Art advisory turns collections into lasting legacies, guiding deaccession, museum placement, and strategic planning to protect both wealth and cultural impact.
The Collector’s Journal
At Mercer Contemporary, we empower collectors to make thoughtful, informed decisions. From acquisitions to deaccessions, our insights guide you in building a collection that is both visually compelling and strategically valuable.
Donating art to a museum is one of the most meaningful ways for collectors to preserve their legacy and share cultural treasures with the public. With strategic planning, expert guidance, and IRS-compliant appraisals, donations can achieve lasting impact while offering significant tax benefits.
Art is one of the most complex and valuable assets for UHNW families, carrying both financial and cultural significance. By partnering with art advisors and family offices, collectors can create multi-generational strategies that preserve value, manage risk, and ensure their collection becomes a lasting legacy.
Family foundations and art trusts provide UHNW collectors with a structured way to preserve, protect, and share their collections across generations. Beyond safeguarding financial value, these vehicles ensure cultural legacy, philanthropic impact, and clear guidance for heirs.
Deaccessioning is a strategic tool for collectors to refine their collections, enhance focus, and ensure a lasting legacy. Mercer Contemporary guides families in selling, donating, or transferring works thoughtfully, balancing cultural impact, financial value, and estate planning needs.
Art philanthropy lets collectors leave a lasting cultural legacy while enjoying significant tax benefits. With certified appraisals, strategic planning, and expert guidance, Mercer Contemporary ensures your donations maximize impact, comply with IRS rules, and preserve your collection for future generations.
Art appraisal fees vary by scope and complexity-ranging from hourly rates, flat fees per item, to project-based pricing for large or multi-category collections. At Mercer Contemporary, all appraisals are USPAP-certified and AAA-accredited, ensuring credible, IRS- and insurer-recognized valuations that protect both financial and cultural value.
Free painting appraisals give a rough estimate, but only certified, USPAP-compliant appraisals from Mercer Contemporary are recognized by insurers, attorneys, and the IRS, ensuring accurate and protected valuations.
While “free appraisals” can offer a rough idea of value, only a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal is recognized by insurers, attorneys, and the IRS. Mercer Contemporary provides AAA-accredited appraisals that deliver credible, defensible valuations, protecting both the value and legacy of your collection.
Certified art appraisers protect both the value and legacy of a collection. Mercer Contemporary provides USPAP-certified, AAA-accredited appraisals, ensuring collectors, estates, and philanthropists receive credible, defensible valuations recognized by insurers, attorneys, and the IRS.
Finding an art appraiser isn’t just about location-it’s about credentials, expertise, and trust. Mercer Contemporary provides USPAP-certified, AAA-accredited appraisals across Modern, Post-War, Contemporary, and Emerging art, offering collectors and estates credible valuations, global access, and absolute discretion.
Appraising antique paintings requires specialized expertise in attribution, provenance, and condition. Mercer Contemporary connects collectors with USPAP-certified appraisers and a global network of specialists to ensure historically significant works are accurately valued, protected, and integrated into legacy planning.
In art collecting, quality always outweighs quantity. Mercer Contemporary helps collectors acquire the most significant works by an artist, ensuring collections that are culturally meaningful, market-resilient, and enduring across generations.
Finding the right art advisor starts with clarity about your collecting goals and ends with a trusted partner who offers independence, access, and discretion. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors in building culturally significant, high-value collections while providing expert advice, exclusive opportunities, and long-term stewardship.
Unlock unparalleled access, influence, and insight by joining collector communities. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors to museum boards, acquisition committees, and private events, turning connections into cultural impact, strategic advantage, and lasting legacy.
An art advisor guides collectors through acquisitions, collection management, and legacy planning, providing expertise, access, and discretion. They help identify quality works, secure rare pieces, and ensure collections align with both personal vision and long-term value.
Create a collection that transcends aesthetics and tells a meaningful story. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors in acquiring high-quality works, connecting with institutions and artists, and building a legacy that blends cultural significance with lasting value.
Getting your art appraised is essential for insurance, estate planning, donations, or sales. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors step-by-step through USPAP-certified, AAA-accredited appraisals, ensuring credibility, thorough research, and strategic insight for every work.
Building an art collection is a journey of vision, passion, and strategy. From defining goals and establishing a budget to working with advisors and managing acquisitions, each step ensures your collection reflects your story, grows in value, and endures. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors through every stage, offering expertise, access, and long-term stewardship.
Discover how collectors can maximize opportunities and protect their investments by leveraging both auction houses and independent art advisors. Mercer Contemporary ensures access to rare works, strategic guidance, and discreet representation, combining global market visibility with expert advocacy.
