Megan Fox Kelly, recognized on this year’s Art Power Index, has spent more than two decades shaping what it means to be an art advisor at the highest level. Through her eponymous firm, she manages more than $3.5 billion in art assets for collectors, estates and institutions, including the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art and the estate of Robert De Niro Sr. Her practice bridges the worlds of finance, scholarship and collection stewardship, helping clients build and sustain cultural value across generations.
As a former president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors, Fox Kelly has helped codify standards around transparency and ethics in a field once defined by opacity. Through her writing for Observer and her podcast Reading the Art World, she works to make the mechanics of collecting more intelligible to both new buyers and seasoned patrons, clarifying how strategy, governance and analysis can coexist with connoisseurship.
Power in the art world is shifting through forces both familiar and newly urgent: technology, globalization and inheritance. For artists and collectors alike, the next great challenge, Fox Kelly argues, lies in legacy management: families suddenly responsible for vast collections and estates that will define cultural memory for decades to come. In this landscape, rigor and data-driven insight have become the hallmarks of serious advising, while collaboration across financial, legal and art world disciplines defines the market’s next phase. Her approach, as always, is pragmatic yet deeply informed by respect for art itself: think strategically, plan for the long term and treat stewardship as a form of authorship.
What do you see as the most transformative shift in the art world power dynamics over the past year, and how has it impacted your own work or strategy?
I think we’re not talking enough about the next generation—and I don’t just mean new collectors coming into the market. I mean heirs. People who are inheriting these massive family collections and have to figure out what to do with them—whether they’re selling, gifting to institutions or managing them as directed by their parents. At the same time, we’re seeing the same thing happen on the artist side. Faith Ringgold, Frank Stella, Richard Serra, Brice Marden and many others—really significant artists have died in the last two years, and their families are now tasked with managing not just vast bodies of work but entire legacies. Some had clear plans in place, but many didn’t. There’s this whole generation suddenly responsible for stewardship decisions that will shape how these artists are understood and valued going forward. That’s the shift. Legacy management has become as critical as acquisition, and most people aren’t prepared for it.
As the art market and industry continue to evolve, what role do you believe technology, globalization and changing collector demographics will play in reshaping traditional power structures?
Technology isn’t a novelty anymore—it’s essential. But here’s the thing: the data and analysis tools that exist are still pretty general. They’re good for broad market trends, but they’re not granular enough for the questions our clients are actually asking. If you’re managing a specific collection or an artist’s estate, you need bespoke analysis—what’s happening with pricing in this particular segment, what are the trends that matter for these works? We’re developing analytical tools that do exactly that, producing much more granular, specific analysis tailored to individual collections and interests. It’s not about technology for general understanding—it’s about technology that facilitates deeper, more precise analysis. As for globalization and changing demographics, those absolutely matter, but right now, I’m focused on using the best tools out there to navigate that complexity in ways that are specific and focused, not just painting with a broad brush.
Looking ahead, what unrealized opportunity or unmet need in the art ecosystem are you most excited to tackle in the coming year, and what will it take to make that vision a reality?
I keep coming back to estate planning—both for collectors and for artists. There’s a real gap in how families approach this, and the stakes are significant. What I’m building out are strategic infrastructures for collections and estates: governance systems, analytical models that actually work in the real world. We’re using financial-world frameworks but applying them to art—creating market analysis that bridges financial planning, curatorial thinking and legacy considerations. It helps collectors, estates and foundations make decisions that are data-informed but also culturally intelligent. This is about professionalizing advisory practice beyond just transactional brokerage (buying and selling), building long-range strategies that sustain value for collectors and, for artist estates, building scholarship and access. What it takes to make this real is collaboration. Financial advisors, attorneys and art market professionals actually working together instead of in silos. That’s how we better serve both collectors and estates.
In brief, what does the ideal collector-advisor relationship look like?
Complete transparency and mutual trust—that’s the foundation. Beyond that, it’s a relationship where the advisor acts as a strategic partner, not just someone executing purchases. And ideally, you’re working with a collector who wants to learn and engage, not just delegate. The best relationships are collaborative.
You straddle private advising and public education (through your writing and your podcast). Why did you decide to prioritize public education in your practice?
Honestly, it’s partly selfish. Writing for Observer and doing the podcast gives me an assignment—it forces me to clearly articulate and define the ideas I think are important and useful right now. I get to work through what I’m learning and thinking about in a way that sharpens how I approach everything, including my private work.
Has anything you learned from the public audience response changed how you communicate the complexities of the art market with private clients?
I don’t really get direct responses from the articles or my podcast, Reading the Art World, but the exercise of making ideas clear for a broader audience definitely helps me articulate complex market dynamics more precisely with my clients. It’s a different kind of discipline—you can’t rely on assumed knowledge or insider shorthand.
How has the role of the art advisor changed in the last decade as collecting has become increasingly global and data-driven? And conversely, what’s stayed the same?
The expectations have become much more rigorous across the board. Real data and market analysis are baseline now. And advisors used to compete on ‘access’—the idea that they could get their clients into things the clients couldn’t access themselves. That’s largely gone except at the very highest levels of the market, as digital communication has democratized access. So advisors have to provide much more sophisticated services—strategy, analysis, long-term planning—not just connections. What’s stayed the same? Connoisseurship still matters. Trust still matters. The core is still relationships and fiduciary responsibility.
You’ve served as president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors and helped shape professional standards for the field. What progress have you seen toward greater accountability, transparency or inclusion?
Transparency around fees is becoming standard practice. Conflict of interest disclosure is now an expectation. The advisory field is becoming more diverse internationally, and educational requirements are raising the bar across the field. But there’s still a lot of work to do. Anyone can self-identify as an ‘art advisor’—there are no standards or requirements for entry, which makes it hard for collectors to know what expertise they’re actually getting.
Looking ahead, what do you hope younger advisors take away from your example, particularly related to education and ethics?
You’re building a business based on expertise, systems and ethics—not just transactions. And those aren’t constraints, they’re competitive advantages. Don’t compete on access or connections alone. Compete on the depth of your knowledge and the rigor of your thinking. That’s what sustains long-term relationships and builds a real practice.
Finally, what excites you most about working with collectors at this moment in the art world’s evolution?
The complexity and variety of what I do now. Clients are asking better, harder questions than they were even five years ago. And I’m building infrastructure for advising collectors and estates that simply didn’t exist before—frameworks and analytical tools that make legacy planning and strategic decision-making much more sophisticated. It feels like we’re professionalizing this field in real time.
