Should you hire an art advisor?
Untangling the myths, the money, and the middlemen of the art market.
Last week I came across an FT article with a very intriguing headline: “Should I Hire an Art Advisor?” The piece itself didn’t quite live up to the promise, but it made me realize I actually have a lot to add to this glamorous title, Art Advisor. Around the same time, a potential client asked me for advice on buying a specific painting but wasn’t sure what that advice would even include. And that’s a fair question — if you’re a first-time buyer, how do you know what kind of value you’re getting for your money?
“Art advisor” is an important-sounding term, but one that hides a lot of unknowns. Even though I partially work as an advisor myself, I don’t always feel entitled to use the title outright. And yet, plenty of people who are only loosely “qualified” call themselves art advisors.
👉This article in Plaster Magazine captures pretty well what it’s like to become a so-called “Gmail art advisor.” At one point, the term was everywhere online, mocking the idea that technically anyone could claim the role. To be fair, even trying it for five days, as the author did, turned out to be tough.
So who actually counts as the “real deal”? And why would someone want to hire an art advisor in the first place?
