Maria Brito, featured on this year’s Art Power Index, has built a career—and a community—by dismantling the art world’s most persistent myth: that collecting is an insiders’ game. A top New York-based art advisor who has moved more than $150 million in blue-chip and emerging works for A-list clients, Brito has made transparency and education central to her practice. Her weekly newsletter The Groove reaches more than 32,000 readers, and her Instagram, where she shares market insights, cultural commentary and sharp takes on art-world trends, has grown to over 140,000 followers. Beyond the metrics, Brito’s influence can be better measured by how she’s reframed what power and access look like in a market often defined by its opacity.
While old hierarchies still stand, influence is increasingly moving through younger generations of collectors, new modes of media and varied access to quality artworks. That shift—toward younger, global and more values-driven collectors—has fueled Brito’s mission to bridge knowledge gaps and open doors that once felt closed. Whether she’s guiding a new collector through their first Frieze acquisition or dissecting the ethics of the market in her writing, Brito approaches art as both cultural currency and a mirror of global change.
Brito remains candid about the evolving dynamics of power, the responsibilities of advisors in an era of hyper-visibility and the need for intellectual integrity in collecting. As technology democratizes visibility but not access, and slowing down becomes an act of discernment, the future of the art world will hinge on those willing to make it smarter, more inclusive and more transparent without losing sight of excellence.
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?
Power has become more distributed and far less predictable. The old hierarchies still stand, but influence now moves through new collectors, new media and access to quality works. I work with many Millennial and Gen Z collectors who are already shaping the next generation of collecting, and they value transparency and education over gatekeeping. I’ve leaned into that by focusing on direct relationships and using my social media and newsletter platforms to shape narratives around art, culture and collecting.
As the art market and industry evolve, what role do you believe technology, globalization and changing collector demographics will play in reshaping traditional power structures?
Technology has democratized visibility, not access. Everyone can see art online, but few know how to buy well or build meaningful collections. Globalization has made the market faster, bigger and more connected, while younger collectors demand purpose and transparency. My role is to bridge worlds, combining knowledge, data, relationships and intuition so collectors can navigate this landscape with clarity and confidence.
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?
The biggest gap I see is between cultural influence and access. The art world still operates like a closed circuit, even though so many people are hungry to enter it. I want to expand how collectors (and future collectors) learn, discover and connect.
That means using technology, storytelling and education to bridge the gap between the “inside” and the “outside.” That’s why I write a free weekly newsletter and post on Instagram almost daily, to make high-level knowledge more accessible while keeping the integrity of expertise intact. It’s not about disruption for the sake of it. It’s about evolution: making the art world smarter, more inclusive and more transparent without diluting its excellence. That’s the real opportunity ahead.
Your public platforms—The Groove and Instagram—are unusually transparent for the advisory world. What motivated you to make the inner workings of art collecting more accessible?
I’ve been writing about the art world for magazines and websites and my own blog since I opened my company in 2009. In fact, I was one of the first advisors to use Facebook and Twitter to share insights about collecting, and an early adopter of Instagram, which changed everything for everyone in this business.
I’ve always believed in making access to the art world less mysterious and more democratic. Too many people still think the market begins and ends with the Wall Street Journal headlines about multimillion-dollar auction sales. By design, the art world has historically left out the very people it’s now trying to court. The truth is, old collectors aren’t buying; royals and aristocrats aren’t buying; it’s younger professionals and entrepreneurs across continents who are starting to move the needle.
Many of your headlines—“Do artists need galleries?” or “Can art still shock us?”—pose questions that challenge the status quo. What facets of the art world do you think most urgently need reexamination?
When the art world expands as rapidly as it has over the past decade, everything inevitably gets diluted. We’re basically living Andy Warhol’s prophecy, where everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame. The market could use some editing: there simply aren’t enough serious collectors for the sheer volume of artists, nor enough museums and institutions to secure their legacies. At the same time, social media has desensitized us. We scroll through thousands of images a day, and nothing shocks us anymore. The only real antidote is to slow down, to look longer, think deeper and give art the space to challenge us again.
How do you balance accessibility with the discretion that clients expect from an art advisor? Are there subjects you deliberately steer clear of?
I never mention clients by name unless they’ve given explicit permission. Saying “a young collector who works with me bought an established female painter at Frieze for the mid–five figures” protects their privacy while still sharing something meaningful about the market. I don’t shy away from topics, but I also don’t speak just to fill space. If I can’t offer something that informs, sparks reflection or presents a new perspective, I’d rather not expand on it. The goal is always to add clarity, not noise.
The art market has cooled since the pandemic boom, and you’ve described this as a “new part of the cycle.” What behaviors or shifts are you observing among top collectors, and how are you advising them to adapt?
Top collectors have become far more discerning over the past two years. They’re taking their time, comparing quality and context and securing works that genuinely hold long-term value. Pieces that once had twenty people competing for them are now available, which has created more thoughtful, strategic acquisitions.
The focus has shifted from the “it” artist of the moment to strong mid-career and established names with proven museum and institutional support. That said, there are still younger and mid-career artists generating excitement, and in some cases, waitlists, but most collectors now approach those markets with more curiosity than urgency. My role is to help them navigate this shift with perspective and patience, not panic.
You’ve built a following that extends well beyond traditional collectors, reaching entrepreneurs, cultural leaders and young professionals. How do you navigate working with different types of collectors—say, the analytical financier and the instinctual fashionista—when guiding them through the same volatile art market?
At the end of the day, all clients (whether they come from finance, fashion or tech) want the same thing: great service, sharp instincts and someone with real access and trusted relationships across galleries and institutions. Some are more analytical and want detailed data, comps and context; others respond to intuition and storytelling. Either way, I’m always two steps ahead with the information they need.
Technology has made that easier: instant access to pricing histories, press coverage and upcoming projects allows me to tailor the conversation to each client’s mindset. And while few like to admit it, nearly every collector cares about numbers, because even emerging art is expensive, and no one wants to see their investment disappear. That’s where nuance matters: helping clients understand that a young artist selling for six figures is both a sign of confidence and a reminder that, in this market, every great collection involves a little bit of risk.
You often speak about intellectual integrity in collecting. How do you help clients develop taste and conviction in a market where trends—and valuations—can change overnight?
I insist on context. Taste doesn’t develop from chasing trends; it comes from understanding where things come from and why they matter. I talk to my clients constantly about art history, about how nothing exists in a vacuum. We visit museums, draw parallels between what’s being made today and the movements that shaped it, and whenever possible, speak directly with artists. Hearing how an artist thinks about materials, form or meaning changes everything.
Intellectual integrity means knowing why you love something and being able to defend that love when the market moves on. I can’t stand behind empty works that are merely decorative. Beauty alone isn’t enough. What lasts are the ideas, the rigor and the sense of connection between past and present. That’s the foundation of real collecting.
