Maria Brito has quietly but firmly established herself as one of the most successful art advisors in New York. That success is quantifiable and highly visible, though more important than her 142,000 Instagram followers are the more than $150 million in acquisitions facilitated for Oscar-winning actors, Grammy-winning musicians and high-powered finance executives. What makes her story so compelling, however, is that she came to art from corporate law and, over the past fifteen years, has navigated the market’s boom-and-bust cycles with the steady hand of a strategist. We connected with the advisor ahead of the New York City art fairs to get her thoughts on navigating an art market increasingly shaped by economic and political volatility.
Despite the doom-and-gloom headlines, Brito feels confident and reports that her clients—primarily Americans, many in finance—are energized for the coming season. “We speak the same language,” Brito told Observer. “We can talk about ratios, we can talk about alphas and deltas.” She also works with collectors in creative industries like fashion and architecture, who bring a more instinctive, passion-driven approach to collecting. “It’s fun to work with people who have a very different take on the world. But all of them, even if they’re not flippers, don’t want to see the work go down in value.”
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Brito describes her role as that of a translator, strategist and advocate. “Art advisors bridge the gap between artists, galleries, collectors and institutions, helping clients make informed acquisitions that align with both their personal tastes and long-term value,” she said. “In an increasingly complex and opaque market, an advisor brings clarity, context and access. We track market trends, understand historical significance and build collections that have both intellectual integrity and financial strength. We don’t just buy art, we build legacies.”
Still, she admits it’s challenging to counter the daily drumbeat of headlines proclaiming market collapse. Her clients are more cautious and selective, but far from out of the game. “These clients, particularly the ones in finance, were very active in 2020, 2021 and 2022—they bought so much art!” said Brito. “Now it’s more selective. I’m seeing they’re willing to pay higher prices, but for artists who are stable. They might not need to buy twenty young artists now; they’d rather invest in artists like Rashid Johnson or Mickalene Thomas.”
In general, she focuses on artists who have demonstrated longevity and sustainability in their careers. “Maybe they don’t need to buy a Jean Basquiat; we can go pretty safely with a George Condo, who is by no means a bargain these days,” she pointed out. “He’s a great artist who has been stable for years and still has a long trajectory, as we could say for Alex Katz or Johnson.” Of course, even a stacked CV and biennials won’t necessarily justify the investment if market demand doesn’t follow. “I’m looking at long careers that can be measured, artists validated over time at multiple levels—that’s what justifies significant expenditures. It’s difficult to convince my clients that an artist who started yesterday deserves that kind of money, unless they’re a phenomenon, which does happen, but rarely.”
Brito pointedly noted, however, that a price correction at auction won’t always be reflected in the primary market. The main rule there is that when something goes up, it can never come back down. But sold-out shows are now less common—even for once in-demand names, and gimmicks like BOGO deals (buy one, give one) don’t work anymore. Here, the advisor clarified that she and her clients have always refused to play that particular game.
“It’s unsustainable,” she said. “Yes, certain artists will be hot and in demand for a long time, maybe until their death—but that’s a very, very small group. We’re talking about people developing now who might still be interesting in the future.” At the end of the day, she added, we’re dealing with humans, which means that there is always the possibility of unpredictability in a career trajectory. Careers, after all, are shaped not only by external factors but also by psychology and personal philosophy.
“Individual effort and talent matter—but so do the platforms,” Brito said. “Artists need the right ecosystem: the gallery, the curator, the collectors.” As this week’s tsunami of art fairs opens—from Frieze and Fridge and Future Fair to NADA and Esther and SPRING/BREAK—we can be certain that young artists are going to continue producing and being shown. There’s no shortage of platforms, but the advisor warns that very few working artists will enjoy the meteoric ascents we saw during the pandemic.
Brito acknowledges recent price corrections in ultra-contemporary art—especially associated with names that spiked during the COVID years without the career track record to back it up. “It was a necessary correction,” she said. The art market, like other markets, moves in cycles of exuberance and contraction. “There’s clear evidence, especially in the numbers in this year’s UBS and Art Basel report, that there has been a tremendous slowdown from the heights of pandemic and post-pandemic exuberance.” Only so much can be sold at once to the same small group of collectors. “And let’s be honest, the people who can drop $20 to $30 million a year on art without pain are very limited.”
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Yet a new generation of collectors is rising—one that will inevitably reshape the rules of taste and collecting. “We’re talking about a generation raised on the internet and social media, which is not what Picasso had to go through, right?” Brito quipped. “There are different dynamics now.”
As our world undergoes seismic shifts, the art market is simply along for the ride. “People need perspective,” she emphasized. “We had a moment of incredible boom, and hopefully everyone capitalized on it. Now we’re in a new part of the cycle.” She pointed to the confluence of global change: new government policies, disruptive technologies like A.I. and post-pandemic recalibration. “All of these elements create uncertainty—but also new opportunities.”
What is relevant today in terms of tastes, trends and valuations might already be outdated tomorrow, Brito acknowledged. Tellingly, she didn’t write a book on art market trends but rather one about the eternal creative potential of human minds: her 2022 bestseller, How Creativity Rules The World.
“I wanted to create something timeless,” Brito said. “My book is about creativity because that’s the throughline connecting art, business, innovation and reinvention. I wrote it for curious minds: people who care about art history, bold ideas, contemporary culture and how to adapt in a world that doesn’t stop changing.” Three years after its release, Brito is still giving keynotes and having meaningful conversations about the principles in the book. “That tells me the message has staying power.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming fairs and auctions, Brito is focused on gratitude. “This is something we should all celebrate,” she asserted. “We have this amazing opportunity to see such a variety of artworks, ask questions, ask prices and have access to beautiful objects.” And in the end? “They encapsulate the history of humanity—that’s what remains when we’re gone. Art that will hopefully go on walls now and get passed down to future generations later.”
