SPECIAL SERVICES
Art consultants have a roster of key experts in their Blackberrys, ranging from professionals who hang art for the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the world’s top restorers. But don’t be surprised if you try to hire one of these pros on your own and find that they won’t do the job. Many work only for a select clientele, which will include your consultant. “We do everything from collection maintenance to appraisals,” says Grajales. “We’re a full-service company, of course handling shipping, insurance and museum loans.”

SHOPPING ADVICE FROM AN INSIDER 
Since these pros log numerous hours trotting the globe, they’re well acquainted with international galleries, antiques shops and salerooms. Headed to Paris on business but want to do some shopping? Your consultant might be happy to share the addresses of her favorite galleries or maybe arrange for tea with a specialist at the auction house Tajan. Dying to shop the antiques dealers of the Cotswolds but dread driving on the other side of the road in England? Your consultant will arrange an itinerary with a driver who will take you to every member of the Cotswolds Antiques Dealers’ Association, as well as to busy country salesrooms.

ACCESS, ACCESS, ACCESS
A consultant can make the difference between a mediocre collection and a museum-worthy one. As Adam Lindemann explains in his recent book, Collecting Contemporary, in which he interviews top consultants, advisors have the inside track on the “gray market”—the secondary market where works are passed from one owner to another without going through a dealer or an auction house. They are also essential to entering the elite reaches of the contemporary art world. As consultant Mark Fletcher explained to Lindemann, “The beginning collector can’t walk into the galleries of eminent dealers like David Zwirner or Barbara Gladstone, or Larry Gagosian or Mark Goodman, and be offered works. It’s a relatively closed system, and what a good art adviser can do is allow access.”

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Art & Antiques’ New York correspondent Sallie Brady recently reported on how to work the fairs like an insider (“A&A Advisor,” January 2006).

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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►Antique Markets Accompaniment Association
France. Bilingual consultants who advise on shopping and shipping in France. 011.33.6.11.44.78.55
www.amaa.fr

►Cristina Grajales
New York. 20th-century and contemporary design specialist, gallerist and interior design services. 212.219.9941
www.cristinagrajalesinc.com

►Collecting Contemporary, by Adam Lindemann (Taschen, 2006)

►Corfield Morris
New York and England. Fine and decorative art, antiques and jewelry specialists with full complement of services, especially restoration.
212.460.9005 and 011.44.17.9430.1141
www.corfieldmorris.com

►Kimberly Light, Lightbox Gallery
Los Angeles. Consults on contemporary art and sculpture, gallerist.
310.559.1111
www.lightbox.com

►Robert C. Moeller III
Jackson, Wyo. Focus on European and American paintings.
307.733.9607
www.theartadvisor.com

►Thea Westreich
New York. Specialist in international modern and contemporary art.
212.941.9449

►Quintessentially
28 domestic and international locations. Members-only concierge service that partners with art and antiques experts.
www.quintessentially.com