‘A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry and see a fine picture every day,’ said German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The question though, is: which picture – and at what price?
In the global, high-stakes world of art collecting, even the most seasoned connoisseurs rely on expert guidance. For today’s collectors – many of them new to the market, global in outlook and often time-poor – an art adviser offers far more than good taste. They provide access, strategy, discretion and, increasingly, forensic due diligence.
Art advisers help navigate a landscape that has become more opaque even as it appears more open. Auction house estimates, once discreet whispers, are now broadcast online. But knowing how to read between the lines – to understand why, as some of our advisers say, a Basquiat didn’t meet its reserve or a Richter surged – takes seasoned judgment and industry ties.
[See also: The dark art of the deal: the oligarch who lost a billion in the art market]
The right adviser can open doors to private sales, emerging artists and museum-quality works not yet publicly on offer. Some, like Cadell, The Fine Art Group or Artelier, take a portfolio approach, weighing a Freud against a Fontana the way an asset manager might balance risk and return. Others, such as Gurr Johns, specialise in sourcing contemporary works and building curated collections that combine aesthetic resonance with long-term cultural value.
Art advisers can be generalists or leaders in a given time period or movement – the figures represented in the 2025 edition of the Spear’s index, for example, are experts in fields ranging from Ancient Egypt to British contemporary art.
The list below reflects this, featuring gallery owners, independent advisers, provenance researchers and valuers, among others who can assist on all matters of art collecting.
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- Methodology
- The best art advisers: some names to know
- The best art advisers: the complete list
- Contact us
Methodology
Each year, the Spear’s Research Unit reassesses and refreshes its rankings of the leading providers in each sector by gathering data from and about the advisers and firms themselves, assessing submission forms, collating nominations, carrying out peer reviews, reviewing data from third-party sources, gathering references and recommendations, canvassing experts and conducting hundreds of interviews.
Advisers are evaluated using a proprietary scoring system that assigns different weightings to certain attributes. These scores feed directly into each new set of rankings in the Spear’s Indices. Each of these indices are published first online (according to the research calendar) and then in print. Print publication takes the form of the annual Spear’s 500 directory, which includes the top advisers in every index.
[See also: A guide to The Spear’s 500: Everything you need to know]
Each featured adviser is profiled on spears500.com. The site allows users to search the Spear’s database of more than 4,000 entities to find one (or more) to meet their specific requirements by filtering for specific attributes such as an adviser’s location, their specialist expertise and information about their client base.
The best art advisers: some names to know
Mari-Claudia Jimenez
- Focus: The business of art
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Withers
After spending nearly a decade steering Sotheby’s global business development and working on major transactions including the Macklowe and Fisher Landau collections, Mari-Claudia Jiménez knows art transactions inside out – from the ‘boardroom to the auction floor’.
At Withers, she has launched a novel art advisory service that integrates market strategy and legal counsel, offering clients a seamless, one-stop solution for negotiating and structuring high-value art transactions. Jiménez is not just an art lawyer or just an art adviser; instead, she leverages her dual perspective to ensure clients secure optimal terms and clarity in complex deals.
‘There’s something very unique about my particular type of advisory,’ she says. ‘It’s advisory on the art market itself, and I think that’s a notable distinction.’
Read Mari-Claudia Jimenez’s full profile on Spears500.com
Julia Bell
- Focus: Modern, Post-war and contemporary art
- Ranking: Top Recommended
- Firm: Parapluie
Parapluie founder Julia Bell has over 25 years of experience in the world of Contemporary art.
With a strong presence in London and the north of England – but working with clients globally, including in the US and the Caribbean – Bell’s firm provides expert guidance in the sourcing and purchasing of Modern, Post-war and Contemporary art, offering advice to clients on how to buy art with greater confidence.
Read Julia Bell’s full profile on Spears500.com
Robin Hereford
- Focus: Fine art, heritage and tax advice
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: MEUM Group
Robin Hereford’s experience in the art world spans over a quarter of a century. Before joining MEUM as a consultant, he worked at Bonhams, including as director of private clients.
Hereford’s expertise lies in art valuation, sales and acquisitions; he also advises on insurance, tax and heritage. This appeals to a wide clientele, including landed gentry who are considering opening up their houses and taking stock of their collections, as well as many UHNW families, collectors and institutional clients.
His own collections management business complements his offering at MEUM, and over the years he has seen fabulous artwork – from Old Master paintings to French porcelains – come through his doors.
Read Robin Hereford’s full profile on Spears500.com
Jacqueline Nowikovsky
- Focus: Modern, Post-war and contemporary art
- Ranking: Recommended
- Firm: N Fine Art
Dr Jacqueline Nowikovsky of N Fine Art advises a small group of collectors across Europe, America and Asia, helping them to build collections of Modern, Post-war and Contemporary art. With a doctorate in philosophy – her dissertation was on the evolution of price-building in the art market – she combines academic knowledge with nearly two decades of practical experience, including senior roles at Bonhams.
Now based between London and Vienna, she works closely with families to shape collections that balance historical depth with contemporary relevance, often helping bring focus and direction to inherited assets.
Read Jacqueline Nowikovsky’s full profile on Spears500.com
The best art advisers: the complete list
Click on the individual names to be directed to more detailed profiles of each adviser on The Spear’s 500 website. The table is ordered by ranking and then alphabetically by surname.
Contact us
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- To keep up to date with the Spear’s 500, subscribe to our magazine, newsletter and follow Spear’s on Linkedin and Instagram.
- If you have missed calendar deadlines for our research cycles in 2025, you can still register your interest for updates about upcoming research and rankings.
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