Art appraisal costs vary based on the size, complexity, and purpose of a collection, but professional, USPAP-certified appraisals are always worth the investment. Fees are based on time and expertise, not the artwork’s value, ensuring defensible valuations for insurance, estate, or donation purposes. Mercer Contemporary provides trusted appraisals backed by industry expertise and recognized standards.
UHNW collectors acquire the most coveted artworks through private channels, far from public auction rooms and gallery waitlists. From discreet gallery placements to private sales, estates, and museum networks, these avenues require reputation, relationships, and expert guidance. With the right advisor, collectors gain access to rare opportunities that quietly shape the world’s most important collections.
Choosing the best art advisor in the US isn’t about rankings, it’s about finding a trusted partner with the expertise, access, and discretion to guide your collecting journey. From market insight to legacy planning, the right advisor helps you build, protect, and elevate your collection. Here’s what collectors should look for when evaluating top advisors.
Art consultancy and art advisory may sound similar, but they serve very different needs. While consultancy is often project-based and focused on selecting artworks for spaces, art advisory offers long-term, strategic guidance for serious collectors, providing access, expertise, and full collection management. For UHNW families and private collectors, the distinction matters when choosing a partner to build, protect, and shape their legacy.
Legacy planning with art ensures that a collection’s cultural significance, financial value, and personal meaning are preserved for future generations. With strategic guidance, ranging from museum donations to estate planning, collectors can protect their artworks, simplify inheritance, and shape a lasting legacy. Mercer Contemporary supports this process with expert appraisals, institutional access, and collaborative planning alongside trusted legal and financial advisors.
Art advisory provides collectors with expert, independent guidance on acquiring, managing, and protecting fine art—offering access to rare works, trusted market insight, and long-term collection strategy. By leveraging deep industry relationships, an advisor helps clients secure significant artworks, navigate logistics, and build collections that hold both cultural and financial value. With discretion and expertise, firms like Mercer Contemporary support collectors at every stage, from first acquisitions to legacy planning.
A fine art appraisal is a researched, independent opinion of value prepared by a qualified, USPAP-certified appraiser to support insurance, estate planning, charitable donations, or sales. Accurate appraisals protect collectors by providing credible documentation grounded in market analysis and professional standards. At Mercer Contemporary, clients benefit from expert, compliant appraisals backed by deep industry knowledge and a global network of specialists.
In art collecting, quality always outweighs quantity. Mercer Contemporary helps collectors acquire the most significant works by an artist, ensuring collections that are culturally meaningful, market-resilient, and enduring across generations.
Finding the right art advisor starts with clarity about your collecting goals and ends with a trusted partner who offers independence, access, and discretion. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors in building culturally significant, high-value collections while providing expert advice, exclusive opportunities, and long-term stewardship.
Unlock unparalleled access, influence, and insight by joining collector communities. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors to museum boards, acquisition committees, and private events, turning connections into cultural impact, strategic advantage, and lasting legacy.
An art advisor guides collectors through acquisitions, collection management, and legacy planning, providing expertise, access, and discretion. They help identify quality works, secure rare pieces, and ensure collections align with both personal vision and long-term value.
Create a collection that transcends aesthetics and tells a meaningful story. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors in acquiring high-quality works, connecting with institutions and artists, and building a legacy that blends cultural significance with lasting value.
Building an art collection is a journey of vision, passion, and strategy. From defining goals and establishing a budget to working with advisors and managing acquisitions, each step ensures your collection reflects your story, grows in value, and endures. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors through every stage, offering expertise, access, and long-term stewardship.
Discover how collectors can maximize opportunities and protect their investments by leveraging both auction houses and independent art advisors. Mercer Contemporary ensures access to rare works, strategic guidance, and discreet representation, combining global market visibility with expert advocacy.
UHNW collectors acquire the most coveted artworks through private channels, far from public auction rooms and gallery waitlists. From discreet gallery placements to private sales, estates, and museum networks, these avenues require reputation, relationships, and expert guidance. With the right advisor, collectors gain access to rare opportunities that quietly shape the world’s most important collections.
Choosing the best art advisor in the US isn’t about rankings, it’s about finding a trusted partner with the expertise, access, and discretion to guide your collecting journey. From market insight to legacy planning, the right advisor helps you build, protect, and elevate your collection. Here’s what collectors should look for when evaluating top advisors.
Art consultancy and art advisory may sound similar, but they serve very different needs. While consultancy is often project-based and focused on selecting artworks for spaces, art advisory offers long-term, strategic guidance for serious collectors, providing access, expertise, and full collection management. For UHNW families and private collectors, the distinction matters when choosing a partner to build, protect, and shape their legacy.
