the flip side, an advisor’s own preferences should never override the collector’s – Glauber says he can sometimes identify advisor-driven collections, which is not ideal. ‘I’ve placed around 600 artworks,’ Brito says. ‘It’s amazing when a collector buys something that’s a bit outside their comfort zone, but I also never want to push things when they’re hesitant.’ Art Basel’s sectors featuring up-and-coming art are especially good for discovering the unusual: ‘I am happy that the fair keeps taking young galleries for the specific sectors that showcase emerging talent,’ she says. ‘I get to meet so many new galleries from other cities and countries that I didn’t know before.’
The general commission for a sale is 10% (always paid by the collector, not the gallery), although Brito charges 9% for big-ticket sales with recurring clients. Many advisors work on a retainer – circumventing the problem of an advisor focusing too much on price – and still others work on a retainer/transaction-fee blend. Sometimes when Brito cannot place a piece, she’ll collaborate with another advisor, and if the work sells, they split the 10% commission. ‘The prices of art I’ve placed range from 5,000 dollars to the multimillions,’ she says.
Since their emergence in the late 20th century, the number of advisors has been growing steadily. However, the specifics of the role remain somewhat nebulous. Although many come from galleries or auction houses, anyone can call themselves an art advisor. ‘There’s no barrier to entry,’ says Glauber, and no institutional credentials. One of the main missions of the APAA – which was founded in 1980 and currently has over 170 members – is to assure transparency and to promote best practice in an unregulated business. An art advisor holding inventory – meaning one who buys work and then resells it – is, for example, an absolute no-no, as is accepting additional payment from a gallery or artist. ‘There are gray areas with opportunities to obscure or omit information. But if you’re doing something you’d be embarrassed for your client to find out about, you shouldn’t do it,’ says Glauber.
There’s also no one path towards becoming an art advisor, and many slip into it after having forged connections elsewhere in the art world’s many networks. After earning an art history degree, Glauber was an assistant curator for the art collection of Lehman Brothers. After the investment bank famously collapsed in 2008, he spent another year ‘unwinding’ the collection, then worked on establishing collections for small financial firms. Through this Glauber met individuals who also wanted to collect, and his advisory evolved from there.
Brito’s path was less direct: After moving to New York in 2000, she practiced corporate law, but spent weekends in galleries and museums (her grandfather collected art in her native Venezuela). In 2009, she left law and began advising. ‘As an outsider I saw things differently,’ she explains.
The field is relatively young, but booming. ‘The notion of collectors seeking counsel has always been there, but it’s taken a lot of different forms,’ says Glauber, mentioning how, historically, gallerists would sometimes send collectors to their colleagues if tastes aligned. The opinion of critics, too, once held more import for collectors on the lookout for new, vetted work.
Art Basel’s most recent Art Market Report cites significant art market growth over the past 15 years, from $39.5 billion in 2009 to $67.8 billion in 2022. The rising popularity of art advising reflects this exceptional expansion. ‘The increase in the number of art advisors is tied to technology, too,’ adds Brito. ‘It started with Instagram: the influx of people seeing the art world from their screens has created more demand. I started my business in 2009, and now, in my fourteenth year, it’s a completely different market. It’s extraordinarily dynamic.’ Occasionally a collector will send Brito an artist found online and ask her opinion, and she’s been ‘discovering artists on Instagram for years.’
Brito and Glauber agree: Art advisory requires, first and foremost, an absolute passion for art and deep enthusiasm for the systems and players that keep its exchange going. Advising also requires time, tremendous patience, sharp research skills, empathy, and knowledge of the art market’s unspoken rules and intricacies. ‘It’s a mandate to always be learning and exploring,’ says Glauber. And at the end of the day, it’s about people. ‘The great client relationships are the ones in which you feel like you understand their tastes and ambitions. And it’s really fun to watch a collection evolve and change over time.’
Maria Brito is a New York-based art advisor and consultant. She is the author of How Creativity Rules the World: The Art and Business of Turning Your Ideas into Gold (2022).
Alex Glauber is the founder of AWG Art Advisory and, since May 2023, president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors.
Kimberly Bradley is a writer, editor, and educator based in Berlin. She is a commissioning editor at Art Basel Stories.
Published on November 22, 2023.
Caption for full-bleed images, from top to bottom: 1. View of Hazlitt Holland Hibbert’s booth at Art Basel in Basel 2023. 2. View of Andrew Edlin’s booth at Paris+ par Art Basel 2023. 3. View of Stevenson’s booth at Art Basel Miami Beach 2022.