Art advisory provides collectors with expert, independent guidance on acquiring, managing, and protecting fine art—offering access to rare works, trusted market insight, and long-term collection strategy. By leveraging deep industry relationships, an advisor helps clients secure significant artworks, navigate logistics, and build collections that hold both cultural and financial value. With discretion and expertise, firms like Mercer Contemporary support collectors at every stage, from first acquisitions to legacy planning.
Art appraisal fees vary by scope and complexity-ranging from hourly rates, flat fees per item, to project-based pricing for large or multi-category collections. At Mercer Contemporary, all appraisals are USPAP-certified and AAA-accredited, ensuring credible, IRS- and insurer-recognized valuations that protect both financial and cultural value.
Free painting appraisals give a rough estimate, but only certified, USPAP-compliant appraisals from Mercer Contemporary are recognized by insurers, attorneys, and the IRS, ensuring accurate and protected valuations.
While “free appraisals” can offer a rough idea of value, only a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal is recognized by insurers, attorneys, and the IRS. Mercer Contemporary provides AAA-accredited appraisals that deliver credible, defensible valuations, protecting both the value and legacy of your collection.
Certified art appraisers protect both the value and legacy of a collection. Mercer Contemporary provides USPAP-certified, AAA-accredited appraisals, ensuring collectors, estates, and philanthropists receive credible, defensible valuations recognized by insurers, attorneys, and the IRS.
Finding an art appraiser isn’t just about location-it’s about credentials, expertise, and trust. Mercer Contemporary provides USPAP-certified, AAA-accredited appraisals across Modern, Post-War, Contemporary, and Emerging art, offering collectors and estates credible valuations, global access, and absolute discretion.
Appraising antique paintings requires specialized expertise in attribution, provenance, and condition. Mercer Contemporary connects collectors with USPAP-certified appraisers and a global network of specialists to ensure historically significant works are accurately valued, protected, and integrated into legacy planning.
Getting your art appraised is essential for insurance, estate planning, donations, or sales. Mercer Contemporary guides collectors step-by-step through USPAP-certified, AAA-accredited appraisals, ensuring credibility, thorough research, and strategic insight for every work.
Art appraisal costs vary based on the size, complexity, and purpose of a collection, but professional, USPAP-certified appraisals are always worth the investment. Fees are based on time and expertise, not the artwork’s value, ensuring defensible valuations for insurance, estate, or donation purposes. Mercer Contemporary provides trusted appraisals backed by industry expertise and recognized standards.
A fine art appraisal is a researched, independent opinion of value prepared by a qualified, USPAP-certified appraiser to support insurance, estate planning, charitable donations, or sales. Accurate appraisals protect collectors by providing credible documentation grounded in market analysis and professional standards. At Mercer Contemporary, clients benefit from expert, compliant appraisals backed by deep industry knowledge and a global network of specialists.
Art advisory turns collections into lasting legacies, guiding deaccession, museum placement, and strategic planning to protect both wealth and cultural impact.
Donating art to a museum is one of the most meaningful ways for collectors to preserve their legacy and share cultural treasures with the public. With strategic planning, expert guidance, and IRS-compliant appraisals, donations can achieve lasting impact while offering significant tax benefits.
Art is one of the most complex and valuable assets for UHNW families, carrying both financial and cultural significance. By partnering with art advisors and family offices, collectors can create multi-generational strategies that preserve value, manage risk, and ensure their collection becomes a lasting legacy.
Family foundations and art trusts provide UHNW collectors with a structured way to preserve, protect, and share their collections across generations. Beyond safeguarding financial value, these vehicles ensure cultural legacy, philanthropic impact, and clear guidance for heirs.
Deaccessioning is a strategic tool for collectors to refine their collections, enhance focus, and ensure a lasting legacy. Mercer Contemporary guides families in selling, donating, or transferring works thoughtfully, balancing cultural impact, financial value, and estate planning needs.
Art philanthropy lets collectors leave a lasting cultural legacy while enjoying significant tax benefits. With certified appraisals, strategic planning, and expert guidance, Mercer Contemporary ensures your donations maximize impact, comply with IRS rules, and preserve your collection for future generations.
Legacy planning with art ensures that a collection’s cultural significance, financial value, and personal meaning are preserved for future generations. With strategic guidance, ranging from museum donations to estate planning, collectors can protect their artworks, simplify inheritance, and shape a lasting legacy. Mercer Contemporary supports this process with expert appraisals, institutional access, and collaborative planning alongside trusted legal and financial advisors.